In this article I will go over the types of weight loss programs that are available to do as well as list some pros and cons of each. Hopefully, that information will help steer you in the right direction so you can determine which is the best option for you and your unique personality and needs.

Before you start any type of weight loss programs, though, make sure you talk to your doctor. For one thing your doctor can probably offer you some recommendations but if not, she can at least guide you in regards to any limitations you may have so your weight loss is done safely.

Now that that is out of the way, here are some ideas of some programs you may want to consider:

1. The pre- packaged food program. This is pretty straight forward; you sign up and you get fully prepared meals delivered right to your door. The companies claim that the meals will allow you to lose weight because they are nutritious and have the perfect combination of lean protein, fats and carbs as well as just the right amount of calories.

There are several such plans like this available, two of the most well known are Nutri-System and Seattle Sutton (which I have personally used and found very good).

When you are trying to decide between one or the other, make sure you carefully check out all the types of food plans, what is included (how many meals), the price including any shipping or handling costs, what their cancellation policy is in case you aren’t satisfied and the actual calories and nutritional benefits of the meals themselves.

2. Meeting type programs. These have been around for a long time and most people will immediately think of Weight Watchers. This is a type of diet plan where you not only get ideas of what types of foods to eat and in what quantities, you also get help from others who are trying to accomplish the same thing.

This approach allows you to interact with each other and keep each other focused and moving forward. Since you are all trying to lose weight, there are no feelings of embarrassment or awkwardness.

And, there is no public weight in! If you go to an actual meeting (though now you can get access to the materials online if you prefer) you will be weighed but it is 100% private and no one will see or know what your weight is.

How many times have you considered joining a gym, for example, only to feel out of place and get intimidated by all the hot bodies they have on the commercial? I know I have.

When you are trying to lose weight you don’t want to be reminded of what you aren’t (yet) you want to be surrounded by others who look about the same way you do, right?

There are many weight loss programs available today but before you sign on the dotted line you need to read the fine print. You need to know what it is, what it isn’t and what to do if you aren’t satisfied. Making an informed decision will allow your weight loss to be a dream come true instead of a nightmare.

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Walking for weight loss is easy and best of all it’s free. You do not have to join a gym or a club to be able to walk. all you have to do is step right out your front door. Anyone can do it, even your kids. I can be quite enjoyable to get out of the house and go for a walk in the morning after breakfast or in the evening after dinner. It doesn’t matter when you go, as long as you go.

Walking for weight loss should be combined with a healthier eating plan as well. This combination should net you up to a three pound weight loss per week. Start by buying fresh, healthy foods and measuring out single portion sizes.

Portion sizes is the biggest problem some people have. They just do not know when to stop eating. You might even be surprised that a single portion size is the size it is. When you realize that you have been eating three or four portions of something all at one time then it will make sense to you why you are over weight.

If you make up a meal plan then limit yourself to about 1200 to 1500 calories per day. This range is the perfect amount to lose weight at about 1-2 pounds per week. You may see a big drop right in the beginning but what you are seeing is your body adjusting and getting rid of water weight first.

Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables along with lean meats like chicken, turkey, fish, and shrimp. Lean protein helps build lean muscle. Whole grains provide the fiber and essential fatty acids your body needs so stock up on nuts and seeds like almonds or sunflower seeds. Watch your salt intake and stay away from sugary snacks and breads made with white flour.

Before you start your daily walks, go buy a new pair of shoes. A good pair of shoes with the mesh upper will help your feet breathe and stay cooler during your walk. Dress in layers for the weather changes that can happen and just tie your jacket or sweatshirt around your waist should you have to take it off.

If yiou are interested to know how far you have walked then get yourself a pedometer. A pedometer measures every step you take. If you count as you go you would need to count 2000 steps to measure one mile. I think it would be better to have the pedometer do it, frankly. That way you could listen to music or talk with your walking partner instead of counting.

Otherwise you could just clock a certain distance with your car then you would know how far you walk with out having to guess or count your steps. Try to get in 30 minutes of walking for weight loss per day. Increase the intensity and do some power walking once you work up to longer walks or do some basic interval training.

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If you are one of the millions of people trying to lose weight and having little to no success then maybe some tips on losing weight will help. Losing weight is important for your health and well-being but doing it safely is the most important aspect.

