Come spring, all kinds of ideas for losing those extra pounds start to pop up in your mind. They may be crazy, but who cares: the end justifies the means, and the more complex the strategy you adopt, the more likely you seem to succeed.
But before you come up with yet another action plan to help you REALLY lose weight and REALLY break those bad habits once and for all this time, make sure to read below how you definitely should not slim.
Calorie intake below your basal metabolic rate
The prospect of quick results and losing weight the easy way is sure tempting but it can actually get you into trouble, especially when combined with lots of motivation. Sticking to a crash diet for just a couple of weeks often seems more appealing than having to work for a longer time to get the desired results.
It would even make sense if not for the fact that a restriction diet based on calorie intake below your basal metabolic rate is a starvation diet that fails to meet the energy requirement of your organs, muscles and your entire body. If the risk of ruining your health is not enough to discourage you, perhaps you will be concerned about the yo-yo effect experienced by almost every person who has reduced their daily calorie intake too much (due to a lower metabolic rate, i.e. slower calorie burning).
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Kaloryczność poniżej Podstawowej Przemiany Materii
Wizja szybkich efektów i łatwej utraty kilogramów jest kusząca, a w połączeniu z wysoką motywacją może stanowić mieszankę wybuchową. Często wydaje się nam, że lepiej przemęczyć się przez kilka tygodni na bardzo rygorystycznej diecie, niż pracować na zadowalające efekty przez dłuższy czas.
I może nawet byłoby to uzasadnione, gdyby nie fakt, że dieta redukcyjna poniżej Podstawowej Przemiany Materii, jest dietą głodową – niewystarczającą nawet na pokrycie zapotrzebowania na energię narządów, mięśni i całego organizmu. Jeśli nie zniechęca Cię perspektywa pogorszenia stanu zdrowia, zainteresuj się efektem jojo, z którym boryka się niemal każda osoba mająca za sobą dietę o zbyt niskiej kaloryczności (za sprawą obniżonego metabolizmu, czyli przemiany materii).
Overtraining
Another way to put you into a caloric deficit is to increase your daily physical activity levels. If you are too ambitious, though, your adventure with sports is likely to end soon (and painfully) – with an injury. Overtraining can cause not only DOMS (commonly known as muscle fever) or sore muscles, but also muscle inflammation or connective tissue damage.
Your exercise plan must always account for your current fitness level and health.
Elimination diets for weight loss
Elimination diets such as the lactose-free, gluten-free, wheat-free or vegan diets have been growing in popularity year by year. However, it is important to stress that removing a food ingredient (or a group of them) from your diet does not mean you will lose weight.
You can only drop pounds if you eat fewer calories than you burn in a day. Remember! No matter how healthy your diet is, you will wind up gaining weight, if your total daily calorie intake exceeds your daily energy expenditure.
Weight loss medication
Rather than resorting to science-based arguments, let me appeal directly to your imagination. Consider this: would we be struggling against a worldwide obesity pandemic if diet pills really worked?
Weight loss medication (fat burners, diuretics, fat/carbohydrate metabolism boosters, etc.) usually contains the same ingredients you can derive from your daily diet. What is more, even if your diet is deficient in certain nutrients, there is no way replenishing them by taking dietary supplements could help you to get slimmer: as long as you consume more calories than you use, you will definitely end up putting on weight.
Rather than splurging on miraculous pills which promise incredible results, use your money wisely to buy seasonal fruits and vegetables which increase your dietary intake of vitamins, minerals and fiber (demonstrated to stimulate fat tissue reduction).
To sum up
Before spending hours upon hours developing your Precise Strategy For An Optimized Weight Loss Plan, just take some action. Make sure to start off from the basics:
- eat until you feel full but not stuffed – unless you follow this fundamental rule, your weight loss efforts are unlikely to be successful,
- drink at least 1.5 – 2 l of fluids a day (excluding coffee and black tea),
- cut down on alcohol (and especially beer and spirits),
- eat a regular number of meals a day and avoid snacking,
- increase your intake of dietary fibre (e.g. by eating unpeeled fruits and vegetables),
- avoid sugary drinks, sweets, fast food and salty snacks,
- have essential tests and a medical checkup done (some health conditions can make slimming more difficult).
If you can still see room for improvement after reading the list above, start by incorporating these rules into your daily routine. No matter how cliché they seem or how often you have heard them, they are truly effective. Followed on a daily basis, they are sure to deliver lasting slimming results while reducing the risk of weight cycling.