The only sure path to lose weight fast is intaking fewer calories than you burn.
Do you want to know the secret to take control of your weight that diet books have never told you? Take in fewer calories-it is not important how - and get some support for your efforts.
We've been told that playing with the form of calories is the way to lose weight:
- low-fat diets, like the American Heart Association Step I diet or the Ornish diet
- low-carb diets like the Atkins and South Beach diets
- higher-protein approaches, like the Zone diet, had their moment of glory
- everything in between, from "eat no sugar" to the Paleo Diet (eat like a cave man)
The latest conclusion, comparing various weight loss plans, however, is that what you eat is less important than how much you eat. What really matters for weight loss is that you take in fewer calories than you burn. How you get there is less important according to a study published in the February 26, 2009 New England Journal of Medicine.
Behavioral, psychological, and social factors are far more important for weight loss than the mix of nutrients in a diet.
If you really want to lose weight fast, find a diet that appeals to you. If it's one your family can follow, so much the better-that way you aren't making different meals for you and your family.
The form of the calories you take in matters for only one reason: helping you stick with the diet. If you prefer protein, then a higher-protein diet will help you lose weight better than a diet based on carbohydrates.
If you like variety and vegetables, try a Mediterranean is for you.
If you believe that eating fat makes you fat (it doesn't, anymore than eating protein or carbohydrate makes you fat), then try a low-fat approach like one of the Ornish plans.
Better yet, build your own weight loss plan. It should provide many choices, less restrictions, and be as good for your heart, bones, and brain as it is for your waistline.
It should be a diet you are excited about, or at least not being afraid of. Most important, it should provide fewer calories than you usually take in. But how can you determine that?
A nutritionist can help you figure out how many calories you usually take in. The process involves keeping a diary of everything you eat and drink over the course of three days. This can be converted to your daily caloric intake. You can also do this yourself online.
There are many online food logs that automatically calculate your calorie intake.
Another free site worth trying is MyPyramid Tracker, set up by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support its new food pyramid. The site also has an exercise tracker.
Once you know how many calories you take in on a normal day, you can set a target for the future. A 500 calorie deficit is a good place to start. Do it for 7 days, and you'll lose a pound of fat (approx. 3,500 calories).
You can adjust your diet to take in 500 fewer calories a day.
Or you can diminish by 250 calories and exercise to burn the extra 250 calories (walk about 2 miles, swim for an extra 20 min., to your preference).
This kind of plan has a proven record of success!
