Five Characteristics of a Good Weight Loss Plan

A great weight loss plan strikes a good balance between a healthy diet and an active lifestyle. It sounds so simple in theory, yet most of us who want to lose weight find it hard to stick to this philosophy alone. What's worse is that we have read a tumultuous amount of literature regarding the "proper" or the "best" way to lose weight, and, somehow, we end up confusing ourselves even more.
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When you make a commitment to lose weight, you have to make sure that you're choosing a healthy weight loss plan. You may ask how can you ensure that the weight loss plan you're about to make is the right one that will work for you. Well, simply put, it is all about watching what you eat and making sure you are engaged in an active sports or exercise program. For people who are bordering to obesity, it is best to consult a health fitness coach or a nutritionist to ensure that you get professional advice on the best weight loss plan that will suit your needs and lifestyle. However, for people who have gained a bit of weight and are wanting to live a healthier lifestyle, here are the top five characteristics of what constitutes a truly healthy weight loss plan.

1. Proper Nutrition Over Single-Item Diets

There is no short cut to healthy eating. For your benefit, simply avoid any weight loss plan that urges you to eat only one food item. Most people are under the impression that if we eat only foods that will increase fiber or protein intake, we're good to go. It is worth emphasizing that healthy weight loss means eating a well-balanced diet from all food groups. Starving and food deprivation will definitely crash your system in the long run. You may lose weight temporarily but this will only encourage an unhealthy relationship with food. The key thing to remember is moderation.

2. Calorie-Conscious Diet Plan

Being mindful of what you eat is the first step to healthy eating. The best way to do this is to follow a plan that allows you to track your calorie intake. Being aware of how much calories you take in is an essential part of losing weight. A lot of us find it tedious to count calories. However, a healthy weight loss plan ensures that you get just the right amount of calories your body needs to burn energy. There is no need to eliminate caloric foods in your diet. Just choose a diet program that makes it convenient for you to calculate the number of calories you need to lose a certain amount of weight. Reading food labels is a good start.

3. Portion Management, Water Intake, and Weight Loss

Aside from calories, a good weight loss plan should encourage you to cultivate portion control. Again, there is no need to deprive yourself of food. A good weight loss plan allows you to exercise your inner discipline to consciously eat in moderation and in reasonable amounts to keep you satisfied and healthy at the same time. In addition, proper hydration is a key factor in healthy weight management. Most of us take water for granted. We don't drink enough water during the day. Worse, we forget how important water is in healthy living. Proper hydration plays a major role in detoxification. Drinking 8 or more glasses a day washes away all the toxins, wastes, and even excess water weight, making you feel light, healthy, and fit. It's even a good technique for enhancing satiety when eating.

4. Workout Program

A good weight loss plan should involve a regular exercise program. Regardless of what type of sports or exercise you wish to participate in, being active is a major requirement for losing weight the healthy way. Make sure you engage in a gradual change. Nothing too intense at first, and then slowly increase the intensity to ensure proper body conditioning. A lot of people who have gained weight have lived sedentary lifestyles for a long time, so it's important to get active slowly but surely to avoid injury and to ensure long-term success. You should start gradually, say 20 minutes a day. You can start by simply taking a walk or a jog around the park. Overtime, you can then increase the intensity and duration of your exercise program to avoid exercise rut and to keep the challenge. Just like a well-balanced diet, there is no short cut to losing excess fat than moving your body. A workout program is also a great way to enhance your mood and self-esteem in the long run.

5. A Weight Loss Plan That Suits Your Lifestyle

Losing weight the healthy way is basically a big lifestyle overhaul. You don't have to be fazed by this long-term goal. Choosing a healthy weight loss plan should require an assessment of the lifestyle that you currently have. To ensure that you can stick to your weight loss goals, plan a weight loss regimen that allows you to still live the way you want to without compromising your health and your happiness. If you are a career-driven individual who is always on the go, choose a weight management plan that doesn't require 24/7 of your time. Better yet, find inspiration in the current lifestyle that you have and extend it to your healthy living goals. Busy people can stick to an afternoon or weekend schedule for their exercise regimen. Eating healthy food when you're always on the go requires a bit of meal planning and time management. There is always a way to adapt a good weight loss plan regardless of your career or family demands. You just have to manage your time well, and be committed to making healthy choices.

 

Basal Metabolic Rate: Starting Point For Weight Loss Plan

Your basal metabolic rate is a tool that trainers and nutritionists use as a starting point when developing a weight loss program. We all know what basal metabolism is - the dictionary defines it as "the amount of energy consumed by a resting organism simply in maintaining its basic functions." The basal metabolic rate (BMR) is a measure of the energy needed to sustain the body at rest. It's the calories you burn while doing nothing (other than presiding over your body's basic functions such as digestion, circulation, respiration, etc., of course). It's nature's way of keeping you from growing infinitely larger. But how does the basal metabolic rate help us start a weight loss program?

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The basal metabolic rate is a reference point used to determine our minimum daily caloric needs. We can calculate the BMR using simple arithmetic according to this formula:

Male: 66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years) Female: 655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

To illustrate, let's figure the basal metabolic rate for a 40 year old woman who is 5'6 tall and weighs 150 pounds:

655 + (4.3 x 150) + (4.7 x 66) - (4.7 x 40) = 655 + 645 + 310 - 188 = 1,422 calories

Her basal metabolic rate is 1,422. That means this woman burns 1,422 calories just keeping her body functioning. So what does a trainer (or you) do with this information? This number represents the minimum calories you need to consume daily to sustain yourself. But what if you want to lose weight? You should just cut down on your calories, right? Wrong.

When you cut back on calories, your body reacts naturally by slowing down its calorie burning to protect itself from starvation. Even though you're eating less, your weight stays the same. If you eat the same calories but exercise more, that should work, right? If your body works harder and doesn't get more energy, again, it will slow down your calorie burning and your results will be negligible. So does that mean you have to eat more calories? Doesn't that defeat the purpose? Not according to Josh Bezoni, fitness expert and co-founder of BioTrust Nutrition. He says, "Exercise increases metabolism. Eating increases metabolism. The trick is learning to balance the two so that you still create a negative calorie balance."

Let's say you calculate your basal metabolic rate and it allows you to burn 2000 calories a day. Knowing this, you go on a diet and begin eating 1500 calories a day which creates a 500 deficit. That would appear to be a good thing, but under-eating only decreases your metabolism.

Now let's change a few things. Your basal metabolic rate still allows you to burn 2000 calories a day. But, instead of cutting back your calories to 1500, you start eating 300 more calories each day but you also burn 800 extra calories through exercise. The result? You get the same 500 calorie deficit (2800 calories burned - 2300 calories consumed) but you do so while increasing your metabolism through eating and exercising more. This process is especially helpful for one who has a low basal metabolic rate due to calorie restriction and a sedentary lifestyle. (By the way, a 500 calorie deficit per day yields a 1 pound weight loss per week.)

The basal metabolic rate provides a good baseline for minimum calories. Obviously, the right foods and exercise are crucial to your success. A diet of sugary foods and/or an exercise program consisting of endless walking on a treadmill will make weight loss difficult. But if you use your BMR as a starting point, you will know not to go below that level and add food and exercise accordingly to create a calorie deficit.

The basal metabolic rate gets you started. The next step is lifestyle changes. A diet high in vegetables, fruits, lean protein sources, seeds and nuts (sparingly) combined with strength training which involves both aerobic and anaerobic exercise is a good formula to follow for weight loss and good health in general. Certain sports can give you a great full body workout, as well. The best starting point in developing a weight loss plan is a calculation of your basal metabolic rate.