Introduction to weight loss
Whether you are trying to lose 5 pounds or more than 50, the same
principles determine how much weight you lose and how fast your weight
loss will occur. Remembering the following simple guidelines and putting
them into practice can lead to weight loss without the aid of any
special diet plans, books, or medications.
Our body weight is determined by the amount of energy that we take
in as food and the amount of energy we expend in the activities of our
day. Energy is measured in calories. If your weight
remains constant, you are probably taking in the same amount of calories
that you burn each day. If you're slowly gaining weight over
time, it is likely that your caloric intake is greater than the number
of calories you burn through your daily activities.
Everyone is in control of the amount of food he or she consumes each day, so
our intake of calories is something we can control. To a major degree, we can
also control our output of energy, or the number of calories we burn each day.
The number of calories we burn each day is dependent upon
- our basal metabolic rate (BMR), the number of calories we burn per hour simply by being alive and maintaining body functions
- and our level of physical activity.
For some people, due to genetic (inherited) factors or other conditions, the resting metabolic rate
(BMR) can be slightly higher or lower than average. Our weight also plays a role in determining how many calories we burn at
rest -- the more calories
are required to maintain your body in its present state, the greater your body weight. A 100-pound person requires less energy (food) to maintain body weight than a person who weighs 200 pounds.
Lifestyle and work habits partially determine how many
calories we need each day. Someone whose job involves heavy physical
labor will naturally burn more calories in a day than someone who sits
at a desk most of the day (a sedentary job). For people who do not have
jobs that require intense physical activity,
exercise or increased physical activity can increase the number of calories burned.
As a rough estimate, an average woman 31-50 years of age who leads a
sedentary lifestyle needs about 1,800 calories per day to maintain a
normal weight. A man of the same age requires about 2,200 calories.
Participating in a moderate level of physical activity (exercising
three to five days per week) requires about 200
additional calories per day.
How do you lose weight?
The most effective method for weight loss is reducing the
number of calories you consume while increasing the number of calories
you burn through physical activity. To lose
1 pound, you need an expenditure of approximately 3,500 calories. You
can achieve this either by cutting back on your food intake, by
increasing physical activity, or ideally, by doing both.
For example, if you consume 500 extra calories per day for one week without changing your activity level, you will gain
1 pound in weight (seven days multiplied by 500 calories equals 3,500 calories, or the number of calories resulting in a
1-pound
weight gain). Likewise, if you eat 500 fewer calories each day for a week or burn 500 calories per day through exercise for one week,
you will lose 1 pound.
Examples of calorie content of some popular foods and beverages include the
following:
- one slice of original-style crust pepperoni pizza - 230
calories
- one glass of dry white wine - 160 calories
- one can of cola - 150 calories
- one quarter-pound hamburger with cheese - 500 calories
- one jumbo banana nut muffin - 580 calories
Any activities you do throughout the day are added to
your BMR (basal metabolic rate) to determine the total number of
calories you burn each day. For example, a 170-pound person who spends
45 minutes
walking
briskly will burn about 300 calories. The same time spent on
housecleaning burns about 200 calories, and mowing the lawn for 45
minutes consumes around 275 calories. For more, please read the
Calories Burned During Fitness Activities article.
How fast should you expect to lose weight?
Most experts agree that
a safe, healthy rate of weight loss is one to 1 ½ pounds per week.
Modification of eating habits along with regular exercise is the most
effective way to lose weight over the long term. It is also the ideal
way to ensure that the weight stays off.
Starvation diets may result in rapid weight loss, but this weight
loss is almost impossible to maintain for most people. When food intake
is severely restricted (below approximately 1,200 calories per day), the
body begins to adapt to this state of poor
nutrition
by
reducing its metabolic rate, potentially making it even more difficult
to lose weight. It is also possible to experience hunger pangs, bouts of
hypoglycemia,
headaches, and mood changes from overly stringent
dieting.
These symptoms can result in binge eating and weight gain. Since a
highly restrictive diet is almost impossible to maintain for a long
time, people who attempt to starve themselves thin often start to gain
weight again when they stop dieting.
The no-diet approach to weight control
By adopting sensible eating habits and practicing portion
control, you can eat nutritious foods so that you take in as many
calories as you need to maintain your health and well-being at your
ideal weight. Often, weight loss occurs on its own simply when you start
making better food choices, such as
avoiding
- processed foods,
- sugar-laden foods,
- white bread and pasta (substitute whole-grain varieties
instead),
- foods with a high percentage of calories from fat,
- and alcoholic drinks.
While nothing is absolutely forbidden, when you do succumb
to temptation, keep the portion size small and add a bit more exercise to your daily workout.
