The factors leading to weight changes
Actually what causes weight gain? First, we must understand the basic factors that will cause weight changes. The energy intake and also energy expenditure.
Energy intake is any kind of food or beverage that we eat and consume that contains calories and gives us energy.
While energy expenditure is the number of calories that we burnt by doing physical exercise or any kind of activity that moves our body.
So, weight changes happened if there is an imbalance between these factors. Let us see the image below for a better understanding.
- This is how weight gain happened. The energy intake is equal to energy expenditure.
2. Weight gain occurs when one consumes calories more than he or she expends through physical activity.
3. One will lose weight when he or she works out or burn calories more than what he or she consumes.
10 tips to lose weight fast but healthier way
Because of the eagerness to lose weight fast, one might opt for an easier way by consuming any slimming products that do not have any certifications and also following any extreme crash diet. These may result in failure to lose weight and worst case it may lead to serious diseases such as kidney failure, dehydration, hypokalemia, and lead to death.
#1 Set specific a goal
Bear in mind to set a reasonable weight loss goal to start seeing health benefits. It is a 5–10 percent reduction in body weight over a 6-month time frame. A simpler way to understand that is to lose 1-2 kilograms of weight per month, maximum! If more than 2 kilograms is considered unhealthy. To achieve that, a minus of 250kcal up to 500kcal from normal daily energy intake is needed. For example, before this your intake is around 2000kcal per day, to lose a total of 2 kg per month you must consume up to 1500kcal per day.
#2 Eat a complete, varied, and nutrition-dense food
To cut on the energy intake does not mean to miss any of the food groups be it macronutrient or micronutrient. All of them are vital for healthy well-being. To make it simple to adapt to daily life, it is recommended to use the quarter quarter half concept when you plan on your meal. It is also easy to adapt when you eat out.
#3 Ask for professional help and seek a support group
Ask for a correct lose weight plan from your dietitian or physicians for you to follow. Nowadays, thousands of “self-claimed” health enthusiasts ruining the proper and healthy lose weight program by merely promoting their products and that should not happen to you too! Besides, great support from the social group or even your close family member and friends are also needed. Find a positive and good one.
#4 Cut on sugar
You might think that drinking teh O is nothing but it contains calories. Yes, it is. 1 tablespoon of sugar added to contribute to an extra 60kcal of your daily energy intake. How about other tempting sugary food and beverages? Surely it consists of more. Plus, sugar is non-nutritive. Don’t waste any extra calories by consuming sugar. Have a heartsome meal then.
# 5 Engage physical activity in the plan as well
80% of your lose weight journey includes changes in the diet while the other 20% is from physical activity. It is not true that one needs to only focus on the diet changes only without concerning about physical activity. Both are important. Ensure that a total of 150 minutes of physical activity need to be done per week. If it is convenient for you, can disseminate the physical activity to 30 minutes per day, 5 times per week.
#6 Change the method of cooking
If before this you are into fried, oily, and creamy food, you might want to change the method of cooking to a healthier one. Braised, boiled, steamed, grilled, and smoked type of cooking surely gives you a lot healthier yet delicious meal.
#7 Take note on the plain water consumption
Water is like a chemical that helps the body to undergo vital processes such as to protects body organs and tissues, carrying nutrients and oxygen to cells, lubricating joints, lessens the burden on kidneys and liver by flushing out waste products. Plain water also helps in burning the calorie intake. It fills up almost 60% of our body composition as an adult. A simple calculation to estimate the water intake recommendation is as follows:
- For 16 – 30 years old:
40 of water (ml) X body weight (kg)
2. For adults aged 31-55 years old:
35 of water (ml) X body weight (kg)
3. For adults aged 56-75 years old:
30 of water (ml) X body weight (kg)
For example, Ali is aged 35 years old and weighs 80kg, therefore his water intake recommendation per day is 2800ml or 2.8L
Never be too obsessed about drinking too much water as well cause it will lead to hypokalemia and water intoxication.
#8 Keep track of your food intake and also weight measurement
Self-monitoring is a critical factor in achieving a losing weight goal. You can opt to keep track of what you eat by using apps (got hundreds of that apps in Play Store or Apps Store) or traditionally jot it down using a paper diary.
They can also measure their progress by recording their weight every week. For precise monitoring during weighing, please wear minimal clothing and set a similar timing and day of the week. It is best to measure your weight in the morning after urinating.
#9 Give a reward after achieving certain milestone
Losing weight healthily needs continuous commitments. It can’t be achieved in a night. It may take up to months. People tend to lose patience and focus because of this and end up failing. Therefore, you have to reward yourself once you achieve a certain milestone. For example, to buy a brand new smartwatch that can keep track of all your exercises, heartbeat, blood pressure, and else whenever you successfully achieve 5 kilograms loss.
#10 Be positive
Be positive. Yes, it looks simple but means a lot! You can’t go anywhere if you keep downgrading and doubting yourself. Weight loss is a gradual process, and you may feel discouraged if the weight does not drop off at quite the rate that you had wanted. Chill up buddy, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.
The Bottom Line
So now you have it – a quick and easy 10 tips to lose weight fast but healthier way. Let’s recap the steps:
- Tips 1: Set a specific goal
- Tips 2: Eat a complete, varied, and nutrition-dense food
- Tips 3: Ask for professional help and seek a support group
- Tips 4: Cut on sugar
- Tips 5: Engage physical activity in the plan as well
- Tips 6: Change the method of cooking
- Tips 7: Take note of the plain water consumption
- Tips 8: Keep track of your food intake and also weight measurement
- Tips 9: Give a reward after achieving a certain milestone
- Tips 10: Be positive
Now there’s just one thing left for you to do – take action! So go ahead and the first step you need to take. And do it today, because the sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll get the result!