The Three Legs of Weight Loss

Ever wonder why you keep gaining weight even if you watch what you eat? Losing weight isn’t just about counting calories or shunning a certain food group. Think of weight loss as a three-legged stool. With three legs, the stool is solid. But if one leg is missing, the whole stool falls apart. That’s why you never get the results you expect from dieting alone!

The three elements of healthy weight loss are: diet, exercise, and healthy lifestyle. If you take any of these from the equation, you won’t lose weight as effectively. And even if you do, you will gain it all back just as quickly. In today’s post, we go in-depth on all elements that boost weight loss and keep the pounds off for long term.

1. Weight Loss and Diet

Dieting is the most common method to lose weight. If done right, you can lose anywhere from 5 to 100 pounds. Modern diet consists of heavily processed, fattening food items. By cutting back on unhealthy foods, you take in fewer calories. And in order to lose weight, you have to burn off more calories than you take in.

There could be thousands of diet fads out there. These diet programs promise anything from faster weight loss to long-term health benefits. The fact is, you don’t need to pay for a fancy diet program to lose or maintain weight! Start by educating yourself about the kinds of foods you should eat. Develop meal plans consisting of high fiber vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Cut back on red meat and opt for poultry or fish for protein. Controlling the portions also help tremendously. By making the portions conservative, you won’t feel like you’re depriving yourself. All these leads to healthy weight loss.

2. Weight Loss and Lifestyle

It’s one thing to watch what you eat and another to develop a healthy lifestyle to complement your diet. Dieting is more effective if you establish a healthy lifestyle. Start by letting go of unhealthy vices like smoking or excessive alcohol drinking.

If you live a sedentary lifestyle, make small changes to whip your body back into shape. You don’t have to get expensive gym memberships to get fit! Apart from exercising, start cutting back on unhealthy foods or unhealthy habits. For instance, if you are an emotional eater, find ways to cope with stress and anxiety. Do bits of yoga or breathing exercises if things at work (or at home) get too much to handle.

3. Weight Loss and Exercise

Of the three legs of weight loss, exercising is the most important of all. It’s also avoided by dieters because exercising is strenuous. But no pain, no gain! Exercising has a long list of benefits. It strengthens and develops muscles. It prevents cardiovascular diseases. Exercising also keep the pounds off like nothing else! Now imagine if you combine exercise with diet and healthy lifestyle. You will gain all these health benefits for long term.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money on fitness. A 30-minute walk is enough to rev start your fitness routine. The key is to start gradually. Once you build strength and endurance from walking, move forward to jogging. From there, you can swim, run or use a bike to get fit.

You can also workout at home. The internet is a great place to start looking for fitness routines and home exercises. The bottom line is, if you are committed to staying fit, there are many ways to do it without spending a dime.