By replacing some unwise food choices with healthy ones, you'll be
cutting back on calories. If you add some moderate physical activity,
you have the perfect weight-loss plan without the need for special or
inconvenient (and often expensive) diet plans.
Let's look at an example of a successful
no-diet weight loss program.
A 45-year-old woman complains that she has gradually put on 12
pounds over the past year. In the last month, she's faced a stressful
work deadline and added another
4 pounds to her frame.
This individual's goal is to lose the 16 pounds she has gained.
Since her weight has been gradually increasing, she knows that she is
consuming more calories than she is burning, especially with her
sedentary job. She decides that a weight loss of
1 pound per week (equal to a deficit of about 3,500 calories, or
cutting 500 calories per day) would be acceptable and would allow
her to reach her goal in about four months.
She decides to make some changes that will allow her to cut back an average of 250 calories per day.
- Skipping a large glass of sweetened iced tea will
save about 200 calories.
- Substituting mineral water for the cola she regularly
drinks during meetings can save another 150 calories.
- Foregoing her morning
muffin snack (or eating only half a muffin) can also save 250 calories or more.
To reach her goal of a 500-calorie-per-day savings, she adds some exercise.
- Getting up early for a 20-minute walk before work and
adding a 10-minute walk during her lunch break add up to a half hour of walking per day, which can burn about 200 calories.
- On weekends, she plans to walk for 60 minutes one day
and spend one hour gardening the next day for even greater calorie
burning. If walking for 60 minutes is too much, two 30-minute walks one
day would
burn the same number of calories.
- Twice per week she plans to stop at the gym on the
way home from work, even if only for a half hour of stationary cycling or swimming (each burning up to 250
calories).
By making just some of the dietary cutbacks mentioned
and starting some moderate exercise, this individual can easily "save" the 3,500 calories per week needed for a
1-pound weight loss, leading to a healthy rate of weight loss without extreme denial or deprivation.
Furthermore, her changes in diet and lifestyle are small and gradual, modifications that she can maintain over time.
What about special diet plans (fad diets and popular diets)?
Many people prefer to have a set of rules to follow when dieting.
Others may crave the emotional support from attending counseling
sessions or meetings. Diet products, books, and services have become a
billion-dollar industry, so there are obviously many people looking for
help with weight control. Before you jump on the latest diet bandwagon,
remember
that organized diet plans and programs
can only result in weight loss if you burn more calories than you
consume. No dietary supplements, exercise devices, combinations of
foods, or specific patterns of eating will change this fact.
Some examples of popular diet plans include the
Atkins diet,
The South Beach Diet,
Weight Watchers,
Jenny Craig,
Body for Life,
Dr. Andrew Weil's diet plan, and the
Ornish diet.
All of these diets have their proponents, and all of them have been
successful for some people. Because eating habits and preferences vary
widely among individuals, before you decide on a diet plan,
ask yourself if the plan sounds realistic to you.
If the plan involves rigorous measuring of portions and calorie
counting, are you up to the task? If you're forbidden to eat certain
foods, will you develop cravings for them? Do you feel that you will
feel comfortable adhering to the diet guidelines? Will the diet's
requirements fit easily into your daily schedule? Finally, consider that
once you've lost the weight, you may regain the weight if you return to
your previous eating habits, so any weight-loss plan should be
something you can live with for a long time.
For more on comparing diet plans, please read the
Comparing Popular Weight Loss Diets article.
Remember that
the most successful weight loss comes from dietary
changes and healthy food choices that will stay with you over time, not
from diets that leave you feeling deprived or result in binge-eating
episodes.
When should weight-loss medications be used?
Although medical treatments (for example
Orlistat [Alli, Xenical]) are available, they should only be used by people who have health risks related to
obesity.
Doctors usually consider medications to be appropriate in patients with
a BMI greater than 30 or in those with a BMI of greater than 27 who
have other medical conditions (such as
high blood pressure,
diabetes, high blood
cholesterol) that put them at risk for developing
heart disease.
It is not recommend that medications be used for cosmetic weight loss
or to lose small amounts of weight. For more information on weight-loss
medications, please refer to the Obesity article.
Why is weight loss important?
Maintenance of a healthy body weight is important for maintaining
both physical and emotional well-being and preventing disease. Excess
weight and obesity have been associated with an increased risk for
numerous medical conditions, including
It should be noted that reduction in weight for those who are overweight
can make a major impact on the conditions listed above. Many
overweight people also report improved mood, increased in self-esteem
and motivation, and feeling healthier in general after they have lost
weight.
