Obesity continues to be a serious problem worldwide. One should be aware of the risks of being overweight or obese. Here are some diseases that you are putting yourself in the risk of if you are carrying a lot of extra pounds:

1. heart disease
2. stroke
3. diabetes
4. cancer
5. arthritis
6. hypertension

 Losing weight helps to prevent and control these diseases.

The quick weight loss methods

More often than not, dieting methods that involve dietary drinks, foods, and supplements or pills do not work. If they do, the results are just temporary.
It is better to rely on a healthy weight loss option which will provide lifetime results. You have to set realistic goals and not expect to lose a lot of pounds in a short span of time. 

8 tips on how you can lose those unwanted pounds the healthy way:

1. Do not starve yourself.

The key to a healthier way of losing weight is: Do not diet.
You may seem happy and feel that you are losing those unwanted flabs on your belly and thighs by skipping meals. But remember that this would not last long. Your body cannot tolerate having insufficient food to fuel the energy that you use up every day.

If you get used to skipping one or two meals a day, your stored calories will be used up instead of the energy that should have been provided by your meals. So if you just eat one huge sandwich in one day, it will end up straight to your problem area (i.e. highs, buttocks, hips).

2. Start your day right.

Mothers always say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Have a healthy meal in the morning to jump-start your metabolism.
Your food intake after you wake up will be used to burn fat all day long.

 3. Eat small, healthy meals frequently.

Five small-serving snacks per day are better than three hearty meals. Eating more frequently, and in small servings, can prevent overeating. This will also increase your metabolism and make calories burn faster.

4. Decide on how much weight you want to lose.

Keep your goals realistic. In the long run, it is virtually impossible for you to lose 40 pounds in 2 weeks. Have a mindset that you want to eat healthy to stay healthy for the rest of your life.
Once you have decided on a weight loss plan or program, stick to it and make sure that you follow your own set of dieting rules.

 5. Drink lots of water.

Your body needs sufficient water to burn fat and keep your cells hydrated and healthy.

 6. Avoid too much sugar.

Plan your meals around lots of fruits and vegetables, some bread, rice or pasta for that carbo fix that you need, plus lean meat and protein-rich foods. Sweets, sodas, and pastries should be once-in-a-while indulgences only.

 7. Watch your fat intake.

Fat is not the culprit of being overweight. You need this to keep your weight at the proper level.
There is such a thing as healthy fats. Olive, peanuts, and canola oil have them. Tuna, salmon, and mackerel have omega-3 fats which are good for the heart.

8. Exercise.

Leave your car if you are only going a few blocks from home, take the stairs instead of the elevator, jog, cycle or skate. Use these activities and other home chores if you are too lazy to go to the gym and take exercise classes. Make sure that you do this regularly and you will not even notice that you are already shedding pounds with these mundane activities.

Set realistic goals

It does not matter how much weight you plan or need to lose. What is important is that you set realistic goals for yourself.
Go slow. If you have already lost 5 or 6 pounds, give yourself a break then try to lose the next 5 pounds.
Eat healthily, drink lots of water, have enough sleep, and exercise. This will give you a higher chance of losing weight and improving your health, which would result in a new, healthier you.

Losing Weight Is All About What You Gain

Many people have thought about losing weight over the years, but often seem to fall short of an actual attempt to do it. The reason why so many people think about it so much is because deep down, they know that having that extra poundage is not at all good for them.

The problem is, just knowing that being overweight is bad is not enough to really push many people to do something about it. Much like wanting to quit smoking, knowing it is bad for you doesn’t induce people to quit doing it. However, if you were to find some really good reasons to quit smoking as your doctor told you if you don’t quit, you will lose a lung next year, which might make you act and just do it.

Motivate yourself with good reasons

Well, losing weight is just like quitting smoking, the more good reasons you have to do it, the more likely you are to act on it and make it happen. If you have something driving your motivation aside from just knowing it is bad for you, you are also more likely to maintain your weight loss goal once you reach it.

Getting healthier

First and foremost, losing weight means getting healthier. When you lose those extra pounds you greatly reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, and joint stress, all conditions associated with being overweight. When you reduce these risks, it means you can have a much better chance of being around to see your children grow up and being around to enjoy your grandchildren. That alone is reason enough to get that weight down.

Feeling better

Another reason you might want to consider losing weight is that you will feel better. As you begin to lose some of those extra pounds, you will start to notice your energy levels increasing. Being overweight by 20 pounds is like putting a 20-pound sack of potatoes on your shoulders all day. Extra body fat is nothing more than an extra burden to carry around with you every day, so the extra weight drains your energy. For this reason, overweight people tend to be less active and this promotes more fat to collect upon them. As this continues, they become even less active and so this becomes a vicious cycle leading to obesity.

Looking better

As a nice little side benefit, losing weight will make you look better, and who doesn’t want to look better? Each and every one of us has a vision of what we want to look like. Most people are not completely satisfied with the way they look. They will always find something they don’t like about themselves and wish they could change and for people who are overweight; this can be a great motivator to lose weight. A recent study concluded that as early as age 5, girls who had higher body weights had lower self-esteem than girls with normal body weight.

When a person loses weight, what are almost always the responses of other people who know that person? You hear things like; you look good; you’ve lost weight haven’t you? And think about how you would feel when you’ve lost enough weight to be able to fit into that dress or that pair of pants you wore back in high school. Now keep in mind, looking better is a great reason to lose weight but it should not be the only one.

Wrapping up

When you have at least a few good, valid reasons to want to lose weight, it will be a lot easier to motivate yourself to get started and stay with it. Let’s face it, your health, well-being, and self-esteem are very good reasons to get rid of those extra pounds and keep them off for good in a healthy way!!

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