How to lose weight is notably dependent on the amount of physical activity and well-balanced nutritious meals we consume. Creating a healthy lifestyle will assist us in losing weight while lowering our risk of developing certain health problems.
In order to achieve our goal of losing weight one key factor requires we burn more calories than what we consume. So the question is, how many calories do we need to consume a day to achieve our weight loss goals?
First, we have to determine what our average calories are required to maintain our body weight. Once we determine that amount we will need to reduce that daily amount between 400 to 500 calories per day. Generally speaking, the average calories per day for an adult male is between 2,000 to 3,000 calories. Whereas an adult female requires between 1,600 to 2,400 calories.
So, what are some dietary changes we should consider that will allow us to lose weight?
Intermittent Fasting. Lets consider the popular 16/8 system that is often utilized by many well known celebrities when they are wishing to “get into shape for a specific role.” Basically, the 16/8 Intermittent Fasting lifestyle consists of fasting for 16 hours followed by an eating window of 8 hours. This will trigger our body to use ketones that will be used as fuel to promote weight loss when we are active.
Keep A Food Journal. Logging our meals holds us accountable in our daily caloric intake while identifying some areas of improvement based on the type and quality of food we consume.
Eat More High-Quality Whole Foods. This is single-ingredient foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, meat, fish, and more. Avoid saturated and trans fat, processed, and flavored junk food.
Portion Control. Smaller portion sizes will help reduce our caloric intake drastically. In no time we will become accustomed to using a smaller plate and serving smaller portions.
Prep Our Meals. This ensures our meals are healthy and it sure is healthier on our wallet since we are not always eating out.
Drink 6 to 8 Mugs Of Water. Staying hydrated helps our system distribute healthy nutrients, gets rid of waste, gives our skin a healthy glow and keeps our muscles moving.
Sound Sleep. When we lack proper sleep certain hormones kick in and it increases our hunger pangs. Having this consistent hunger pangs can cause some personal challenges when we are on a reduced caloric intake.
Drink Black Coffee. Drinking black coffee with less sugar and without add-ons like milk and cream does help with those pesky hunger pangs and will give us a “kick start” for the day.
I am now going to speak on the exercise component regarding our weight loss journey. For this particular blog I am going to suggest resistance bands and a couple of supplementary exercise attachments.
Jumping Rope or Jumping Jacks. These two exercises burn a lot of calories. Since these are impact loading exercises, several muscles are involved such as the glutes, quads, hip flexors and shoulders.
Walking. An excellent way to remain active, burn calories while having the opportunity to socialize with people and smell the roses in the park. Walking affects our entire body, especially our cardiovascular system and muscles.
Planks. Is an excellent core exercise that doesn't involve doing any crunches. It's great for all levels of fitness.
Legs. Consider doing air squats or resistance band squats on a balancing board since this is an incredible strength stability exercise that enhances the muscle strength of our legs, waist, abs and hips.
Calves. Do calve raises on a set of stairs while holding onto the banister. Awesome strength exercise for our calves and Achilles tendon.
Chest. We have a choice between doing push ups or using resistance bands for our chest exercises. There are various angles and spacing when doing these awesome exercises, which keep our training fresh and interesting.
Back. Utilizing the door anchor attachment to do pull downs or resistance band pulls from various angles.
Shoulders. There are numerous exercises you can do with your resistance bands, such as shoulder press, and front, side, or rear delt raises.
Triceps. Using the door anchor attachment you can do push-downs, lateral delt raises or you can use a chair or steps to do a series of dips.
Biceps. Stand on the resistance bands, you simply do a series of bicep curls utilizing different spacing of your arms. Using the door anchor attachment you can do various bicep curls from different angles.
In summary, nothing can have a greater impact on our health than a lifestyle consisting of real, whole foods, and prioritizing our physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
Remember, we only have one life and we can achieve a heightened quality of life by the way we take care of ourselves.
I hope this blog has given you some incentives in creating a healthy lifestyle that includes losing some of those extra pounds and maintain your desired weight.
About The Author: Steve is a Christian Blogger, Videographer, and Personal Trainer who have a passion of bringing positive content while enhancing the lives of others through his blogs.