7 Keys To Successful Weight Loss

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Expect history to repeat itself if nothing changes about your past health habits. Dietary supplements may help you loose weight quickly, but it is also important to change your eating and exercise routine. Whatever exercise routine and diet you have now, allowed your body to get into the physical shape that it is currently in. Thus, if you make no change to your diet and exercise routines, they will almost certainly produce the exact same results about which you are currently unhappy. So, be responsible to yourself and be responsible for your actions. If you are not happy with your weight, realize that only you have the ability to change your life! Additionally, success takes dedication, commitment and hard work. Successful weight loss is no different and permanent, safe, long-term weight loss simply cannot be expected to happen over night. The following list contains several keys to successful weight loss:

1) Make small sustainable changes that you can maintain. This is the first step toward truly adjusting for a healthier lifestyle.

2) Set goals. Realize that it may not be possible to achieve complete satisfaction with your body and diet, overnight. Permanent weight loss is not always fast weight loss. Set small attainable weekly goals and realize that each week you are moving closer to true happiness and be happy with each small accomplishment. It is with an accumulation of these small accomplishments that you will reach your final goal. Sometimes&life is about the journey, not the destination. So enjoy the journey as you travel down the path toward a slimmer you, better health and a higher quality of life.

3) Eat right for you. Realize now, that all people are not created equally. Some people burn carbohydrates quickly but have a tendency to store fats. While a different body type may handle carbohydrates and fats in an opposite manner. Consider starting a food diary. Keep a journal of the foods you eat and how they make you feel. Try eating nutrient rich foods that provide your body with the nutrients it craves, instead of filling your body with empty calories.

4) Don't skip meals. Eating several small meals throughout the day will help hold your body in the burn as fuel mode for longer periods of time, thus increasing your overall metabolic rate. Numerous dieticians and weight loss experts suggest eating 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day, instead of eating two or three big meals. Sue Ayersman, a certified clinical nutritionist (CCN) at Kronos Optimal Health Centre in Scottsdale, Arizona said "Your body needs a certain amount of calories and nutrients each day for normal function&Denying the body of these essential elements throws the system into survival mode, slowing metabolism and encouraging the storage of energy in the form of fat. You have to eat in order to lose weight."

5) Drink lots of water. Drinking plenty of water can help maintain a higher metabolic rate. Conversely, a lack of water can slow metabolic rate, just as a lack of food can also slow metabolic rate (see point #4 above). As stated by John Acquaviva, PhD, assistant professor of health and human performance at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia "Since water is the body's most important nutrient, the liver will turn its concentration to water retention instead of doing other duties such as burning fat."

6) Exercise regularly. Muscle is more "metabolically active" than fat. This doesn't mean you have to become a bulky body builder, but no one can deny that regular excise and an increased heart rate will help you burn extra calories while increasing toned, lean muscle mass and the more lean muscle mass you have, the more easily you will maintain your desired weight. Aerobic exercise is defined as "brisk physical activity that requires the heart and lungs to work harder to meet the body's increased oxygen demand." This does not mean that you even have to go to a gym. Aerobic exercise can be achieved by doing simple household chores, gardening activities, swimming, walking or riding a bike, for example. Try to combine activities that allow you to do 60 minutes of aerobic exercise each day. If you are not able to do 60 minutes a day, set small goals and try to increase your activity until you are able to do 60 minutes a day.

7) Count calories. To loose weight, you must burn more calories each day, than you consume. Also, please recognize that your metabolism will slow down as you get older. Madelyn H. Fernstrom, PhD, CNS, associate professor and director of the UPMC Health System Weight Management Center in Pittsburgh says that your metabolism will decrease by approximately 5% each decade.

Good luck and let me know how you are doing!

Disclaimer: The information in this article is not provided by a medical professional and is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. Please consult your physician before beginning any course of treatment.

Copyright ? 2008 Tawne Bachus

Tawne Bachus is the President of HealthDirectNet.com and proud supporter of the weight loss and diet supplement Slendcor. For more information please visit Slendcor at HealthDirectNet.com.

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