Discover effective strategies on how to get rid of excess weight and sustain your results with these helpful tips. Learn about balanced nutrition, tailored workout plans, and powerful motivation to make your weight management journey a rewarding and lasting success.
How to Get Rid of Excess Weight
Many women, after losing five, ten, or fifteen kilograms, are convinced that their previous weight will not return, allowing themselves to relax a little. In reality, after reaching the ideal weight on the scale, it takes twice as much effort to maintain the result and boast a slim and toned body not just for a week or a month, but for a lifetime. Read on to find out how to achieve this without significant effort.
How to Choose the Right Weight Loss Program to to Get Rid of Excess Weight?
The main reason for rapidly gaining weight after completing a diet is the weight loss program based on:
- Mono-diets (rice, buckwheat, kefir, apple). The main principle of such diets is to consume a single product for 3-5 days: buckwheat, rice, fat-free kefir, apple, occasionally supplemented with honey or carrots. The drawback is that you “feed” the body with carbohydrates and completely “block” the intake of proteins and fats necessary to maintain the body in good condition. When the diet ends, you start clearing the shelves of the refrigerator indiscriminately. This is the only way the body can “gain” the necessary vitamins, minerals, and amino acids to ensure the normal functioning of all systems, from digestive to respiratory.
- Protein, fat, or carbohydrate restrictions: such diets are fraught with a slowdown in metabolism, leading to hair loss, tooth decay, and loss of skin tone. This happens because the balance between the intake of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates necessary for the complete “functioning” of the entire body is lost.
- Turning food into a complete “tasteless” experience: eating rice, buckwheat, meat, and fish without salt and spices is commendable, but then you will inevitably have the desire to add “salt and spice” to your menu, consuming unhealthy foods like burgers, french fries, fried chicken, and sweets.
If we analyze the principle of modern diets, it comes down to sharp restrictions on food, rather than a complete change in culinary habits. And as soon as the diet ends, you will return to your usual eating habits. Be sure that the lost kilograms will be replenished in a couple of days, bringing with them an additional two or three kilograms, leaving you feeling downcast and realizing that all efforts were in vain.
Therefore, if you want to get rid of excess weight and maintain the results, you should choose nutrition systems based on:
- Diverse and balanced menu: dishes prepared from high-protein and complex carbohydrate foods but with low fat content. These include chicken breast, vegetables, fruits (except bananas and grapes), greens, cheese, cottage cheese, lean meats and fish, cereals, and pasta made from hard wheat varieties. By using these products, you can prepare aromatic, hearty, and delicious dishes that will be an excellent addition to your daily diet.
- No strict restrictions: avoiding flour, sweets, and fatty foods is a mandatory requirement for those dreaming of reaching the ideal weight on the scale. However, a complete ban on salt, spices, and seasonings can harm the body because you will not be receiving essential vitamins, minerals, and amino acids in full. This can lead to a malfunction in the digestive system.
- No complete rejection of fats: it’s essential to remember that fat is a building material for the body. If you reduce its consumption, your hair will lose its natural shine, the skin of your face and body will become less elastic, metabolism will slow down, and hormonal imbalances may occur. If low-fat products are not prohibited in the weight loss program, it is a significant advantage because you will support the body in good condition and prevent “failures” caused by a lack of fats.
The main advantage of well-designed nutrition systems is that they aim for a fundamental change in culinary habits for the long term, rather than just a few days. By adhering to these dietary rules, you will train your body to consume healthy food, making it difficult to go back to eating pastries, ice cream, chocolates, smoked sausages, or hot dogs as before.
And now, a little about the main question!
How to choose a weight loss system that is right for you?
First, study the set of products recommended for preparing the dishes specified in the weight loss program. This is necessary to:
- Form a budget for purchasing food.
- Match dishes with culinary preferences.
- Compile an optimal version of the weight loss system.
For example, if you have lactose intolerance, all dairy products are automatically excluded from your diet, and substitutes are needed. The same applies to vegetables, fruits, cereals, meat, and fish that you dislike or cannot afford. Choose nutrition programs that fit all three parameters to follow the new diet without any problems.
Second, test the eating regimen. If the program states that you should have three main meals and two snacks throughout the day, but you cannot allocate time for them due to various reasons (constant busyness, inability to eat at specific times), then look for alternative options to precisely follow the dietitian’s recommendations.
Third, choose an eating regimen that suits your lifestyle. Suppose you work the night shift, and your morning starts no earlier than one in the afternoon. In that case, dietary principles such as “not eating after six” or “starting the day with a carb-heavy portion” clearly do not fit you. During work, you will constantly experience a ravenous appetite, and starting the day with a portion of porridge with a banana or a cup of coffee with croissants risks adding extra centimeters to your waist and thighs, as metabolism slows down after 12:00, and to expend the received portion of carbohydrates, you will have to exert three times more effort.
If you have an atypical work schedule, then you need to carefully select a weight loss program or consult a dietitian to create a detailed meal plan.
