No "miracle" pills necessary. The truth is ........ what people don't want to hear. You can lose weight if you finally decide to get off your.......... couch. Diet pill companies get rich on people that don't want to do what it takes to lose weight.
How to lose weight for free. Most kids workout doing what they love. Go back to what you liked as a child if it's roller blading, basketball, swimming. The thing is to keep you workout fun, so you keep doing it for life. Running is the most effective way to lose weight 100 to 150 calories burn per mile (4 laps on a track = 1 mile). Most people will have to alternate walking and jogging until they build the stamina to jog non-stop. Other benefits of running you don't depend on anybody to get your workout like someone to spot you at the gym or a team in basketball. The other thing is you go at your OWN pace. For you single parents you can buy a jogging stroller. It's a stoller with bigger wheel that allow you to jog and get your child out of the house for a change.
The body doesn't burn fat by sections. You will burn fat in general when you raise your body temperature by working out the only thing is some fat resist to burn off so you have to work harder at it. Running is a great way to burn fat.
Weight training can confuse people. People workout for 2 months and don't see a change in the scale and give up. Weight training is excellent to gain muscle and tone up but if you are gaining muscle thats why you don't see a dramatic change on the scale. Actually MUSCLES WEIGH MORE THAN FAT but this is good. The more muscle your body grows the leaner you will get. Why? Muscles when put into use they burn calories, thus the bigger the muscles the more calories you'll burn and the leaner and tone you'll appear. That why at the gym the trainers will measure your BMI (Body Mass Index). Let me give an example if a guy started going to the gym weighing 200 pounds and 30% of that is fat yet 3 months later he might still be 200 pounds but with only 25% fat that means he gained 5% of his body weight in pure muscle.
Step 1
Determine Your Daily Calorie Goal
To estimate your daily calorie needs for MAINTAINING your current weight, take your present weight and multiply by 13. That number covers your metabolic needs for the day, factoring in a bit of light activity. So if you weigh 180 pounds, you need about 2,340 calories per day. To lose a pound a week, you must then create a calorie deficit of 500 calories a day (3,500 calories equals one pound).
How many calories you can cut from your diet depends a lot on how much you're eating right now. There's a big difference between cutting 500 calories if you're eating 1,500 a day than if you're eating 3,000. But remember: Weight loss is a lot easier when you factor in your running mileage (1 mile = 100 calories). So your calorie deficit can--and should--be created by eliminating some calories from your daily diet and increasing the number you burn per day through running.
Step 2
Distributing Your Calories
After you've determined the total number of calories you should be consuming per day to meet your weight-loss goals, divide those calories so that 50 percent of them come from carbohydrates, 25 percent come from protein, and 25 percent come from fat. So, for example, if you've determined that your daily calorie goal is 1,800 calories, then 900 of those calories should come from carbohydrates, 450 from protein, and 450 from fat. Remember: You're not striving to have every food you eat meet this ratio. You're simply aiming to get your total daily calorie intake to fall within these guidelines.
Step 3
Selecting Carbohydrates
Lots of runners will look at the 50-percent carbohydrate guideline and think they'll go into macaroni withdrawal. They'll argue it's not enough--that they need 60 percent or more. After all, carbohydrates are the body's preferred energy source.
While it's true that elite runners need a very high percentage of calories from carbohydrates, recreational runners simply don't need as many carbs. Taking in 50 percent of your daily calories from carbohydrate sources will provide you with all the energy you need.
Because high-carb foods sustain you during your workouts, they are best eaten just before and just after your runs. When choosing which carbs to eat, opt for those that are fiber-rich and have a high water content to keep you feeling full.
Carbs to Choose Often
Fruits (about 60 calories per serving)
Apple, orange, pear, nectarine: 1 small (tennis ball size)
Banana: 1 small (5 inch)
Peach, plum: 1 medium (fist size)
Grapefruit: 1/2 whole fruit
Canteloupe: 1 cup
Berries: 1 cup
Fresh pineapple: 3/4 cup
Canned fruit (in its own juice): 1/2 cup
Low-Starch Vegetables (about 25 calories per serving)
Carrots, celery, cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, leeks, onions, green beans: 1 cup raw or 1/2 cup cooked
Green pepper: 1 whole
Asparagus: 7 spears cooked or 14 spears raw
Lettuce/raw greens: 1 cup 100-percent vegetable juice: 1/3 cup
Carbs to Choose with Caution (watch those portions!)
