The A-Z Healthy Weight Loss Guide

It is a fact that many of us, from all walks of life and from all nations, decide that it is truly the time to lose weight. This is actually great because being overweight causes the body to deteriorate rapidly, a fact that is always emphasized by the experts.

It is true that people who are obese tend to be at high risk in developing diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and a lot more. And to make it all worse, people who are obese cannot live a full and healthy life.

For those who really wish to turn things around, then we are here to help you go through the different weight loss diet plans and give the best advice concerning weight loss.  We are concerned with giving you only the best advice, all delivered in a straightforward manner.  When it comes to tips to lose weight, there is no room for nonsense.

We are glad to be of help to you on this journey of yours to lose weight, but then, as early as now, it is good to keep a good grasp of realistic goals.  This journey will entail a lot of commitment and discipline, as you have to make better choices with what you eat and you also have to stick with the exercise routines.  When you take all these in, then weight loss is definitely on the way!

With the help of the HealthPlusLifestyle.com, you will get to know how easy it is to make better and healthier choices when you eat!

Let’s Start!

Ask yourself this question: “How do I rate my health today? Where am I?”  Before anything else, it is important that you know where you are coming from so that we may be able to measure your progress as accurately as possible.

It could be quite difficult to check your weight on the weighing scale and look at the numbers, but it is really necessary.  It is also advisable that you keep track of your progress as we go along, so that you will know if everything is really working out the way you want to.

Don’t be afraid to keep on weighing yourself and taking out the tape measure: they’re all there to keep you highly motivated.  Believe us, once you see the numbers going down, you’ll feel way better than before!

When you start to go on a healthy weight loss plan, you’ll be surprised as to how fast your measurements will be getting smaller!  If you need to consult a weight loss calculator, then so be it!  Be sure to know your BMI or your body mass index, to help you keep track of your goal.

Another good thing to have would be a food journal.  You could start jotting down the names of everything that you eat and drink even before you go on a weight loss plan.

This will then give you ideas as to what type of food should you forego and what should you change.  Skipping breakfast is something that you should not do because it will only trigger you to eat more as compensation.

Keeping a record of all the things that you eat and drink, as well as the activities that you do, will help you to realize your weaknesses faster, and thus, prompt action could be taken to put a stop to it.  Even small changes could bring about big ones, which is why you should read on to the next step…

Start It Small

In your entire lifetime, how many times have you tried losing weight and actually succeeded in doing so?  Have you tried reinventing all that you ate and exercised?  Let us say, you were able to last a week and you eventually got tired of the routine.

This is actually something that a lot of us share.  When we drastically jump from one lifestyle to another, we get tired really easily – which is why everything should start from small steps.  Many of us have failed terribly because we aimed to make it big right away.

There are also those who may have tried slimming pills with hopes that they will really lose weight right away.  You have to keep in mind that not all of those weight loss supplements and fat loss supplements are healthy.  They may even have bad effects on the body.

The secret to a successful strict fat loss diet is to start with small steps. You should not aim to finish a 5-mile jog right away, but rather, go for a 30-minute jog at first every day and slowly increase it when you feel you are ready.  When you feel bored, do something else and avoid taking out the cookies and chips.

These small steps will help you to reach bigger goals. These will add up as you go about them daily. As you get used to more and more changes, you will be able to tackle more as you go about your weight loss plan.

One more mistake that many of us make when we wish to lose weight is that we completely abolish our favorite foods from the menu! This is really wrong because we end up craving for it, and end up gorging on them by the end of the day. Instead, take a piece or two just to satisfy the craving and stock up on the healthy stuff.

Moderation is the key. When you get used to all of this, you’ll be surprised as to the number of healthy habits you’ve been making.

Nurture Healthy Habits

Healthy habits are not done in a snap, because as we mentioned above, everything starts in small steps.  These steps then pave their way into good habits, which will then help us to make great changes.  Try incorporating some of the changes you’ve been doing into your daily routine.

You’ll be surprise, after some adjustments, you’re doing everything like it’s been part of your routine all along.  It could take a while to get used to these changes at first, but in the long run, you’ll find that everything is worth it.

Now that we’ve laid out this part, it’s time to move on to making more healthy habits that are sure to make you healthier and slimmer. Try reading 8 Healthy Eating Habits To Lose Weight for more information about how you could make good & useful habits to enhance your health.

The Importance of Healthy Eating

As you read on and contemplate on the things that you’ve been doing, you could be wondering what the healthy changes you’ve been doing really are for.

Of course, we all know that losing weight is a good reason, but then, there are also other reasons why we should eat healthy at all times!

When we choose to eat foods that are packed with nutrients, we are actually providing our bodies with the necessary vitamins and minerals that will keep our bodies running or functioning smoothly.

When we keep on doing this, then we are actually teaching our bodies to heal themselves, resulting to lesser chances of getting sick. You will also notice that our health matrix is better. You will feel that you have more energy than before and you get to avoid the so-called sugar rushes that occur when you feast on sugar-rich foods during meals or snacks.

