Weight Loss For Women: Best Practices

Many people want to know how to lose weight fast for women, but studies show that women who lose weight gradually instead of quickly are more likely to keep the weight off. Think about a crash diet: if you’re incredibly (and I mean incredibly) disciplined, you can eat like a bird long enough to lose weight quickly, but that’s not a sustainable lifestyle. Eventually you’ll go back to your regular routine, and after the shock you put your body through, it’s actually more likely that your body will latch onto those extra calories.

However, if you slowly cut out one unhealthy item a week (for example, avoid soda week one, then starches week two, and so on and so forth), it’s a lot easier to manage. Plus, when you’re focusing on avoiding starches, you’ll realize you don’t even miss the soda.

Studies also show that you begin to see health benefits after losing just 5-10% of your body weight. That’s only 10 pounds if you’re 200 pounds. So, celebrate the small victories too! You shouldn’t aim to cut your width in half. Focus on the health benefits - how you feel.

Determine Your BMI

Try to not get caught up with numbers on a scale, because muscle actually weighs more than fat. So two people may weigh the same, but one may be slimmer, healthier, and more active.

Your body mass index (BMI) is a popular way to gauge your weight because it calculates your mass instead of your weight - two different things. You can find the formula below:

(Weight in Pounds x 703) / (Height in Inches) / (Height in Inches) = BMI

For example, if someone weighed 200 pounds and stood at 5’5’’ (65 inches), the formula would be:

(200 x 703) / 65 / 65 = 33.28

Generally speaking, BMIs of:

●      12-18 are underweight

●      19-24 are healthy

●      25-30 are overweight

●      30-39 are obese

●      40+ are dangerously obese

Your Diet

The best way to lose weight is in the kitchen and not on the track, just so you know. Some tips and tricks for keeping your diet in control are:

1.     Limit your portions. You don’t have to cut out everything you love. In fact, you’re more likely to give up on the diet all together if you do. If you love pasta, make sure you only have a cup of it on the side instead of an entire dinner.

2.     Avoid Hunger. Keep yourself of a schedule of healthy foods and snacks throughout the day. You’re less likely to binge on something bad if you never allow yourself to starve. Plus, if you eat small meals often instead of two or three large meals, your metabolism has more time to break everything down in a healthy way.

3.     Drink water. Studies show that at least drinking one glass of water before each meal helps you to not overindulge, but you should be drinking half your body weight (in ounces) in water each day. That means someone who is 200 pounds should drink 100 ounces of water a day. Plus, many times you think you’re hungry, you’re actually just thirsty.

4.     Eat slowly. It can take your stomach up to 20 minutes to tell your brain it’s full, so the faster you eat, the more unnecessary calories you’re taking in.

5.     Plan your meals. You’re less likely to swing through a drive-thru if you know you have a chicken defrosting at home or produce that will go bad. Also, you spend all day at work knowing that you’re going to cook when you get home, it’s usually more fun than when you get home, hungry, and have to figure something out with what you have.

Exercise

It’s no secret that one of the best exercises to lose weight is cardio - walking, jogging, running, hiking, biking. Exercise works similarly to diet, however, in that you need to start slow. If you haven’t gone for a run in months, don’t set out to do 3 miles - you’ll end up tired, in pain, and disappointed in yourself.

Also, don’t set out to do it every day, just most days. Four out of seven days a week is a great goal. It’s just about every other day, and you’re exercising more often than not. Many people will focus on cardio to lose weight, and then once they’re at their desired weight or silhouette, they’ll focus on strength training to tone.

Invest in yourself. Get a pedometer to keep track. Get some cute workout clothes to motivate you. Make the trip to the beautiful hiking spot you heard about. It will start to feel less like work and more like “me time” if you do things you enjoy.

Written by: Joanna Hynes

5 Foods That Help You Lose Weight

I know, you’re thinking, these foods better taste good. Surprisingly, they’re not bad. The human body is a vast, devious hard glutton-filled global empire of hungry monsters, and often they enjoy junk food. Why do we enjoy junk food—because it’s good, duh? However, there’s plenty of good food that tastes good and can help you lose weight.

1)    Salmon!

Darn right. Do I need to call the health police on you? Keep your sugar hooks off that chocolate and take a taste of salmon. Yummy. Can you feel that high quality protein circulating down your esophagus? What about those healthy fats, important nutrients and a healthy dose of iodine? You don’t know what iodine is? I am calling the health police. Iodine is a trace mineral and a nutrient found naturally in the body. It’s also needed for cells to convert food into energy. We lovely people need iodine for normal thyroid function and production of thyroid hormones. Salmon also contains Omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to help reduce inflammation, which is known to play a major role in obesity and metabolic disease

2)    Lean Beef & Chicken Breast

Yeah, now we’re talking. This one is for all you meatheads, we know you are very smart about what you consume and take each blog note to heart so here’s the deal. Beef and chicken contains that scrumptious fulfilling nutrient labeled protein, which is the most fulfilling nutrient. When you chow on a high-protein diet, you can burn up to 80 to 100 more calories per day. By bringing protein into your life, you can cut evening snacking by sixty percent, which can cause weight loss around a pound a week. Ooh eee. (Thank me later.)

