BASIC GUIDELINES FOR WEIGHTLOSS

Basic Guidelines for weight loss

Who doesn't want to lose those extra kilos you carry around. Finally its time to lose them. Say goodbye to your old unhealthy lifestyle and start a new healthy one. 

1.The idea of calorie deficit

Calorie is a unit of energy. We get calories through the food we eat, and use its energy to perform day to day tasks. The term ‘calorie deficit’ means that you have to spend more calories than you intake. This is the golden rule for weight loss. You can achieve it either by eating much less or by working out regularly. The ideal option is a mix of these two factors, ie by decreasing the calorie intake and by spending more calories. This should be done in accordance with your body.

 Different people have different maintenance calorie level (precisely the number of calories your body needs to support energy expenditure. You can use calorie calculators like the Body Weight Planner from the National Institute of Health to calculate yours), so does their intake. So the level of deficit varies from person to person. For most people, a calorie deficit of 500 calories per day is sufficient for weight loss and unlikely to significantly affect your hunger or energy levels. Make sure not to overdo it with the diet as our body still needs a reasonable amount of energy to survive

2. Cut out refined sugar and processed food

When it comes to weight loss our biggest enemies are sugar and processed food. One has to stay away from either of them if they wish to stay healthy. Refined sugar intake is linked to conditions like obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. Yet, it’s found in a variety of foods, making it particularly challenging to avoid. Refined sugars are added to many processed foods. They digest quickly and their high glycemic index causes unhealthy spikes in blood sugar levels. They can also cause fluctuations in mood and energy and a build-up of fat, especially around your waistline.

When you eat refined carbs, your bloodstream is flooded with sugar which triggers a surge of insulin to clear the sugar from your blood. All this insulin can leave you feeling hungry soon after a meal, often craving more sugary carbs. This can cause you to overeat, put on weight, and over time lead to insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes. Diets high in refined carbs and sugar have also been linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, hyperactivity, mood disorders, and even suicide in teenagers.   Checking food labels and reducing your intake of these foods will help limit the amount of refined sugars in your diet.

3.Focus on Protein

Protein is the single most important nutrient for weight loss and a better-looking body. A high protein intake boosts metabolism, reduces appetite, and changes several weight-regulating hormones. A higher protein intake actually increases levels of appetite-reducing hormones, while reducing your levels of the hunger hormone. By replacing carbs and fat with protein, you reduce the hunger hormone and boost several satiety hormones. This leads to a major reduction in hunger and is the main reason protein helps you lose weight. It can make you eat fewer calories automatically.

Protein also reduces calories in and boosts calories out. For this reason, it is not surprising to see that high-protein diets lead to weight loss, even without intentionally restricting calories, portions, fat,

or carbs. Some of the most common sources of protein are eggs, chicken, milk, paneer, cheese, yogurt, soy, and seafood.

4. Cheat meals are key

It is impossible to stick to a diet plan if it is not enjoyable. To make the weight loss journey less frustrating and more fun, we can add cheat meals once in a while to our diet. It has mainly 2 benefits. The first one being that it serves as a method of motivating ourselves. Come on guys, don’t be too harsh on yourselves. You have done many sacrifices in order to be at the level you are right now and you deserve an appreciation for reaching a milestone. Doing this not only relaxes you but also acts as a motivation to continue your diet until the next cheat meal day.

The second and most important advantage is more of a scientific reason. While having a calorie deficit diet your Leptin production decreases and ghrelin production increases, making your body think that it is in a state of starvation. Over time your body will grow used to a low-calorie diet and adjust accordingly. A cheat meal high in calories and carbohydrates can actually assist jumpstarting your metabolism and regulating these hormones. This way, you encourage the body to keep burning these calories, instead of adjusting to this lower intake.

You can have a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 3 cheat meals per week. It can be anything like a burger, a pizza, etc. But it's better to stay away from sugar.

5. Don't bother much about your weight

This is  a common mistake which the beginners make that they often get too obsessed with their weight, that they keep track of their weight twice a day and get disheartened when they see no difference. We must understand that the fat in our body is the result of accumulation over years and they won't go that fastly. We should aim for slow and steady weight loss journey as it is the most effective and healthy way.

Initially our body weight fluctuates a lot and we tend to lose some weight. We should aim for a healthy reduction of 0.5kg/week as it is much healthier than other alternatives. As we get to the intermediate stage our body weight does not matter much. Instead we have to focus on the appearance and healthy feeling. Understand that if we workout then we are going to build some muscle. Since muscles are much heavier than fat you are not going to lose much weight. This is not a bad thing. Just be consistent and the results will follow you automatically.

6.Exercise

Some people freak out when they hear the word exercise or workout. In reality It is a much simple and enjoyable thing to do. You don’t

have to do a ton of hardcore exercises in order to lose fat. In fact all you need to do is simple exercises that will keep your body active like jogging and sprinting. They are basically cardio which target your heart and increases your stamina. Then master the basic pushups and pullups. As you progress start doing some weight loss exercises like burpees. If you do these you are good to go.  If you really wish to take it to the next level start weight training ie, lifting weights. You don’t have to go to a gym to do all these. Just a basic dumbbell or anything that has some weight ( like a loaded schoolbag ) will do the trick just fine. There are plenty of online tutorials that teach you how to do them. A healthy active lifestyle is actually a mixture of cardio and weight training.

7. Give priority to a good night sleep

A good night sleep can have many positive effects on our body. It is the time when our body repairs itself from the damages and micro-tears from the simple workout sessions we had. For this repairing process it requires energy, and since our body is already in a calorie deficit, our body starts utilizing the excess stored fat from our body for energy. So in a way our body is burning fat while we are asleep. So a good sleep of 7-8  hours a day is recommended for a fresh start to a new day. There is also an added benefit of having much less stress and cravings to deal with.

8. Say no to caffeine and fat-burners

While trying to google about weight loss you may have come across various ads about fat-burners and forums saying that caffeine helps to burn fat. As a matter of fact it is true. Caffeine does help you to increase the rate of fat loss. But it comes with the cost of addiction. Yes I am talking the truth. Studies have shown that caffeine has the same addiction level as that of marijuana. This itself explains how dangerous regular consumption of caffeine is.

Regarding fat burners, they are of no use for the average consumer. They are made targeting the hardcore bodybuilder to whom even 0.1% body fat actually makes a difference. Don’t fall into the trap of false advertisement.

9. Stay hydrated

Drinking fluids is crucial to staying healthy and maintaining the function of every system in your body, including your heart, brain, and muscles. Fluids carry nutrients to your cells, flush bacteria from your bladder, and prevent constipation.

Since we have a  lot of protein intake to our body we have to ensure proper hydration. It helps in the proper functioning of the body. On average, we should aim to drink about 2 liters

of water a day to prevent dehydration. Water is particularly important when you’re trying to achieve a healthy weight loss, as it improves the digestive system so that fats are eliminated from the body more efficiently. In effect, drinking water helps to flush your system out. It also reduces fluid retention and decreases the appetite. In fact, people often mistake thirst for hunger, so if you feel like a snack, try first drinking a glass of water. Very often, this satisfies the craving and stops you reaching for calories you don’t need.

That's it! I hope you liked it and make sure to check out our blog for other great content.

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