Eating healthy does not mean that one has to eat bland fare. Eating healthy is a delicious endeavor, too! You will find out that healthy foods actually make you feel fuller as compared to foods that are rich in sugars, fats, salt, and other enhancers. You will feel in the end that your body feels better as compared to the times when you settled for substandard food.

Breaking the Fast the Healthy Way

It is true that breakfast is considered as the most important meal of the day, which is why a healthy breakfast is a must every day. There have been studies that women who eat healthy breakfasts tend to consume lesser calories (an average of a hundred) than those who skip breakfast.  When you add this up over time, this could already create a huge impact on those who are very weight conscious.  A healthy breakfast will help you to jumpstart your day the right and healthy way, and this will also help you to lose weight even faster!

But then, a lot of people skip breakfast because they find that they have no more time to do so.  This should not be reason enough for you to skip the most important meal of the day!  When you are trapped in cases like this, you could try preparing food ahead of time.  Boiled eggs, whole-wheat cereal mixed with low-fat milk and some fresh fruit are great energy-givers in the morning.  For those who do not have the time to eat, then one of our favorites would have to be healthy smoothies which could be taken with you.  They are really easy to prepare and even the children could enjoy them.  For free (and great) recipes of these smashing smoothies, here’s a free article to help you out: Healthy Breakfast Ideas For Losing Weight. Before you know it, everybody in the family has gotten hang of the “drink your breakfast” thing and moving on to a healthier family!

Eating an Energy-Packed Lunch

In the afternoon, do you feel like taking a nap or do you go straight away to eating junk food because you are already starving?  These are common situations that actually stem out of eating lunch.

When you eat lunch, even when you are at work or at home, everything should lean on to the healthy side.

How does a healthy lunch look like?  You should see to it that you do not eat anything heavy such as foods rich in carbohydrates, fats, and meat, because they will only make you want to sleep.

You should take care not to overeat because your body will be busy trying to digest everything and this zaps out your energy. Skipping lunch is never an option. In order to be energetic in the middle of the day and the rest of the day, you should eat the right food. This will help you to feel full and not feel famished when afternoon closes in.

For lunch, it is ideal to have a light meal instead of a heavy one. You could try to incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables with some lean protein into your meal. Salads are highly encouraged because they are complete.

Many people also know that this is what many follow, especially those who are on the ideal protein weight loss diet plan.  But then, remember to keep the dressing on the low-calorie side or better yet, have a homemade one.

For those who do not work and are just stay-at-home people, it helps to have fresh ingredients for salads in your refrigerators.

Are you at a loss as to what type of salads you could whip up that would certainly make it in your weekly easy diet plans for fat loss? Here’s an article that you could also share and print out about salad recipes that are really healthy as well as delicious: Easy And Delicious Salad Recipes For A Weight Loss Plan.

Forming a Healthy Dinner Plan

One of the most common scenarios that we usually see with those who are into healthy eating habits is the one wherein they get home from a long tiring day at work.

They would usually feel really zapped out and would just settle for ordering a pizza or junk food. The thought of going to the nearest store to get something healthy could simply be too much for them. Does this sound too familiar to you?

You can actually overcome this scenario by planning your meals, especially dinner, before. Stocking up on the needed ingredients will save you a lot of time and money.

You will also be sure that you’re preparing something healthier than those that you would have to order by phone.

It doesn’t take a lot of time to plan your meals during the week. You can make your own meal plans for weight loss that you could stick onto the fridge, along with the recipes. You can schedule a trip to the grocery store wherein you pick out everything that you need and this will make it easier to prepare dinner at home.

For those who want to take the easy way out, take a look at What You Need To Know To Prepare A Weight Loss Dinner Plan.

Sugar Substitutes Are a No-No

Many of us think that switching from foods or drinks that contain sugar to those that have sugar substitutes is a great idea.

This is actually something that is not good because artificial sweeteners are said to cause uncontrollable sugar cravings. For more information related to this topic, you could visit this site: www.CravingSecrets.com

It is best to stick with natural sweeteners such as stevia, which is vastly becoming popular nowadays. It helps people to sweeten their beverages or their food without the repercussions of a sugar craving and without the extra calories.

Are You Getting Hydrated Properly? Talking about Water

It is a fact that the feelings of thirst and hunger come from two parts of the brain that are actually beside each other. This is why it is confusing for us to distinguish between the two!

Many times, we think that we are hungry, but we are actually thirsty. So, the next time that you feel hungry, try drinking a glass of water, because you might only be thirsty.

Experts say that we should drink at least eight glasses of water daily.

But come to think of it, hardly anybody has the capacity or actually follows that, because we would choose to go with sodas, coffee, or other beverages aside from water.

Water actually has a lot of good properties that help us to become healthier.  It is needed to keep the body in a good condition. Learn about the 10 Positive Effects Of Drinking Water To Lose Body Fat.

Cravings: How to Deal and Avoid Them

Let’s face it: one of the hardest things to avoid when you desperately want to lose weight are the cravings. These food cravings are hard to resist. But then, not all cravings are limited to wanting to eat a particular type of food that you like.

