Your body weight is really controlled by the number of calories you eat and the number of calories you use each day through things like exercise and physical activity. This means that to lose weight, you actually need to take in fewer calories each day than you use so that there is deficit in calories consumed. There are two ways to do this - by becoming more physically active or by eating less each day. Following a weight loss program that helps you to become more physically active and also decrease the amount of calories that you eat, is the best way to achieve successful weight loss.
To lose weight and keep it off, you should be aware of the different types of programs that are available. You should also look at what makes up a good program. Knowing this information can help you select a weight loss program that will really work. The four types of weight loss programs include:
Do-It-Yourself Programs
1. Any effort to lose weight by yourself or with a support group either on or offline, fits in the "do-it-yourself" category. People using a do-it-yourself program rely on group support, and products such as diet books, for advice.
Non-Clinical Programs
2. These programs tend to be commercially operated, such as privately-owned, weight loss chains. They often use books and pamphlets that are prepared by healthcare providers but use counselors who are not usually trained healthcare providers. Some of these programs require participants to use the program's food or supplements.
Clinical Programs
3. This type of program is usually provided in a healthcare setting, such as a hospital, by licensed health professionals, including physicians, nurses, dietitians, and/or psychologists. In some clinical programs, a health professional works alone; in others, a group of health professionals works together to provide services to patients. These clinical programs offer services such as nutrition education, medical care, behavior change therapy, and physical activity. Clinical programs may also use other weight loss methods, such as very low calorie diets, weight loss drugs, and surgery, to treat severely overweight patients. All of these programs would be carefully supervised during implementation.
Surgery
4. Gastric bypass surgeries are combination procedures that use both restriction and malabsorption to achieve weight loss. Because it is a combination approach, it tends to be more successful for weight loss than purely restrictive surgeries. Gastric bypass surgery may be an option if you are significantly obese and have tried unsuccessfully to lose weight on diet and exercise programs and are unlikely to lose weight successfully with non-surgical methods.
If you are considering a weight-loss program and you have medical problems, or if you are severely overweight, then programs or surgery run or conducted by trained health professionals are probably your best option. These professionals are more likely to monitor you for possible side effects of weight loss and will help you to lose weight successfully and safely.
Whether you decide to use the do-it-yourself, non-clinical, or clinical approach, the program you opt for should help you lose weight and help you to keep it off by teaching you healthy eating and exercise habits that you will be able to use for years to come.
Male obesity has become a weighty topic...and it's on the rise in the United States. Although weight-loss programs and diet trends often focus on women, the American Obesity Association found that the prevalence to be overweight is higher for men (67 percent) than women (62 percent). In fact, a recent study from the National Institute of Health (NIH), conducted over 30 years, showed nine out of 10 men and seven out of 10 women were overweight or became overweight. But despite being more prone to obesity, only 39 percent of men are on a diet or would try a diet to lose weight, as opposed to 70 percent of women.
While some men do place importance on health and weight loss, their approach is different than women, and therefore guys are hesitant to go on a diet. In fact, according to the NIH, 66 percent of men say they eat the foods they like regardless of calories, which leaves men wondering how can they eat what they want and still lose weight.
A new dieting program designed just for men marries two concepts-weight loss and great food-to help men achieve their weight-loss goals. The weight-loss program is called NutriSystem and it's available online at www.men.nutrisystem.com. The program is based on portion-controlled, lower-Glycemic-Index prepared meals, so everything is already done for you.
The plan is simple and time efficient because there are no group meetings to attend. The program leaves the stress of calculating what you should and shouldn't eat up to the expert, by providing customers with prepared meals. Men can still eat their favorites, such as burgers, pizza, hot dogs, lasagna, pot roast, tacos and scrambled eggs.
The program was created strictly based on the needs of men. You can finally rip open a bag of chips or pretzels, and eat hot dogs or hamburgers, because NutriSystem has found a way to intertwine all the foods you love with an effective weight-loss plan.
There are many factors that cause us to increase body weight, yet three stand out from the rest.
Our genetic make up: Every cell in our body has a central control panel, that is a nucleus that contains our genes and chromosomes. This is the instruction manual for your body and this is inherited from your parents. It is this instruction manual that is largely responsible for how your body, and even your mind, behaves.
The environment in which we live: Our personal environment may also contribute or cue you to adopt poor eating or exercise habits. This is especially true in today's society, which is dominated by speed and convenience. For example, escalators, elevators and remote-control appliances make us less physically active. Also, greater availability and the constant marketing of foods that are high in calories, fat and added sugars, and larger portion sizes promote unhealthy eating behaviors.
There may also be personal reasons why you are consuming too many kilojoules from food and drinks, or not being physically active enough. For example, when feeling down or bored you may eat more than you need, or if you are feeling depressed it is more difficult to get active.
Knowing the reason why you may be consuming excess kilojoules or not participating in physical activity, is an important first step in changing your lifestyle habits to help you reach a healthy weight.
Our lifestyle: What we eat and drink and how active we are. This is the gradual gain in weight as a result of eating food and not exercising enough.
The extent to which we can affect our genetic make up and our environment are limited. However, lifestyle is the area in which we can significantly manage and if need be, improve our body weight to ensure we maintain a healthy weight for our height, age and gender. This is why learning a healthy nutritious eating pattern and adopting it for life, that is, lifestyle changes has a significant impact on our ability to reach and maintain a healthy weight.
Gaining and losing weight works according to some a simple biological principle. When you consume more energy in the form of food and drinks that your body uses each day you will gain weight. When you consume less energy in the form of food and drinks that your body requires each day you will lose weight.
Despite what some advertisers would have use believe, weight loss does not occur as a result of any of the following:
* Supplements that will melt the fat while you sleep or while you wash
* Exercises that don’t take any effort and cause no sweat
* Unique food combinations that will allow you to eat what you want and still lose weight
In order to lose weight you will need to know approximately your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). Your RMR is the number of calories your body burns at rest in a 24 hour period. When your body gets about 500 less calories than it needs each day as a result of eating less or exercising more, you will lose one pound of weight per week. To illustrate how efficient the human body is in motion, the average female would need to go for a brisk walk for 1.5 to 2.0 hours in order to burn 500 calories.
When you consume 500 calories a day more than your body’s requirements, you will gain approximately one pound a week! To illustrate how easy it is to gain weight, one 7oz bag of corn chips has approximately 1000 calories. If you ate a bag of corn chips every day in addition to three square meals its possible you could gain 2 pounds in a week!
