Most people
have no idea how much money the diet industry rakes in each year. Think $65
billion and you’re in the right ballpark – and the figure’s climbing
exponentially. The reason so much money is being by spent by men and women
around the world is because only a tiny percentage of them ever achieve their
goals of losing weight and getting fit. We’re talking less than 5%, that means
that out of every one hundred people who try to lose weight, less than five of
them manage to do it AND keep it off for more than a few weeks or a month.
So what’s
the deal? Why are so many people trying and failing to lose weight? Is it
really that hard? The answer is a resounding no. It doesn’t have to be hard if
you know what you’re doing. Forget the short-cuts, the fad diets and the fancy
exercise machines. If you want to transform your current body shape, size and
appearance into your perfect physical form, you need to go back to basics. You
need to return to the roots of natural, sustainable body improvement. That means
diet and exercise in VERY specific types and quantities.
If that
sounds like hard work to you, like the long way round and something you can’t
deal with, you may as well forget about achieving that perfect body weight and
shape you’ve dreamed about for so long – because you’re not going to get it any
other way. If you’re okay with that, however, then great! You’re ready to begin
learning what you need to, not do, and how you’re going to use a special plan
to transform your lifestyle and, as a result, your body’s weight and
appearance.
Let’s start
with a few of the basics.
Forget right
away about cutting all fat out of your diet – it’s just not a good idea. Your
body needs fat to work properly, without it you’ll feel deprived. What you
should do instead is control the kinds of foods you eat that contain fats.
Choose monounsaturated fats wherever possible. You’ll find these in olive oil,
rapeseed oil and nuts. Avoid saturated animal fats such those found in butter,
cheese and meat.
You’re going
to be cutting out a big chunk of the calories you usually eat each week, it’s
this main change – combined with exercise – which is going to make you lose
weight. So you don’t feel hungry or starved all the time, eat lots of
multicolored vegetables and protein. Keeping your diet high in protein will
help you feel full for much longer throughout the day.
It’s okay to
eat carbohydrates, but remember to balance your intake of high-carb foods. As a
general rule, cut right down on carbohydrates such as white bread and white rice.
Eat unrefined carbohydrates instead, such as whole-wheat pasta and brown rice.
I recommended eating no carbohydrates after 5 PM each day, especially if
they’re of the refined kind.
If you need
more advice on how much of this and how much of that you should eat, remember
these general guidelines. Approximately 30 percent of your daily calorie intake
should come from healthy fats, 25 percent should come from proteins and the
remaining 45 percent should come from carbohydrates. Once you’re within those guidelines,
control the portion sizes you eat. Eat three square meals a day, snacking in
between them on healthy foods such as berries, nuts and cups of vegetable soup.
It’s okay to mix up the foods you’re eating, just make a mental note of the
number of calories you’re consuming each day.
If you want
to lose 2 lbs a week, every week, you need to eat 500 calories per day less
than your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). Once you know this figure, which sums up
how many calories a day your body needs to function and maintain its weight,
you need to eat 500 calories less than it each day. Click this link to use the
‘Perfect Body Plan’ BMR calculator to work out yours now.
At the same
time, you should be doing regular exercise. Playing a high energy sport twice a
week is a good way to start. Try badminton or squash – playing each of these
sports for a total of two hours a week will burn approximately 2000 calories.
Add that 2000 to the 3500 calories you’ll be cutting from your new eating plan
(500 less a day) and you’ll lose almost 2 lbs of fat a week. Combine those
changes with extra daily exercise, such as walking and housework and you’ll
lose even more.
Just
remember that to lose a lot of weight over the long-term, and keep it off, you
need to make permanent changes to your lifestyle. They don’t have to be boring
changes, though. A really well designed body improvement plan can actually
improve your diet and widen your culinary tastes as well as give you the
fitness and exercise instruction you need WITHOUT it being a chore or
impossible to maintain.
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