High-Starch Vegetables (about 80 calories per serving)
Beans (lima, navy, pinto): 1/3 cup
Corn: 1/2 cup
Peas/lentils: 1/2 cup
Baked white or sweet potato with skin: 1 small (tennis ball size)
Pasta/Rice (about 80 calories per serving)
Couscous (cooked): 1/3 cup
Brown or white rice (cooked): 1/3 cup
Noodles/pasta (cooked): 1/2 cup
Bulgur (cooked): 1/2 cup
Breads/Cereal/Crackers (about 80 calories per serving)
Tortilla (white or wheat): 1
100-percent whole-wheat bread: 1 slice
Mini-bagel: 1
English muffin: 1/2
Pretzels: 3/4 ounce or 8 sourdough nuggets
Popcorn (air popped): 3 cups
Saltine crackers: 6
Rice cakes (all varieties, large): 2
High-fiber cereals: 3/4 cup
Oatmeal: 2/3 cup cooked or 1 instant packet
Step 4
Selecting Proteins
While protein's primary role is maintaining muscle integrity, it also satisfies hunger. Protein provides a greater feeling of fullness, ounce for ounce, than an equivalent amount of carbohydrate. The effect: You're content with fewer calories. That's why 25 percent of your calories should come from protein.
When you choose proteins, lean is always best. Fat adds flavor to protein--but also calories. So be sure to limit the number of calories in the protein sources you choose. A good rule of thumb: The fattier the protein, the smaller the serving.
Protein Picks
Very lean (about 35 calories per serving)
Chicken or turkey breast (skinless): 1 ounce
Fish fillet (all whitefish): 1 ounce
Canned, water-packed tuna: 1 ounce
Shellfish: 1 ounce
Egg whites: 2 large
Egg substitute: 1/4 cup
Lean (about 55 calories per serving)
Chicken or turkey (skinless dark meat): 1 ounce
Salmon, swordfish, herring, trout, bluefish: 1 ounce
Lean beef (flank steak, top round, ground sirloin): 1 ounce
Veal or lamb (roast or lean chop): 1 ounce
Pork (tenderloin): 1 ounce
Canadian bacon: 1 ounce
Low-fat hot dogs: 1
Low-fat luncheon meats: 1 ounce
Dairy Products (about 90 calories per serving)
Fat-free or 1-percent-fat cottage cheese (calcium fortified): 1 cup
Low-fat, sugar-free yogurt: 3/4 cup
Fat-free, sugar-free yogurt: 1 cup
Low-fat cheese (all types): 2 ounces
Step 5
Selecting Fats
Most dieters immediately start cutting fat. But instead of just cutting out junk-food sources of fat, they also cut fatty foods that are healthy, including nuts and nut butters, and olives and olive oil.
Foods with a little fat help slow the rate of digestion and provide a sense of fullness. Try to get 25 percent of your daily calories from good fats by selecting heart-healthy vegetable, nut, and fish sources.
Fats of Choice
Full-Calorie sources (about 50 calories per serving)
All oils: 1 teaspoon
Avocado (medium): 1/8
Almonds, cashews, filberts: 6
Peanuts: 10
Pistachios: 15
Olives (green or black): 8 medium
Peanut butter (creamy or chunky): 1 teaspoon
Reduced-Calorie sources (about 25 calories per serving)
Light tub margarine: 1 teaspoon
Light mayonnaise/salad dressing: 1 teaspoon
Light cream cheese: 1 teaspoon
Fat-free salad dressing: 1 tablespoon
Step 6
Establish an Eating/Running Pattern
The wild card in the 50-25-25 eating plan is how you distribute your calories throughout the day. That depends on your running schedule. Because you want to eat the bulk of your carbohydrate calories around the times when you will be active, you need to know ahead of time when you're going to exercise each day. Then select mostly carbohydrate-rich foods to fuel up beforehand or afterward. By eating most of your carbohydrate calories around your runs, you'll then eat most of your protein and fat calories the rest of the day when you're more sedentary.
Remember one other guideline when establishing your daily eating pattern: Don't go too many hours without eating or your brain will signal starvation mode and stimulate your appetite. So go ahead and have a morning, afternoon, and evening meal, along with snacks. Just make sure that when you tally up all your eating, you're still within your daily calorie range.
Drink 2 liters of water throughout the day to keep hydrated during your runs and enjoy the added benefit of feeling full so you don't eat fatty foods. There are runners websites that are full of great tips. By the way. How many overweight marathoners have you seen? Good luck :)