cabbagehead
|
Ten pounds of what?
Losing ten pounds of body weight is surprisingly easy, but it may not be the ten pounds you want to lose. When most people start diets they lose large amounts of weight in a short period of time due to water loss. When you shift away from a diet high in simple carbohydrates your body is forced to break down glycogen for glucose, which uses water. You also may be eating less sodium due to a shift to unprocessed foods, reducing water retention.
Ever notice how diet commercials have people saying things like "I lost seven pounds in two weeks?" That's water weight. When you stop this diet, you will gain back this water weight. That ten pounds you lost will quickly become three or four.
Unless you're trying to reach a weight for military service or a sports competition, what you probably want to do is lose fat. Unfortunately, if you're close to an ideal weight you're probably doing everything right to begin with. Concentrate on fine tuning your exercise and diet.
Little things add up. If you quit using mayonnaise you can save at least 100 calories per sandwich. If you switch from Ranch dressing to a light Italian, you can save another 100-200 on each salad. Going for a hamburger instead of a cheeseburger is another 100 calories. Figure out how you can adjust the foods you eat to shave a few calories off of them.
Increase your cardio. If you're one of those lucky people who are thin without exercise, maybe it's time to start. An additional 30 minutes of walking a day will burn 100 calories: that's one pound lost per month. You can fit this in pretty easily just by parking your car further away from where you're going.
Posted 5362 day ago
|