Healthy Weight loss

Introducing a Gradual Process

One extra biscuit a week can lead you to gain 5lb a year – cut that biscuit totally out of your diet and you'll lose the same amount.  Small changes can make a big difference.  You're again more likely to stick to, say, swapping full-fat milk for semi-skimmed or making time for breakfast every morning than a diet that appoints rules for all foods.  You must think of weight loss in terms of totally changing your eating habits.  While weight-loss goals are mostly set in term of weeks, the final game is to retain these changes over months and period of years, i.e lifestyle change for life.

Energy needs and weight loss

This means if you eat more food than your body wants for daily activities and cell maintenance, you'll gain weight.  Your body uses food for energy.  To lose weight healthily, you have to get your body to use up these stores of fat. The most effective way to do this is to:.

 * increase your levels of daily activity.

 * reduce the number of calories you eat.

This is just why experts talk about weight loss in terms of diet and exercise for healthy living.  It stores any excess energy as fat.

Increase your level of activities

• Get out and about at the weekend.  Try to incorporate longer walks into outings to the park, coast or countryside and take a picnic, so you're in control of what you are going to eat that day.  There are lots of ways to increase the amount of activity you do.  Find something you like that's easy for you to do in terms of location and cost.  Always use the stairs instead of the lift, or get off the bus a stop before the usual one and walk the rest of the way.  Someone who increases the amount they exercise, but preserve the same diet and calorie intake, will for sure lose weight.  Leave your car on the drive and walk to the shops.  Team sports, racket sports, aerobics classes, running, walking, swimming and cycling will all increase your fitness levels.  Any time you exercise more than usual, you burn calories and fat.  • Use commercial breaks between TV-programs to stand up and do exercise, or consider using an exercise bicycle in the living room while watching your favorite program.  • Every extra step you take helps.  No matter if you hate gyms – even light exercise, such as a short 15 minute walk, will be beneficial if done most days of the week.  You're then likely to build it into your own routine and continue to exercise, despite inevitably missing the odd session through holidays, family commitments, etc.

Taking little calories

It's impossible to reduce body fat while eating lots of food, cakes and sweets.  It might seem slow, but it would add up to a weight loss of more than three stone in a year.  If you're overweight, you cannot move on with your ongoing eating habits if you really want to lose weight.  There are no shortcuts to losing weight in a healthy and reasonable way.  Eating 300 to 500 calories less per day can lead to a loss of between one and two pounds per week.

In terms of weight-loss, you can get your body to use up available stores of fat by eating less and making healthier choices.  Fat contains the most number of calories out of all the food types (protein, carbohydrates), so a good way to achieve this is to cut down on fatty foods and eat more wholegrain bread, fruit and vegetables.  This does not mean you can not have any treats, but you need to learn how to limit these foods to small quantities – say, for special occasions.  This doesn't mean crash diet, which often ends up with you either getting weaker or giving up in desperation.  This is a realistic aim.  Quick-fix diets can lead to a yo-yoing effect of drastic weight loss followed by weight gain, resulting in a vicious cycle.

Below are ways how mothers can lose weight by reducing calorie intake without having to alter your diet significantly.

• Swap whole milk for semi-skimmed, or semi-skimmed for skimmed.
• Eat less lunch than usual. For example, make your own sandwich and limit the use of margarine or butter and full-fat mayonnaise (store-bought sandwiches often contain both).
• Have smaller portions of the food you enjoy.
• Replace fizzy drinks and fruit cordials with water
• Stop taking sugar in tea and coffee.
• Have smaller portions of the food you enjoy.
• Cut down on alcohol intake.
• Avoid having a second helping at dinner.
• Cut out unhealthy treats – such as confectionary, sugary biscuits and crisps between meals.

While skipping a meal will reduce your calorie intake for that hour, it will leave you much hungrier later on.  Irregular eating habits may also disrupt your body's metabolism, which makes it tougher to lose weight in the first place.  All these things will help your health in a positive way.  Finally, don't be tempted to skip breakfast – or any meal to lose weight.  Not only are you likely to overeat to compensate, but you'll always make bad choices to fill the gap: a cereal bar is not as healthy as a bowl of cereal or as filling, leading you to 'need' something extra for lunch.

Health benefits of weight loss

For men, the risk of heart problems reduces considerably.  Studies show that overweight women who lose between 10lb and 20lb halve their risk of developing diabetes.  By keeping your weight in the healthy range, you're less likely to be troubled by illnesses in your later years.  A few pounds over the years are not a problem, but people who gain more than 20lb compared to their weight as an 18-year-old will rapidly increase their risk of health problems due to that extra weight.  In particular, women increase their risk of heart attack and double their risk of dying from cancer.

Generally, we acquire weight as we get older.  It may seem like these are problems to worry about in the future, but time flies by and tomorrow becomes today.