3)    Fruit Diet

If all else fails, turn to fruit. We all know it's one of the healthiest snacks and they're pretty delicious. A fruitarian diet is a strict form of a vegetarian diet that is generally limited to eating fresh fruits. Even the stinking United States Department of Agriculture recommends that fruit should be in our daily meal planning for weight loss goals. Of course with every diet, there are risks, so please consult a doctor before beginning a diet. 

4)    Vegan Weight Loss

Did you know that vegans even have a food pyramid? A lot of healthy stuff as far as I can see. The first floors loaded with fruit and veggies. The second floors stuffed with whole grains, while the first and second floor has fortified dairy and beans and seeds and treats (use sparingly). Remember whole grains are a healthy complex carbohydrate that helps keep blood sugar well-balanced to create weight loss. 

5)    Tuna

Say what? Wait, I kind of knew that. Tuna is another low-calorie, high-protein food. It is indeed a lean fish, so that means there isn’t much fat in it (good news for you). Tuna is popular among bodybuilders and fitness models who like to look beautiful like my new red heels (they wish). Only try this tuna stuff if you want to encourage weight loss, keep calories low and fat to a minimum.

See I told you this health stuff was not so bad. Try out a few of these healthy food items and see how it goes. We promise it won't be as bad as you might think. If you're trying to lose weight, just stick by Atlantic Health Solution's blog. We're always here to make sure you know your options! 

By Preston Copeland

Water and Weight Loss: How They Relate

Whether it’s summer and you need to get ready for the beach, or whether it’s New Year’s Eve and you need a New Year’s Resolution, there always seems to be pressure to lose weight. Of course, losing weight is often much more of a chore than we would like it to be, which is probably why it’ still on the to-do list in the first place.

It’s no secret that effective weight loss is a very difficult task. That is why people are constantly being sold different ideas and diets, all of which claiming to have a secret tip to losing weight quickly and more effectively. While there are no secret weapons to weight loss and no substitutes to decreasing your caloric intake and exercising, there are things you can do that will help you lose weight.

Fortunately for anyone interested in cutting a few pounds, not every weight loss supplement involves some costly diet subscription. Instead, one of the easiest diet aids is free, and it’s already in your home. Water might be the extra boost you need to actually meet your weight loss goals this year. While water and weight loss have always had somewhat of a connection to each other, examining their relations can help ensure that you integrate a boost from water weight loss boost into your weight loss plan. Here are some of the direct and indirect relations between water and weight loss:

1. Drinking water can increase the amount of calories that you burn.

Drinking water has always been considered a healthy habit, and it is usually recommended in diet plans, but studies from this past decade have shown that water actually increases your body’s metabolic rate. Within 10 minutes of drinking water, your body’s metabolic rate increases for about an hour at least. Studies have shown that people generally burn calories 25-30% faster after drinking water, and possibly even faster if the water is cold as the body expends caloric energy to warm the water.

So, even without a single change in your life, besides drinking an additional half a liter of water per day, you can lose an extra 5 pounds within 12 months. For only drinking one large glass of water every day, those are an easy 5 pounds.

2. Drinking water prior to a meal can help to suppress your appetite.

This is one of the more classic reasons for why you should drink more water when you are trying to lose weight. Drinking 1-2 cups of water 30 minutes before a meal has been known to suppress appetite. Reducing your appetite before meals is a great way to lose extra weight during a diet.

Studies have shown that drinking water before a meal does reduce the amount of calories people consume during that meal, which has been shown to increase weight loss by 40% during diets or an additional 4-6 pounds over a 12-week diet. These effects are increasingly more evident for individuals as they get older, but even a modest increase to weight loss makes a diet more effective at a very low cost.

3. Drinking water can decrease your caloric intake.

Drinking more water has been linked to decreases in caloric intake, especially during weight loss programs. While the link may be indirect, there are many reasons for why this happens. As explained above, drinking water before a meal can act as a very effective appetite suppressant, which will certainly decrease the amount of calories you consume. Additionally, drinking water often can, and should, take place of another drink that usually contributes to the number of calories and sugars you consume throughout the day. As a 0-calorie drink, replacing your normal drink of choice with water can certainly decrease the number of calories you consume.

