Is your approach leading to healthy weight loss? Are you looking to lose weight in a healthy way? Trying to figure out the right balance of diet and exercise for your body? Then this blog post is for you! We’ll explore what healthy weight loss looks like and how you can set yourself up for success.
Table of Contents
Introduction
In this blog, we will discuss what healthy weight loss looks like, from setting realistic goals and tracking progress to monitoring your body composition and energy levels. Weight loss is a long-term process and requires dedication, consistency, and patience. It’s important to understand that any weight loss journey is unique, and there’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach. It’s important to be realistic with your goal setting, track your progress over time, maximize your calorie deficit, adjust your meal plan, and increase physical activity. Additionally, monitor your body composition, use photos to track progress, measure your waist circumference as well as monitor energy levels to ensure you stay on track.
Here are 10 Tips for a Healthy Weight Loss:
1. Set Realistic goals
Setting realistic weight loss goals is an important part of any successful weight loss journey. According to a 2001 study from the University of Pennsylvania, on average, overweight people should set a goal of losing 32% of their body mass. To lose one pound of fat per week, you will need to create a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories. Focus on making healthy dietary choices and increasing your physical activity to reach this goal. It’s important to be mindful that drastic cuts in calories can lead to unsustainable weight loss, so approach your goal with a sustainable attitude. For example, aim for a monthly weight loss of four pounds, which can be achieved through a combination of mindful eating and increased physical activity.
Drastic cuts in calories can lead to unsustainable weight loss
2. Track Your Progress
It is important to track your progress when it comes to healthy weight loss. This can be done by weighing yourself each day or week and recording the average in your weight loss planner. Weigh yourself before you have breakfast, ideally while wearing minimal clothing. You should also track your food intake by logging calories, macronutrients, and other nutrients. This will help you understand why you may be losing weight more slowly than expected and help you adjust your diet plan accordingly. Additionally, make sure to monitor your body composition so that you can see how much of your weight loss is due to fat loss or muscle loss. Taking photos of yourself every week or two will also help you visually track your transformation as you journey towards a healthier lifestyle. Finally, measuring your waist circumference and monitoring your energy levels can give insight into how well your diet is working for you.
Monitor your body composition so that you can see how much of your weight loss is due to fat loss or muscle loss.
3. Understand Weight Fluctuations
It is important to understand that weight loss is not linear and that daily weight fluctuation is normal. In order to reach a healthy weight, it is important to understand the reasons behind small and dramatic weight swings, such as overexercising, carb intake, water weight, and hormone changes. Weighing yourself regularly can give you an idea of your current progress, but it’s important to remember that your body weight can shift throughout the week and even during the day. Regular monitoring of calorie intake and expenditure, along with other physical activity and body composition measurements, will help you reach your desired weight in a healthy way.
4. Maximize Your Calorie Deficit
Maximizing your calorie deficit is essential for healthy weight loss. To do this, you will need to create a calorie deficit of 500 calories per day. This can be done by reducing your daily calorie intake through dieting and increasing your daily physical activity. Tracking your calorie intake and expenditure is a great way to ensure that you are in a calorie deficit throughout the day. Additionally, adjusting your meal plan to include nutritious foods that are low in calories can help you reach your goal faster.
5. Adjust Your Meal Plan
Once you have set realistic goals and understand your weight fluctuations, the next step is to adjust your meal plan to ensure you are maximizing your calorie deficit. To promote weight loss, it’s important to have a meal plan that is low-carb, high-protein, and moderate-fat. The macronutrient ratios of this type of diet are 25% carbohydrates, 45% protein, and 30% fat. Making sure you are eating enough of the right foods will help you achieve your desired results. Additionally, research shows that consuming less than 10 percent of calories per day from added sugar is beneficial for weight loss. When adjusting your meal plan, consider adding healthy snacks throughout the day to reach your desired calorie intake with added fiber or protein. You may also want to experiment with different recipes or food combinations to find what works best for you. Remember that healthy weight loss involves making sustainable lifestyle changes, so don’t be afraid to adjust your meal plan as needed.
