Losing weight with dieting?
"A healthy diet can be assessed by the sum and quality of the food consumed by a person. Good nutrition for the average man or woman needs both vitamins, minerals, proteins as well as energy taken in by foods containing carbohydrates as well as fats. Imbalances between the consumed fuels and expended energy results in either starvation or excessive reserves of carbs or fat is stored as body fat in the form of adipose tissue. "


The truth is that the secret ingredient to weight loss is not a pill or a drug. It's a mindset. While many people might not want to accept that this is true, the secret ingredient to weight loss is patience. Because weight loss takes time. If you get frustrated after following a diet or exercise program for a few days and give up, the real culprit sabotaging your weight loss efforts is, quite simply, a lack of patience.

You didn't end up with extra weight overnight, and you aren't going to experience significant or lasting weight loss overnight either. Successful weight loss requires commitment, and the willingness to stick to a healthy eating and exercise program that has the potential to help you achieve your long term weight loss goals.

What is a healthy diet?
A healthy diet is a diet that does not contain excessive quantities of fat, sugar or salt, and that provides enough vitamins and minerals for the body to function at peak efficiency. Calcium and vitamin D intake can be improved by making a conscious effort to include 2 to 3 servings of non-fat milk, yogurt or cheese in ones diet. Regardless of personal preferences or taste, there are numerous high calcium, high vitamin D foods available. Aerobic activity involving large muscle groups can be accumulated throughout the day by using the stairs more frequently at work or taking a brisk walk with a group of co-workers during ones lunch hour 2 to 3 times a week. It also helps to follow the food guide pyramid.


How to lose weight quick and safely?
The safest way to lose excess weight is not with a crash diet. Sudden bursts of exercise will not help either. You will have to introduce slow changes in terms of food and exercise on a consistent basis.

If you have not exercised for years you should not all of a sudden rush into it, the same applies if you suddenly start starving yourself and skipping meals. Any diets that severely stop intake of calories can lead you to be deficient in the nutrients and vitamins that your body needs as well as cause your body to start saving adipose tissue or fat as it thinks you are being staved.

Your body needs you to consume food to use as energy. It then will store any excess energy you do not use for later use as fat. Therefore if you consume more food than your body will use for daily activities you will store fat and gain weight.

To lose weight, you need to get your body to use up these stores of fat. The most effective way to do this is to both reduce the amount of calories you intake daily and increase your level of exercise and energy use.

While losing weigh is a short term you will want to keep these changes and remain healthy as a long term goal
Increase exercise and activity gradually
If you exercise more than usual, but still maintain the same calorie intake you will certainly lose those extra pounds off your body. Every single time you increase bodily activity you burn calories and therefore lose more fat.
What is overweight?
Doctors and dieticians use BMI (Body Mass Index) to assess weight. You can work out your BMI using our weight loss tools page here.

If you are overweight according to your BMI result, you can't continue with your current eating regime. There are no shortcuts to losing weight in a healthy way. Eating 450 to 550 calories less per day should lead to a loss of between one and two pounds per week, and coupling that with an exercise routine will increase that number.

Fats contain the most amount of calories out of all the food types therefore cut down on fatty foods and eat more fruit and vegetables.

It might take a week or two before you notice any changes, but they will steadily appear. After the first month you will be able to see the results so do not give up! Give yourself at least two months of healthy living to assess your weight loss goals and progress