Diet and Exercise Plan for Weight Loss
If, like me, you've spent your whole life searching for the magic beans that will finally end your struggle to lose weight, you've been well, disappointed. As it turns out, there just are no magic beans and, even if you found them a little voice in your head would say, "Beans! No way, I can't risk the carbs!" It seems that no matter how far and wide we search there is no getting around the need for a good diet and exercise plan for weight loss.
It's crazy, isn't it the lengths to which we go to avoid the bitter truth about weight and weight loss? So, okay, let's just spit it out: To lose weight you have to take in fewer calories than you burn. There are only three ways to do this; maintain your food intake and increase your calorie output, or maintain your calorie output and reduce your food intake, or better yet, reduce calorie intake AND increase calorie output. This is where a diet and exercise plan for weight loss takes the cake (and puts it in the garbage disposal.)
Science shows us that simply reducing calories is not effective for weight loss. Here's why: the body jumps into survival mode and simply adapts to the availability of food. People who are in forced starvation situations would simply shrivel up and die with little chance for survival if the body did not compensate. Our brains send messages to our glands telling them to slow down calorie burn because not enough food is coming in to replenish the body. Now, this takes a little while to kick in so we do initially lose weight and thus fool ourselves that the diet and no exercise plan is working.
In fact, our brain slows everything down; we move more slowly, think more slowly, react more slowly. If we continue to starve ourselves our thinking becomes more and more muddled until we actually believe that what we are doing makes sense. As weight loss slows, we cut back even more on our food intake until we literally starve to death. Think anorexia. This is not a diet folks, this is self-inflicted torture. If we were doing it to somebody else, we'd be arrested!
Why is a diet and exercise plan for weight loss the better choice? Once again, science has the answer. It is not just that the body is burning more calories; it is also the brain releasing endorphins that tell the rest of the body that we feel better physically and mentally. That's right, exercise improves both our mental and our physical health. We focus less on how depressing a diet is and more on how refreshing exercise is. We start to give ourselves more empowering, self-reinforcing messages on both a biological and a psychological level.
A diet and exercise plan for weight loss creates a win-win dynamic. If you've gone to the trouble of getting up early and heading for the gym, or taking to the elliptical in the basement, you are far less likely to decide to blow all that hard work by grabbing a doughnut on your way out the door. And, that good feeling can last for hours, triggering a chain of good feelings with each subsequent positive choice. Say, for instance, that you start your day with 30 minutes on the exercise bike and, you follow that with a banana, yogurt and whole wheat toast. You're feeling very good about your choices so far, so when it's time for your mid morning snack, you choose an apple or a piece of cheese over the bagel. Now, it's lunch and it's a lovely day, do you stay in and order a cheeseburger and fries, or go outside for some fresh air and a fresh turkey sandwich followed by a stroll around the park?
Do you see how a healthy diet and healthy exercise work hand in hand? Most of us who struggle with weight are really no worse eaters than most of our thinner friends. Some of us just have a harder time metabolizing the excesses in our diets. It may not be our fault that we don't burn calories as well as the next guy, or gal, but it is still our choice to either take charge of our bodies, or just let go. And, the truth is that we will likely always have to stay on top of our food intake and our exercise output. We can turn our dilemma into a rant on the unfairness of life, or we can find a way to turn it into something positive and enjoyable.
Losing weight is never easy, keeping it off is even harder, still we are fortunate to live at a time when science is making massive strides in understanding the effects of diet and exercise on our health. There are more and more high quality diet and exercise plans for weight loss on the market. There are countless new food choices and more safe and effective exercise choices than ever before. There are still no magic beans, but at least we now know that beans, whether green or brown, are actually good for us.
About the Author:
Carly is a veteran of the diet wars having spent most of her life in a pitched battle. Won a few rounds, lost a few rounds and learned not to pull any punches. It's Carly's goal to help you get out of the trench mindset and face the fight head on by setting realistic goals. Read more on Carly's blog: Diet Throwdown, All the Diets Fit to Try.
Article Marketing
2 people like this article