The first thing you need to know is that weight loss will not happen overnight. So, you need to find ways to keep yourself motivated to have the success you want. Tips on losing weight start with finding a work out buddy. This will keep things from getting too mundane and having a work out buddy will help keep your motivation at a high level. Make it sort of a competition between the two of you.

Keep close tabs on what you eat. You will want to start eating healthier and if you write everything down when you eat it then you will see where changes can be made and substitutions will be easier for you to make.

Stick with whole foods in their natural state. Overly processed foods are loaded with bad carbs and sodium to give them a longer shelf life. Eat lean meats or fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole grains. Although, if you want to get a good start on losing weight, steer clear of breads and cereals for at least the first two weeks then add them back in very slowly.

You need to do this to basically reset your insulin pump. Some carbohydrates you eat are immediately converted to simple sugars in your body. This, in turn, makes you pancreas release insulin to control the sugar content of your blood from skyrocketing. These simple sugars are supposed to be used as energy. If they do not get used as energy when they are available the body converts them to fat and then stores them around your mid-section.

If you do not feel that you are getting all the nutrients you need then by all means take a multi-vitamin supplement to enhance what you are getting. Typically, though if you are eating healthy then you are getting all you need in the form of vitamins and essential nutrients so you will not need to supplement. But, hey, it couldn’t hurt.

One of the best tips I could give you is, hydrate. Drink plenty of water. Some people think that they can drink anything to stay hydrated and this is just not the case. Too many things are loaded with empty calories, like those energy drinks or sports drinks. One of the worst things you can do for yourself is drink diet pop.

Diet pop will actually trick your body into staying fat. When you drink it, your body expects to be getting something of value and when it doesn’t get what it thinks it should be, you end up eating more at your next meal to compensate for the lack. Not to mention the chemicals they use to “sweeten” diet pop, yuck!

Eating healthy, drinking plenty of water and getting at least some moderate exercise everyday should put you on the right track for losing the weight you want to lose. These are the easiest, most effective tips on losing weight you can find. Start today and you could be fit and trim in no time.

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Exercise is the best way to burn calories to lose weight and if you choose running weight loss can be even more successful. Running is one of the most efficient, non-extreme sport ways to lose weight and accept for the cost of a good pair of running shoes, it is free to do.

Depending on your weight, running weight loss will burn about five calories for every liter of oxygen you breathe. Men will generally burn more calories than women because they generally weigh more. Say you weighed 265 pounds, you would burn about 166 calories per mile. They say on average 100 calories get burned every mile. Yeah, if you weighed 150 pounds, maybe. Someone who is heavier than that will naturally burn more calories over the same time period because they have to work harder than someone who only weighs 150 pounds.

Running also burns more calories than walking. There is information out there that states that running and walking burn the same amount of calories. I never thought this thinking was correct because you do work harder when you are running than when you are walking. Unless you are power walking, that is.

Power walking will actually burn more calories than running because you use your body completely differently while power walking and your body actually works harder because you are making it move in a way that it is not accustomed to moving.

I don’t know if you know this or not but there is a difference between your total calorie burn, or TCB, and something called your net calorie burn, or NCB. Your NCB is calculated by subtracting your resting metabolic calories. These are the calories that you would have burned anyway during the same amount of time even if you had not been exercising.

So, let’s do the math. If you weighed 265 pounds and then ran one mile you would have burned a total calorie burn of 166 calories. But now, to get your net calorie burn you have to subtract your resting calories from that number. Your resting calorie burn is about 20 calories for the same amount of time as your workout. So, subtract 20 from 166 and you get 146 net calories burned. Still not a bad number and that is only for one mile. If you build up to five miles a day then just imagine how fast the weight would come off.

Ok, here’s some more math for you. You need a calorie deficit of 3500 calories a week to lose one pound of fat. So, at 146 net calories burned per mile you would have to run about 24 miles per week to lose that pound. Sounds a little intimidating but when you think about it that is less than five miles a day. Actually it is only about 3.5 miles per day. I think if you paired your running weight loss with a nice low-fat, low-carb meal plan you might just be able to eke out a couple more pounds per week. too.

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