Moral of the Story: Drink more water! Not only is it cheap, and probably free most of the time, but it definitely helps in some way or another with weight loss. An additional 5 pounds here and another 5 pounds there to your weight loss plan can make the difference between another diet that almost worked and the diet that all your friends will notice. Literally the only thing you need to do is drink a glass of water every time you’re thirsty, especially between 30-40 minutes before every meal.

By Russell McBurnie

How To Lose Ten Pounds

It’s safe to say plenty of people care about their bodies in our society. Sometimes it’s for health reasons, and sometimes it’s for vainer reasons, but regardless it is something that’s on a lot of people’s minds. So, if you ever look in the mirror and think that it’s time to lose 10 pounds, then don’t feel alone.

Whether it’s through one week, three weeks, or three months, there are many diet plans that show people how to lose 10 pounds. However, you must be careful with how you approach losing weight as many diets are merely products of the newest fads or clever sales. So, to help you avoid falling for a misleading and even unhealthy diet, here’s a guide on how to lose 10 pounds safely to ensure that you are following a good regimen:

1.    First thing’s first – set up a plan!

One of the most difficult challenges for people trying to lose weight is staying on course without giving up. Setting up a plan helps you maintain your discipline even after days when you just may not feel so motivated. An effective plan must have clear goals and intentions so you know what success is as well as an approximate timetable for when you want to get there. However, remember that your plan needs to be realistic so that you don’t set yourself up for imminent failure. So, for instance, don’t draw up a plan to lose 10 pounds in two weeks, as losing more than 1-2 pounds per week is ineffective and unhealthy. Do not overdo it as this is something you would actually like to achieve. Effective weight loss is a marathon.

2.    Watch what you’re putting into your body – cleaning up your diet is essential.

Now, a diet is essential because you cannot lose weight without burning calories and creating a calorie deficit. After all, there’s a decent chance that the reason you need to lose 10 pounds is related to what you’ve been eating. The particular diet that helps a person lose 10 pounds will vary for each individual, but there are certainly tips that go a long way.

First, be smart with what you eat. An effective diet does not have to be crazy. Instead, just watch your snacking. Rather than eating a few hundred calories out of the chip bag, eat something a little more filling and a lot healthier, like fruit. Pay attention to sugary snacks because every gram of sugar is about 4 calories, so snacks with a lot of sugar can add over 50 calories to your snack for no reason. Smart snacking is especially important at night after dinner. Keep yourself entertained and remember that you really do not need a cup of ice cream in order to enjoy your favorite TV show. Also, if you are a soda drinker, then you need to cut out the sodas. Drinking 1-2 cans of soda add a completely unnecessary and unhealthy 150-400 calories every day.

Second, do not cut your calories too low. Avoid cutting more than 750 calories from your diet as calories are the main source of all your energy. Cutting down your caloric-intake too far will result in exhaustion, endless fatigue, and nagging hunger. Watching what you eat is already difficult, but having your body tell you that it’s being starved will not help. The key is to cut your calories while keeping it at a maintainable level that keeps you feeling lively and fed.

3.    Get moving to speed up the process – exercising properly is crucial for effective weight loss.

Exercising is a very important element to any effective weight loss plan. By helping you burn calories, exercise helps you lose weight by burning calories without needing to starve yourself. Of course, you need energy to exercise, so you will also need to make sure your eating a healthy diet. Exercise does not need to be highly intensive workouts. Rather, 20-45 minutes of brisk cardio, like walking and light jogging, every day will help you burn an extra 200-400 calories. You can even add 2-3 days of light strength training to help you tone normally fatty areas into muscle. Like dieting, exercise can be difficult to stay disciplined to, unless you’re one of the few who absolutely love to work out. So, keep it interesting by changing up the activity, the location, the duration, the intensity, or who you exercise with. The most effective exercise plans are those that feel more like play time than they do work time. Of course, you must avoid overdoing it with exercise as well, or else you will put yourself at risk for burning out, which can compromise your entire plan.

4.    Do a little soul searching – understanding bad habits can better ensure long term health.

This may seem dramatic, but seriously look within yourself for reasons as to why you might be where you are. Understanding why you have had trouble staying committed to eating healthy and being more active can help change your life for the long run. Whereas losing 10 pounds might be a single goal, the larger picture is to become healthier, and becoming healthier requires that you change your bad habits into good habits. You might be surprised how many things you do by habit, and focusing on those could really change your life.

Unfortunately, there is no magic wand to wave when you want to lose 10 pounds, and there’s no 3-day diet that can do it for you. Weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint, so slow and steady will win the race. While there might not be a single perfect plan, following this simple guide will help you lose 10 pounds and bring you closer to your ideal weight. 

By Russell McBurnie