6. Increase Your Physical Activity
Increasing your physical activity is an essential part of any healthy weight loss plan. Not only does it burn calories, but physical activity can also help you build muscle, which can help you maintain your weight loss in the long run. Aerobic exercise and strength training are both important components of an effective physical activity plan. Aerobic exercises, such as walking, jogging, cycling, and swimming, are great for burning calories and improving cardiovascular health. Strength training, such as resistance exercises with weights or bodyweight exercises like push-ups and squats, helps build lean muscle that burns more calories even at rest. To achieve the best results for weight loss and long-term maintenance, aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise per week and two to three days of strength training per week.
7. Monitor Your Body Composition
Monitoring your body composition is a great way to measure the progress of your healthy weight loss journey. With bathroom scales that measure 7 different fitness indicators, you can get an accurate picture of your body fat percentage, BMI, skeletal muscle, resting metabolism, visceral fat, body age, and weight. Smart scales can also give you a full picture of your body composition, not just your weight. It’s important to note that a healthy body composition is one that has high fat-free mass (especially muscle mass) and low-fat mass (Read this article to learn more about body composition). And when it comes to measuring progress with healthy weight loss, it’s much more useful to focus on body fat percentage than on just weight. To monitor your body composition accurately and effectively, take time to set realistic goals, track your progress regularly, understand weight fluctuations, maximize your calorie deficit, adjust your meal plan accordingly, increase physical activity, and measure your waist circumference. Lastly, pay attention to how you feel by monitoring your energy levels too!
8. Track Progress with Photos
Taking progress photo is an important part of tracking your weight loss journey. Not only do they provide a visual reminder of your progress, but they can also help you identify subtle changes that you may not have noticed otherwise. When taking progress photos, make sure to wear form-fitting activewear or swimwear to ensure that your stomach area is visible. This will help you track changes in visceral fat and muscle gain. Additionally, try to take the same photos each month from the same angle and with the same lighting so that you can more easily compare your progress over time. Progress photos are a great way to track your success and help you stay motivated on your weight loss journey.
9. Measure Your Waist Circumference
Measuring your waist circumference is an important part of tracking your progress when it comes to healthy weight loss. Don’t just lose weight; lose inches. It is a good way to get an indication of how much visceral fat you are carrying around your midsection, which can be an indicator of health issues. In order to measure your waist circumference, use a flexible measuring tape and wrap it around your waist at the level of your belly button. Make sure the measuring tape is snug but not too tight. This measurement should be taken before and after making changes to your diet and exercise plan in order to track how much your waist circumference has changed. By setting realistic goals, tracking progress, understanding weight fluctuations, maximizing calorie deficits, adjusting meal plans, increasing physical activity, and monitoring body composition, you can work towards achieving healthy weight loss that includes measuring and monitoring your waist circumference.
10. Monitor Your Energy Levels
Monitoring your energy levels is an important part of a healthy weight loss journey. Energy, which is another word for “calories,” plays a key role in your body’s ability to burn fat and create muscle. Knowing how many calories you are consuming and the balance between calories consumed and calories burned can help you ensure that you are creating a calorie deficit and losing weight in a healthy way. To avoid experiencing fatigue or lack of energy during weight loss, make sure that you are eating enough to fuel your body’s needs and not undereating. Additionally, make sure that you are getting adequate sleep and engaging in regular physical activity for optimal energy levels.
Conclusion
The journey of healthy weight loss can be long and difficult, but with the right tools and mindset, it can be achieved. Setting realistic goals and tracking progress is essential to reaching your target weight. Understanding weight fluctuations and maximizing your calorie deficit will help you get there faster. Adjusting your meal plan and increasing physical activity are important for optimizing your results. Lastly, monitoring your body composition, tracking progress with photos, measuring your waist circumference, and monitoring energy levels will help you stay on track and make sure you reach your goal in a safe and healthy way.
Dr. Adarsh Gupta (a bariatrician) provides one-on-one consultation to uncover the factors leading to weight gain and provides a personalized plan to help achieve sustainable weight loss. If you have questions and would like to discuss if the program is suitable for you, please schedule a FREE 15-minute online consultation with the physician. To book an appointment, click here (clinical services with Dr. Gupta are currently available for all residents of the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania).