Diet and Exercise Plan for Life-Long Weight Loss

Diet and Exercise Plan for Life-Long Weight Loss

Excess weight doesn’t mysteriously pile on overnight while people are sleeping. In fact, it takes years for extra inches to thicken waistlines and widen hips. Many people, however, erroneously believe there’s some magic potion in a bottle or exotic diet that will make those extra inches disappear, with little or no effort on their part, and stay gone for good.

Life-long weight loss, though, isn’t that simple; but losing weight and keeping it off is entirely possible if people keep certain guidelines in mind.

Calories, Exercise, and Weight Loss

Some people are impractical when it comes to their weight-loss goals. For example, they might want a diet that will enable them to lose a pound a day. The reality, however, is that each pound of body weight is equal to 3,500 calories; therefore, in order to lose a pound a day, they would either have to consume 3,500 fewer calories per day than their body needed to function or else expend 3,500 additional calories.

Again, this goal is impractical and for one simple reason: It takes an average of 10 calories per pound for a person to exist, meaning someone who weighs 130 pounds must consume a total of 1,300 calories per day if he or she is as physically active as a vegetable. Add any physical activity whatsoever, though, even walking across the room, putting out the cat, or brushing one’s teeth, and that person’s caloric needs increase correspondingly.

Losing Weight Safely and Naturally
People can reduce their caloric intake by a reasonable 500 calories a day and lose one pound in seven days; but if they wish to lose more weight over a week’s time, they can both reduce caloric intake and increase physical activity.