Winning The Weight Loss Battle

Whether you succeed in beating weight gain and stay thin is determined very often by your mental attitude and the way that you approach weight loss plans and diets. Many millions of people have the wrong attitude to weight loss and this means that they may have some small successes but they will ultimately fail in the battle to keep the weight off and will eventually put it all back on again. There are a few things to know before you start trying to lose weight that could make the difference between weight loss success or failure.

Statistics show that people who lose weight but soon revert to bad eating and exercise patterns and thus put it all back on will carry on failing long term in losing weight. This type of dieting is known as a YoYo Diet. If you are a YoYo dieter an extra push and determination is needed to beat the cycle but it is very possible to do it. A good way to lose weight and break the YoYo cycle is to use a balanced diet that is not extreme in its demands.

Keep the fat content low and the fibre content high and don't starve yourself but try to lose the extra weight steadily over time so that you get used to your dieting patterns over a longer time. Exercise more, and again be reasonable with the amount and type of exertion so you don't end up getting fed up and exhausted quickly. The exercise will keep your metabolism moving fast and will give you a positive mental attitude to the overall weight loss plan.

Motovating yourself is important. Ask yourself why you are losing weight and think of all the benefits that you'll get and that you'll get improved confidence and health. Think of the occasions when you have been embarassed by your weight and the times that you have felt uncomfortable and this will motivate you to know why you are doing the exercise and dieting in the first place.

Strangely enough people whose weight loss goal is say 25kg, statistically have a better chance of weight loss than those people who require only to lose a small amount of say 4kg. It is known to diet experts that the last few kilos of weight are the most difficult to shed in a weight loss plan as the body seems to hold on to them more strongly. Keep this in mind when you are dieting so that you dont get demoralised if you only see small weight losses towards the end.

The male body has a faster idle metabolic rate than the female body so men have a very slight head start over women and they have a bigger amount of muscle compared to women. Women need extra fat for biological reasons and the thin female body has more fat than the thin male body. Men can burn more energy due their bigger muscles and are normally able to exercise for longer. The difference is minimal and a determined women is far more likely to lose weight than a unmotivated man, so being female is no excuse for putting on weight.

The choice of diet is a big indicator of whether you lose weight. People who stick to low fat and high fibre with some degree of portion control always do the best. This type of diet is a slow jog as compared to some diets that are a quick sprint. In the long term these diets always win in the weight loss success league tables. It is also far healthier for the body to lose weight slowly.

Other diets like a protein high/carb low diet will be successfull in the short term but you open yourself to a increased likelyhood of gaining all the weight again. This diet is also not so balanced nutritionally and therefore not so healthy for you.

The worst diets are starvation diets as the body will always fight back and try and slow the metabolisn to the bare minimum to keep the weight on. Some researchers have discovered that these diets actually trigger a hormone called ghrelin that can prevent weight loss.

Some diet methods advocate the use of protein shakes and stomach fillers that can be a real help, however keep in mind that they are very dull and boring and most people tire of them and this can make them revert to getting fed up with the whole diet plan. Variety and change is important to make meals fun and enjoyable and using shakes can kill the enjoyment of eating.

Researchers have also found that people whom use shakes tend to compensate by eating more on the normal meals that they eat. Shakes are a temporary weight loss tool and must not be considered to be a serious part of a long term weight loss effort. The best thing is always to look long term and three meals a day with say a snack of an apple if you get hungry between meals is the way forward.

Exercise has four benefits. Firstly burning the calories is as important as the dieting. Secondly the exercise increases the metabolic speed so that calories are burned off faster. Thirdly exercise has been shown to motivate dieters to keep them going with their diet plans with a good mental attitude and fourthly exercise can tone the muscles on the body giving you a better overall shape. Keep all these in mind when you exercise and its help you to keep motivated and moving.