It is always sad when a holiday comes to an end, especially a holiday like Christmas that means so much to so many people but stay positive, - it’s only 363 days until the next one. For now the priority must be to reclaim your body and take control of your life again and that starts with your weight.
Throughout our series of weight-watcher articles we always focus on the same basic theme: If you truly want to lose weight you only have to focus on two things - eat less and move more. It really is simple.
Over Christmas we have all gained between one and five pounds (450 to 2,250 grams) and that means that to get back to pre-Christmas weight will take us between one and five weeks. It is not possible to lose weight faster than one pound (450g) per week and expect it remain lost. Therefore this article is about going back to basics of how to lose one pound each week.
One pound (450g) is equivalent to 3,500 calories, or five hundred calories each day. An adult requires a minimum of 2,000 calories each day to remain fit and healthy in the developed world we consume an average of 3,500 calories each day. This intake gives us many options for losing weight. For instance we can reduce our daily intake by 500 calories providing we do not fall below 2,000 calories each day. This will help your weight and consequently your health but will not make you fitter and more able to enjoy life.
That is why we suggest that initially you set out to reduce your daily calorie intake by 300 calories and burn off a further 200 calories through light exercise.
See our calorie burn-off chart at: http://www.recipesmania.com/calorieexerciserate.html
This way you work on both your aerobic fitness and diet at the same time and then as you become fitter you will increase your burn off rate and therefore allow for a few extra rewards in your diet. Remember it is not good practice to lose weight at a rate greater than one-pound (450g) each week or you will soon be putting all that weight back on again rendering your program worthless. The whole point of losing weight is keeping it lost, not losing it this month and watching it come back next.
Start today and you will see results within a week.
This article is copyright © David McCarthy 2005. It may be reproduced in its entirety with no additions. Any changes require written approval from the author.
