Here is a simple weight loss plan that is guaranteed to work for everyone; young or old, male or female. You just need to plan it, schedule it and then DO IT!
I am sure everyone out there knows by now, and is sick to death of hearing it, that if you can somehow manage to decrease the number of calories you eat each day then you’ll eventually lose some weight.
Not really rocket science is it?
But the trick to even greater success in the weight loss department is to combine your lower calorie meals with some form of moderate exercise such as walking, for a minimum of 30 minutes each day.
Losing as much as 3 kilos or more is relatively easy as long as you stick to counting your calories. The biggest challenge for most people is not to lose the weight, but to maintain your new weight. This is where regular walking can be your unexpected and reliable friend in the battle with the kilos or pounds.
What we eat is very important for our health, but eating alone won’t give us the fitness and shape we are after. It takes more than a balanced diet to stay fit and healthy.
The crucial ingredient is regular exercise.
Our biggest problem today is that most of us move less and less. We take our cars to pretty much everywhere we go, we have sedentary jobs and sedentary hobbies, so we are forced to go out and find some activity to do in our spare time. As time is such a scarce resource these days, many of us end up not being able to find the resources, and often the motivation for a regular exercise routine.
The problem with restricting the amount of food we eat is that our metabolism may also slow down as a consequence. The brain notices the fact that food resources are limited, therefore it sends an order to the other organs to slow down, so that the actual supplies can last longer in case no more food arrives.
If your metabolic rate goes down, you’ll be in the situation of eating fewer calories, but not losing a single kilo in weight.
So instead of starving yourself with barely any results to show for your efforts try some regular walking or go to the gym and jump on a treadmill or exercise bike. Rowing machines are one of my favourites.
Walking at a lively pace requires energy. The body will try to take this energy from food, but if the supply is limited, it will be forced to take from what’s available. The fat deposits are available, so your walking will trigger their consumption. This is what makes you slimmer. Walking will bring your metabolism rate back to its initial level, so your efforts of counting the calories will start giving you some good results again.
Walking is the cheapest and easiest activity you can do to lose weight.
You don’t need special equipment, you don’t need to pay for expensive gym memberships and you don’t need to travel for miles until you get to a place where you can walk. You can walk everywhere, in your neighbourhood, in the nearby park, from home to office or when you go shopping.
Now you don’t have to overdo it, so if you go shopping for your weekly groceries, you may not want to walk back from the store with all those supplies in your hands. If you really want to stay fit and lose weight, you’ll find the right time for taking daily walks of about 30 minutes or more. That should be enough to keep you in shape, but you need to stick at it and turn walking into a habit.
If you decide to give it a try, you should make sure to inform your doctor about your plan, especially if you suffer from any chronic medical conditions that may limit the activities you are allowed to do.
Another important point to keep in mind is warming up and cooling down.
You should always do some warm-up routines before starting out on your walk to make sure you don’t end up with muscle strains or torn ligaments. When you finish your daily walk you should also cool down with a routine of stretching moves.
And don’t forget to take a bottle of water with you when you go for your walk, especially if the weather is hot. You need to stay hydrated for your body to perform at its best.
If you want to have some fun tracking your progress, you could buy a pedometer or install one of those fitness apps on your mobile, then you can keep track of your improvement on a weekly basis. This is also great motivation to help keep you improving your time and distance for each walk.
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