How to Lose Weight

Are you tired of carrying around the extra pounds? Or do you want to shed extra weight once and for all? This article covers the basics including how to eat, exercise and stay motivated to lose weight. It also covers some specific diets that you may want to try in your journey to a smaller, healthier you. Before you start, think about what kind of weight you want to lose; fat, or just weight. If you want to lose just weight, carry on. If you want to lose fat weight, follow these steps, but add a workout plan.

Method 1 of 5: Rules of Thumb

Keep your own personal food diary and determine your weight loss goals upfront. It is important that you determine a healthy weight for you age and height. Sometimes people want to lose weight weight to become very thin; this is not good for your health, so before you start ensure you know what are your weight loss goals. People who keep food diaries, according to a study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, lose an average of 6 pounds (2.75 kg) more than people who don't keep a record of everything that they eat. So force yourself to write down the good, the bad and the ugly. Keep these tips in mind:

• Be exhaustive. Write it all down, including beverages. Don't pretend you didn't have that extra glass of wine after dinner. If it goes into your stomach, it goes into the journal.
• Be accurate. Record your portion sizes in your food diary. Also, read the ingredients list so that you can be accurate about serving sizes.
• Be complete. Add detailed information about how your food was prepared (fried, boiled, grilled, etc.), and write down any added toppings or condiments that you ate.
• Be consistent. Carry your food journal everywhere that you go. As an alternative, you can use a diet-tracking app on your smartphone or tablet.

2

Have a balanced diet. That means your diet should include appropriate amounts of food from all the food groups.

3

Avoid skipping meals. The same study found that people who ate at least 3 meals per day lost more weight than people who didn't. The scientists speculate that people who skip meals either overeat at their next meals because they're so hungry, or their bodies absorb more calories because they're in starvation mode from skipping meals.

• When you skip meals, your body stops breaking down fat and starts breaking down muscle tissue. Muscle tissue burns more calories at rest than other tissues, so you're actually working against your goals.
• Make sure that you don't get hungry by eating small portions throughout the day at regular intervals. Between your meals, eat a 150-calorie snack to keep your metabolism burning and to stave off hunger. Be sure that you don't eat a fattening snack, such as sweets or crisps. When you're hungry, your body conserves calories and slows down your metabolic processes.

4

Eat food from home. Sure, going out for a power lunch helps you to see and be seen, but researchers find that people who eat fewer meals from restaurants tend to lose more weight.

• When you eat at a restaurant, you have limited control over your portions. As a result, you often eat more than you intended to eat. Try packing up half of it in advance and taking it home for tomorrow. Do this before you start eating so you're not tempted to finish your gigantic portion.
• Ordering from a restaurant menu doesn't give you complete information about how your food is cooked or what ingredients are used. At home, you can substitute lower-calorie ingredients or make recipes over so that they still taste great while delivering healthier results.

Method 2 of 5: Low-Calorie Diet

1

Learn to love fruit. Fruit helps to satisfy your sweet tooth thanks to its natural sugars. It also contains fiber to help you feel full quickly. Try some of these tips to introduce more fruit into your diet:

• Choose fruit that's in season. When you eat apples in the fall, for instance, or cherries in late summer, you are eating fruit at the peak of its flavor. It's going to be a much more satisfying experience.
• Eat freshly cut fruits like melons or pineapple chunks as snacks (they're delicious) .
• Keep a bowl filled with fruit on your kitchen counter or in your refrigerator. Also, keep dried fruit and fruit canned in water on hand in case your fresh produce goes bad.
• Prepare a large fruit salad containing mostly berries as well as other fruit that won't go bad quickly, like pineapples or orange chunks. Toss in some walnuts and refrigerate the fruit salad for up to a week. Grab a cupful for breakfast or eat it as a dessert.

2

Eat vegetables for nutrition and to help you fill up more quickly. When you make your lunch or dinner plate contain at least 50 percent vegetables, you can have other richer dishes on your plate in smaller portions. Add veggies to your plate by following some of these suggestions:

• Enjoy vegetables that contain potassium. Vegetables like sweet potatoes, spinach and lentils will ensure that you get the potassium that you need.
• Use vegetables as a main dish. For example, make a stir-fry or a hearty salad and add just a few ounces of cooked chicken, salmon or almonds.
• If you have a habit of eating out of boredom.Try chewing sugar free gum.
• Eat crunchy vegetables as snacks. Cut up celery, carrots, peppers, broccoli or cauliflower and dip them in a light salad dressing or hummus.
• Take advantage of frozen vegetables. They cook quickly in the microwave when you're in a hurry to fix dinner.

3

Learn to eat whole grains instead of refined foods.

• Substitute whole-grain foods for refined carbohydrates. Try whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta or brown rice.
• Substitute whole wheat flour or oat flour into pancakes or baked goods. You might need to add additional leavening ingredients, like wheat gluten.
• Swap whole grains into traditional mixed dishes. For example, put barley in your soup instead of rice or try a pilaf with barley, wild rice or brown rice.

4

Choose protein wisely. 

• Select lean cuts of beef or extra-lean ground beef.
• Try chicken breasts. If you use different cuts of chicken, then remove the skin.
• Skip the fatty deli meats like bologna and salami. Choose lean turkey or roast beef as a replacement.
• Vegetarians can get plenty of protein from soy, nuts, beans and seeds. Enjoy nuts and seeds in moderation because they have a high concentration of calories.

5

Eat low-fat dairy products including low-fat cheeses and nonfat yogurt. 

6

Consume healthy oils. If you cook with oil, use a teaspoon of a healthy oil such as olive oil or canola oil. Or instead of adding oil for flavor, add spices or vinegar.

Eat only naturally-occurring carbohydrates instead of processed carbohydrates. Appropriate choices include carbohydrates that occur naturally in in fruit, vegetables, milk, nuts, whole grains, seeds and legumes. Avoid processed foods, like white bread, semolina pasta or crackers, or processed sweets like candy bars or sugary vegetables.

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