Sports & Cooking

You, just like millions around the world, might be wondering how to lose weight fast.  There could be a couple reasons for this. Maybe you want to lose some weight for a vacation in a sunny place with a beach. Or, you have an important date or meeting coming up and you want to lose some extra pounds for it. The list of reasons can go on and on, but 1 thing is sure. And that’s the fact that you want to lose weight fast.

I think most important of all is to determine how much calories you consume. Because losing weight is quite simple if you know what’s going on in your body. To write weight gain or loss down in simple language. Weight gain/loss = calories gained – calories lost. Once you get this simple “secret formula” it will be clearer for you how to lose weight.

Now that you know that you should burn more calories than you consume, you will need to write down the calories you are consuming. You could start with this by writing down only the food you eat and drinks you drink. And once you sit down behind your pc, look up the calories that match with the food you ate and the drinks you drank. It could look something like this;

Breakfast
150 grams of cereal (300 calories)
200 ml of milk (50 calories)
1 tall latte (500 calories)

Lunch
300 grams of apple pie (350 calories)
250 ml of chocolate milk (280 calories)

Dinner
300 grams of bacon (600 calories)
2 cheese sandwiches (200 calories)

(Please keep in mind that this is an example list made up in 1 minute and not a description of what you should be eating)

You can write down what you ate per meal or just write down 1 big list. It doesn’t really matter how you do it, as long as you do it. Plus, this doesn’t have to be a 100% accurate list. But try to be as accurate as possible.

Now that you know how much calories you consume per day, you should be aiming to lose those calories and a bit extra. There are a couple ways to do this. First of all, you can look at foods and drinks which you can cut out of reduce. Take a look at the example above. If you are used to drinking a tall latte every morning. Which equals 500 calories per day and 3500 calories per week, which in turn equals 1 pound of weight (3500 calories = 1 pound of weight). Just by not drinking a tall latte in the morning, you could lose 1 pound a week. You can also take a look here if you are looking for breakfast ideas.

So far, you know that you should lose more calories than you gain and that you should reduce of cut out foods and drinks. A next step could be looking for healthier alternatives. Going back to the example above. Instead of drinking chocolate milk for lunch, which equals almost 1 calorie per ml! (wow..) You could drink something healthier, like a juice. Most times, 250 ml of a juice can contain like 100 to 150 calories, which is almost half of what’s in chocolate milk. Another example from above. Instead of eating pork or beef for dinner, think about eating more fish or chicken, since it has less calories thus being healthier. So in short, look for healthier alternatives. This way you can eat as much as you did, and at the same time, you’ll be gaining fewer calories.

Another important step in your journey to lose weight fast, or should I say look slimmer, is pumping iron. Weight training helps you build muscle and raises your metabolism. Muscular people have a higher resting metabolism (the amount of calories you burn when you’re just sitting still). This is because muscles require a lot of calories to maintain. Studies show that consistent weight training can raise the metabolism up to 15%. What does this mean I hear you say? Well, this means that an average woman might burn 200-300 more calories at rest every day and an average male even more. If you’re a fanatic weight trainer, you shouldn’t be surprised if you gain weight but look slimmer. This is because muscles mass weigh more than fat.

There you go. 4 step to lose weight fast.

Count the calories you consume
Cut off or reduce foods and drinks
Look for healthier alternatives
Pump iron

There are of course more steps you can take to lose weight. But these are the ones that I think are most important. If you think there are quicker and more practical ways to lose weight fast. Please let me know.

Technorati Tags: Health, metabolism, sports, weight gain, weight loss

Related Posts

• Get fit with the Nintendo Wii Fit
• 10 benefits of cardiovascular exercises
• The Pros and Cons of a Raw Food Diet
• Lose weight or lose fat?
• Why men lose weight faster than women