Simple Weight Loss

By: David McCarthy

Active weight watchers consistently ask what foods can I eat and
what foods should I avoid. This is a genuine thing because if
you have set a goal to lose weight you want to be sure that you
are eating the right things. The good news is that there are
very few foods that you should avoid such as:

- Any type of fast food. (Pizza's, burgers etc.) - All soft
drinks that fizz. - Never drink beer when you eat, or eat when
you drink beer. Beer will stop your body from breaking down fats.

What is more important is how much you eat. The excess weight
that you put on is the difference between calories digested and
calories burnt off through exercise. Therefore if you lead an
active life you are able to consume more calories and your
activity will burn them off. If your lifestyle lacks physical
activity you must consume less calories and search for ways to
become more active. Therefore the size of the serving depends
upon your lifestyle. The wife of a physical worker needs to
serve him larger portions because he needs it to create the
energy required to get through a physically exhausting day. The
risk that she takes is that by serving large meals to him she
tends to serves similarly large meals to herself; often using
the excuse that she is only eating two-thirds the amount he
consumes. If her activity level is only half of his then
two-thirds could be over-eating.

In the developed world adults consume on average 3,500 calories
each day. Adults actually require 2,000 calories to function
properly. Now imagine lowering your calorie intake to 3,000 per
day. The 500 calories less consumed each day equates to 3,500
calories per week less or six days food every seven days. It
just happens that 3,500 calories equals one pound in weight and
if you can lose one pound (450 grams) each week you are at the
optimum weight loss level. As a general rule diets that reduce
weight by greater than one pound per week are short term and 99%
of people put that weight back on. One-pound weight loss per
week is the most sustainable amount.

How can you achieve this reduction in calories consumed? Easy,
at the start of each day decide what you are not going to
consume that day. Say Monday becomes no bread day. That means
that you do not eat any bread on Monday. More importantly you
don't eat more of something else to compensate. Tuesday may be
no potato day. Wednesday no cakes or cookies etc. etc. At the
same time as you do this you increase your exercise level. Park
the car at the furthest point from the supermarket door. Use the
stairs rather than an escalator. Take a walk after dinner. Just
do things that you've been avoiding and see how quickly you lose
weight and keep it off.

This article is copyright © David McCarthy 2006 and may only be
re-produced without alteration or addition.

About the author:
David McCarthy is a prolific writer of articles on food, health
and diet. His website is http://www.recipesmania.com and it
contains all of his article in the news blogs section and
hundreds of recipes for all occasions from banqueting to
dieting.