There are also universal diets that include ready-made meals for weight maintenance delivered to your home:
How to implement a new eating system to Get Rid of Excess Weight?
One of the main mistakes made by women wanting to lose excess weight is a sudden transition to a new eating regimen. This is not always correct because such a change puts the body under severe stress. It has been deprived of its main “joys”: flour, sweets, fatty foods, chips, salted nuts, and other harmful products, and now it has to survive on healthy food.
Dietitians recommend gradually changing the eating regimen, excluding flour, sweets, high-fat products (smoked sausages, hot dogs, bacon, pork), packaged juices, seeds, and nuts from the diet for 2-3 weeks.
In addition to revising your food choices, it’s essential to reconsider your drinking habits. Consuming 1.5-2 liters of purified water per day can help:
- Eliminate toxins and waste products.
- Accelerate metabolism.
- Alleviate weakness and malaise.
- Prevent the appearance of acne, pimples, redness, and dryness of the skin on the face and body.
- Improve the functioning of the digestive system.
The key is to follow a water intake schedule: one glass on an empty stomach, one glass 15 minutes before meals, and one glass two hours after meals.
Another factor for a successful transition to a new eating regimen is eliminating all temptations. If there’s a serving of ice cream in your fridge, the thought of indulging will haunt you everywhere. The same goes for all “temptations”: cookies, chocolate candies, pastries, chips, and nuts. It’s better not to keep them at home or warn your family to hide these treats from you, as even people with high motivation sometimes find it challenging to resist the smell of fresh baking, a chocolate bar, or their favorite ice cream.
How much time to dedicate to physical activities to Get Rid of Excess Weight?
For those who are not familiar with sports, you will need to change this mindset because only through physical activities will you achieve:
- A slender figure.
- Firm skin.
- High body tone.
- Faster metabolism.
- Defined muscles.
- An attractive silhouette.
Furthermore, workouts will expedite the loss of extra kilograms and enhance the “effect” of proper nutrition by 20-30% due to the growth of muscle fibers and gradual “fat drying.”
The most effective way to get rid of unwanted kilograms is considered to be a visit to the gym, where, alternating strength and cardio exercises, you will sculpt your body into impeccable shape over several months.
But if you don’t enjoy working with “iron,” there are plenty of alternatives to Get Rid of Excess Weight:
- Yoga.
- Dancing.
- Trail running.
- Stretching.
- Swimming.
- Karate.
- Tae-Bo.
- Step aerobics.
- Classical choreography, and others.
The key criterion when choosing a physical activity is how you feel during the workout. If you enjoy the process and regret missing a session, then your choice is definitely correct. However, never agree to activities that make you feel apathetic, irritable, or depressed but endure them because you think you “should.” This should be avoided because negative emotions put the body in a state of stress, and we often “drown” it in response, quickly returning to the starting point.
After you have chosen a sports direction, make it a habit to visit the gym or exercise at home at least three times a week for 40-60 minutes, giving your best during that time. You can choose suitable workout programs yourself or entrust this process to a specialist, such as a professional trainer.
Why give up alcohol and smoking?
Another rule to adhere to is to give up harmful habits, including alcohol consumption, smoking, and the abandonment of nighttime sleep.
By smoking 1-2 cigarettes a day, you disrupt the respiratory system, slow down metabolism, make your hair brittle, and give your teeth a yellowish-gray tint. Quitting this harmful habit is a step toward rapid weight loss and an improvement in appearance.
As for alcohol, the danger of this “enemy” lies in its ability to stimulate appetite. After a glass of wine, a mug of beer, or a small portion of cognac, you’ll crave something sweet or salty. But another problem is that the sense of responsibility is dulled: when we have had a glass of wine, we crave a “continuation of the feast,” and we no longer notice how we ate a sandwich, candies, chips, and other snacks, which will inevitably settle on the waist and hips.
Equally detrimental to a beautiful figure are constant sleep deficits, which provoke the appearance of dark circles under the eyes, a depressed state, and a desire to have coffee with chocolate to perk up a bit.
Go to bed no later than 23:00 and wake up at 7:00, and you will feel full of energy and strength. In this case, adhering to a balanced diet and workout plan will be effortless for you.
How to find a motivation to Get Rid of Excess Weight?
Another “engine of progress” that supports the desire to become slimmer and more beautiful is motivation. It is motivation that makes us “get our act together” and continue to train hard, preparing healthy meals.
If you look at the stories of people who have successfully lost weight, each of them had their own reason: the desire to outshine classmates who constantly mocked them or the attraction to beautiful items in sizes XS, S, or M.
Choose reasons that compel you to take action. For example, maintaining health, beauty, and vitality into old age, buying designer items, looking impeccable in a tight white T-shirt, or being as attractive as female athletes. Find an effective stimulus for yourself, and then the journey toward a new goal, and later maintaining the achieved weight, will become a pleasant daily process!