Healthy Weight Loss

Week 4 of my goal to lose “30 pounds in 90 days” is here. It has been 28 days exactly since I stepped on the scale and wrote down my starting weight of 237 pounds. I have controlled portion sizes, eaten a healthy, low-calorie diet, exercised five times a week and have cheated my diet only a few times so now the moment of truth…

218 lbs

Incredible! I have lost 19 pounds in one month! I can’t believe I did it. I am over half way to reaching my goal and I’m only one month in!

The past four weeks have been quite enlightening. I thought I knew how to diet before, but in reflection I think there were many aspects about my approach to weight loss that were unhealthy and destined for failure. With a deeper appreciation for losing weight in a healthy and controlled way I can tell you this – anyone can starve themselves, run around the block a few times and then lose weight. However, the key is not in the losing of the weight, but in the healthy loss of weight—weight that is gradually lost and that isn’t gained back. This is where healthy weight loss comes in.

A balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, proteins and whole grains is an important part of healthy weight loss.

I would like to take this opportunity to talk about how to balance the various factors that I have learned will help you to lose weight in a healthy way and keep it off for the long term.

The first aspect of healthy weight loss is diet. Your diet should be nutritionally balanced and consist of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats and whole grains. Try to stay away from eating processed foods as they release more calories to your body when eaten. Foods in their natural state, such as whole grains and fresh vegetables, require your digestive system to work harder and some of the calories they contain don’t actually get digested. This is a simple way to reduce the number of calories that are actually absorbed from the foods you eat.

Your approach to healthy weight loss should also involve eating six small meals per day instead of three large meals per day. This keeps your stomach smaller and it holds less food at a time. You will be less likely to binge at any given point in time as your stomach won’t tolerate it. Eating smaller meals per day also lessens the insulin output at any given meal. Insulin keeps sugar tucked away and makes your body heavier. Having a steady insulin output keeps you lean and storing less food away.

Exercise is a huge part of what makes for healthy weight loss. Exercise comes in aerobic and anaerobic varieties. Aerobic exercise involves things like bicycling, running, walking, swimming and other activities where you are raising your heart rate and breathing rate in order to burn off calories and keep up good cardiovascular health. Engaging in these activities help you become stronger and more able to do activities of daily living without difficulty. They also burn calories, which is a healthy way to lose weight.

Anaerobic activities involve primarily weight lifting and the strengthening of muscles against resistance. Such exercises can include work with hand weights, arm weights or machines that are designed to provide weight resistance against a set amount of weight for the arms, legs, back and abdomen. Calories are burned in the exercise but primarily the activity is designed to build muscle. More muscle equals more fat-burning power all day and night.

Healthy weight loss is the best way to approach losing weight and gives you the best opportunity to keep the weight off once it is gone. As you can see, by following a self-made, low-fat and low-calorie diet, exercising regularly and keeping motivated you can lose quite a bit of weight. I have lost 19 pounds in the last month with a healthy weight loss approach and I feel so much better physically and mentally about my health and life. You can do it too, you just need to be prepared to put the work and energy into it.