Things You Need to Know About Losing Weight

The business of weight loss products, treatments and programs is a multimillion dollar industry, and the variety of options available to the public makes one confused and on a constant search for the best product that can deliver its promised results. It is not unusual for someone to have spent so much money without getting any result. However, health professionals are still encouraging people with weight problems to work on their weight. Being overweight and being obese have been linked to a higher risk in developing diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, chronic health conditions and so much more. In order to understand the truths about losing weight, there are a few myths that have been putting people's weight loss efforts to waste.

The Myths Surrounding Weight Loss

It is not good to eat snacks before meals. It really doesn't matter how many meals or snacks you eat in a day. What matters is the number of calories you are taking in. People who eat small meals and take relatively small snacks in between meals can still expect to lose weight as long as their total calorie intake is still within their goal. In a 1000-calorie diet, for example, you can chose to take three 200-calorie meals and allot the remaining calories for snacking.

A person is forbidden to eat at night. Though it is true that body processes are more active while you are asleep, the calories from the food you eat do not change just because it is nighttime. As long as you are not eating beyond your calorie plan, you can still eat after dinner and take a small snack before sleeping.

It is always helpful to stay away from the weight scale. Getting your own weighing scale is the best you can do to track your progress and to know whether you need to do more. Self-assessment through the help of a mirror alone can be inaccurate and noticing your pants getting looser and your belt getting tighter may not mean you are really losing or gaining weight. You can check your weight once a week or as frequent as once a day. You can do it before exercising to get you motivated to keep on going and do more.

Exercise is more important than dieting. Eating a big meal with more than a thousand calories will take hours to burn. And you'd probably be exhausted even before you can burn it all. Dieting is as important as exercise. You eat less to avoid accumulating excess weight and you exercise to burn stored fats. Dieting and exercising has its unique benefits.

Eating dessert is tantamount to committing a sin. Depriving yourself of sweets will only strengthen your cravings. Giving yourself a little treat once in a while will help you stick to your diet plan and lose weight faster. But always remember not to indulge too much. Having a small bar of dark chocolate with you wherever you go will help you satisfy your craving every time you feel like eating a big slice of cake. Also, eating dessert after a meal will make you feel more satisfied and help avoid heavy and frequent snacking.

Always, always avoid fats. Certain fats are good for the body, and studies have shown that dieters who try to avoid fat are more likely to fail in following their diet plans than people who get sufficient servings of fat. Other studies also found that fat can give you a feeling of fullness by preventing the stomach from emptying quickly and that avoiding fat will only bring forth your hunger pangs.

Take weight loss supplements. There is no sufficient scientific evidence that weight loss food supplements can help you lose weight. A study published in the December issue of the Nutrition Bulletin show that weight supplements are one of the things that you may want to avoid when trying to lose excess weight.

The Truth About Weight Loss Supplements and Pills

A study conducted by Helena Gibson More which was published in the Nutrition Bulletin showed that that there are insufficient data supporting the health claims of many weight loss food supplements. More said that due to the lack of evidence, health professionals should not recommend the supplements to overweight and obese patients. She added that more than pharmaceutical drugs, dietary and lifestyle intervention are more effective means of losing weight than taking in slimming supplements.

More wrote that considering the developments in the science of treating obesity and being overweight, weight loss supplements are unlikely to be used in the future, and added that this will be due to the lack of strong evidence to support its claims. She also said that medical professionals should use the motivation created by weight loss supplements to encourage patients to use proven, safe and medically approved weight loss products when attempting to lose weight.

A few of the weight loss supplements evaluated in the study are sodium alginate formulation, fiber pills. Cabbage powder, polyglucosamine, konjac extract, bean extract, guarana seed powder, L-carnitine and other plant extracts.

Eat and Exercise

There are three things you can do in order to effectively lose weight and get in shape. First is to seek the advice of a dietician or a health professional in finding a diet plan that suits you. The next steps are to eat right and exercise.

You can eat your way through getting in shape as long as you are eating the right types of food. Eating salads with cucumber, tomato, lettuce, beetroot, capsicum and cabbage will give you the nutrients you need without going beyond your restricted calorie requirement. Grapes can be something that you can use as a replacement for candy bars and biscuits. They are sweet, fat free and are low in calorie; a hundred grams of grapes only has 70 calories. Eating a serving of baked potatoes can make you feel as full as eating a big chunk of meat at just around 100 calories. Some of the other foods you can add to your diet are curds, sprouted pulse, high fiber foods and oranges.

Sources
nutraingredients.com
womenfitness.net
mayoclinic.com