There are times when these cravings have come from a habit or may have stemmed due to some nutritional deficiencies that have to be addressed right away. There are actually some ways wherein we could control these cravings instead of succumbing to them.

The Craving Coach, who happens to be a good friend of ours (Diana Walker) has an e-book that will certainly help you to overcome these cravings. Learn more from her website: www.CravingSecrets.com

The Importance of Vitamins

In the previous topic, we were able to mention that there are times when some food cravings stem from the need to fulfill nutritional deficiencies.

This could be very destructive when a person wants to stick to strict weight loss diet plans. This is why it is important to keep track of the food that you eat, so that you know that you are getting all of the minerals and vitamins that your body needs.

One of the best ways that we could get majority of the vitamins and minerals we need is to ingest a multivitamin pill every day.  In cases wherein you find yourself still craving something, instead of eating that particular food, you could substitute a supplement that offers the nutrient that could be found in that food.

Some of these supplements could also be great supplements for weight loss. If you need to know more about vitamins, read this article: 8 Important Roles Vitamins Play To Help You Lose Excess Fat.

Exercise: Putting It Into Your Weight Loss Plan

We’ve tackled the necessary things about creating healthy eating habits and some quick weight loss tips, so it is time to move on to the other part of the entire plan: exercise.

You have to put in mind that weight loss will only come when you start to ingest lesser calories and burn more. There are two ways to approach it: we can choose to eat less than what our body needs every day, or we can do fat burning exercises to burn off more calories than what we ingest every day.

The answer to that would be a combination of the two approaches.  This means, we have to eat foods that are healthy and contain not too many calories and we couple it with fat burning exercises to burn off a few more calories every day.

This combination could be one of the best fat burners out there, and you will find that you are losing weight rapidly and you also feel better about yourself as you get into shape.

Looking for a Gym?

So, how to burn fat successfully?  The answer is: exercise.  You may want to go to a gym and pick the fat burning exercises that you want, for good measure.

There are also a lot of gyms that offer classes such as Kickboxing and Pilates.  Since you will have to pay for the membership every month, this will totally motivate you to work out more.

But then, not all gyms are the same, as there are some that you may not exactly like. To know the different things that you should look for in a gym, check out 6 Things To Look For While Joining A Gym.

An Active Lifestyle even at Home

Many of us would choose to work out at home instead of a gym.  It is important to keep in mind that you don’t have to be in a gym in order to perform great fat burning exercises. You can choose from a variety of workout equipment that you could use at home.

Just pop in some fun DVD’s for your workout or you could simply stick to basic exercises such as squats and pushups.  You can shop for great videos here: www.FunExerciseVideos.com

Working Out by Walking

If you wish to start with a low-impact exercise, then walking is just perfect!  Brisk walks are excellent metabolism boosters and they could help speed up the process of weight loss.

If you are looking forward to toning your midsection, then have no fear, because brisk walking is also good for that. One thing to keep in mind, however, be sure to have a pair of good walking shoes. When all of that is set, then you could go on your way and take a walk daily!

Learn how to keep your walking routines effective and to keep the monotone out of it. Check out 5 Reasons How Walking Helps You Reduce Body Fat.

Some More Advice for Good Measure

Before we end, we’d like to share a few more tips to lose weight as you go on your way to lose weight the healthy way.

Once is Enough

As you start on a strict fat loss diet plan, you would really want to see results right away. One of the major mistakes that we make is that we make the weighing-in a daily activity. You should put in mind that it should only be done once a week.

Continually doing this could become an obsession, and we don’t want that to happen. Just weight yourself once every week to record your progress and you’ll be happy to see the great results!

Have an Exercise Journal or Log

Charting your exercise routines is a great way of keeping your promise to exercise every day. This will actually help to keep you motivated because you have to write it down.

This also makes you feel more accountable for the weight loss that you are aiming for. Here’s a log that you could print out and keep: 10 Things To Maintain In An Exercise Journal In Your Weight Loss Journey.

It’s All about Partnership

As they say, it is better to have someone to work with, especially when it comes to losing weight. You could work as support systems for each other and you could share your progress with each other.

When you find it hard to do things, a partner could check up on you to see how you’re getting on with your weight loss plan. You can keep each other motivated as you strive to lose weight together.

Shopping for Groceries: Tips

Shopping for groceries is something that we don’t really love, which is why we’ve come up with a short list of tips that you could try to make the chore faster and way easier!

If you want to stick to buying what is healthy, check out these 7 Points To Keep In Mind While Doing Grocery Shopping If You Are In A Weight Loss Journey.

How to Prevent Backsliding

If you found yourself backsliding a bit, it’s just a case of having to re-motivate yourself. Don’t worry, we all have our moments when we indulge and succumb to that weakness.

Remember that you could always pick up where you left off and get back on track. Do not blame anyone or get all sad, instead, channel it into those healthy habits!

Eat healthy meals the next day and exercise.  Just don’t ever give up!