Why You Should Lose Weight Healthily

by Jon Pankhurst
(Kent, UK)

First of all let’s think about the problems of being overweight in the first place. Maintaining a healthy weight level goes far beyond mere cosmetic reasons. Maintaining a healthy weight is a crucial part of overall good health. Keep your weight within the healthy range, and you'll not only feel better, you'll lower your risk of heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. And when it comes to weight, even small improvements can work wonders for your health. Remember then that while a lot of people don’t like the way they look when they're carrying excess weight, that losing weight isn’t just about looking better, it's much healthier too.

Currently we face an obesity epidemic that seems to show no sign of abating. It seems not a week goes by without some new report into increasing levels of obesity being released by the media. So what’s causing this epidemic? Only a tiny minority of people (fewer than one in 100) are obese because of medical conditions such as an under-active thyroid gland or ‘Cushing’s Syndrome’.

Most obese people can blame their excess weight on eating more calories than they burn. That means there are two main options if you want to lose weight: eat less, or do more exercise. The best way to lose weight is a combination of the two.

Losing weight is a simple enough sounding concept. The mistake a lot of people make is to not take thinking about losing weight seriously enough. For instance, one of the biggest mistakes people make is by going on the so called ‘crash diet’. However, there are many reasons why this is not a very good idea and why it can actually prove to be counter productive.

Crash diets tend to be used when someone wants to quickly lose pounds. This diet alternative often comes into play around summertime, when everyone is trying to look their best in a swimsuit or new revealing outfit. But what you may think is a quick fix can quickly become harmful to your body and your health if you get caught up. By definition, a crash diet is a diet that involves extreme methods to achieve instant weight loss - usually in a few days to a week. Such methods vary but the common goal is to deprive the body of food in order to drastically reduce one’s calorie intake. Some actually starve themselves down to their ideal weight, while others limit themselves to how much and how often they eat.

Crash diets are intended for short-term use, but can quickly become habit forming. The scariest part about doing a crash diet is that you actually aren’t losing weight. Even though the scale may say you are a few pounds lighter, in reality your body is suffering. Instead of losing fat - which is the common goal for crash dieters - your body has exhausted its supply of glycogen, which is a type of carbohydrate. When this happens, water loss also occurs. The end result is a change in your weight when you step on the scale.

But believe it or not it actually gets even worse. Your body starts to use up fat burning muscle tissue for fuel instead of life-saving fat, which slows your metabolism even further. Furthermore, lean muscle is nowhere near as efficient an energy source as fat, so your body needs more of it for the same amount of energy. Therefore in short Crash dieting is a very bad idea. So what are the alternatives? Well actually there should only be one alternative and its called taking the long term view.

Here are a few more facts and figures: Sensible weight loss involves making small changes that you can stick to for a long time. To shift 900g (2lbs) a week, you need to reduce your calorie intake by around 500 calories a day. This can be achieved by eating less, exercising more or, best of all, a combination of both. Achievable daily activity can set you on the way. A brisk 30-minute walk burns around 100 calories. A 45-minute game of tennis burns around 325 calories.

Remember the key words here: Gradual Change. The healthiest way to lose weight is neither crash diets nor bursts of exercise. The body likes slow changes in terms of food and exercise.

For example, someone who has not exercised for years should not rush into running miles a day or pounding the treadmill. Not only will the struggle to do so leave you feeling disheartened and de-motivated, you're also far more likely to injure yourself and set your fitness levels back further.

Jon is dedicated to helping people combat weight loss. Try his ultimate recommendation free of charge at:

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