By now there’s a good chance that you know 3,500 calories is equal to about one pound of body weight. In other words, you will lose a pound for every 3,500 calories you get rid of, and you will gain one pound for every 3,500 calories you add on. If you are serious about losing weight, then a calories burned counter is a tool you should make regular use of.

You will notice that 3,500 calories works out nicely to an even 500 calories per day for a week. Furthermore, there are only two real ways that you can have direct control over those calories: what you eat and the exercise you do. Yes, your metabolism plays a role, but that isn’t quite as easy to control directly. So, diet and exercise it is.

A calories burned counter will let you know how many calories you burn during any activities you participate in. This is critical information if you are trying to get rid of some extra pounds. Knowing how many calories you’re expending will help you to stay on track, and can also serve as motivation. After all, you don’t always see results in the mirror right away, but if you know you’re burning calories then you can assure yourself that noticeable results are just around the corner.

To get the full picture, you will also want to get a regular calorie counter which tells you how many calories are in the foods you eat. This way you will be able to know not only how many calories you’re burning, but how many you’re taking in as well.

Health experts typically recommend that losing one to two pounds per week is safe, and has the added benefit of being a more sustainable form of weight loss–you take it off and keep it off. Now that you have your calorie counters you can aim for a loss of 500 to 1,000 calories per day. Don’t worry, there’s no need to starve yourself or wear yourself out by exercising. In fact, it’s not a good idea at all.

The best way to lose weight is a combination of diet and exercise. Therefore, if you take in 250 calories less per day and burn off an extra 250 per day, you will lose one pound per week. If you want to lose two pounds per week, then eat 500 fewer calories and burn off an extra 500.

There is one catch that you should be aware of: a calories burned counter only works when you use it. If you never check it, then it won’t do you any good at all. However, when you do use it, you will have another powerful tool to help you lose weight. So, what are you waiting for? You can do it! All it takes is knowing how many calories you’re taking in and how many you’re burning.

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The question of the best way to lose weight varies from person to person. That’s because everybody is different, and what works for somebody else, may not be all that effective for you. However, it’s all about calories. If two people burn more calories than they take in, following reasonable guidelines, they should both lose weight; it’s just that they probably won’t lose the same amount, or lose it at the same rate.

Then there is also the fact that people already have their own habits, attitudes and level of health. This will make how you respond to a particular diet different from the way others may respond. It will also determine, to a large extent, how well you stick to the details of whichever diet you choose as your best way to lose weight.

You need to look at any diet carefully before you decide to try it. A lot of diets rely on a gimmick of some kind or another to hook people in. A gimmick is there for two reasons. First, it’s an attempt to make it unique; to suggest that it’s something you haven’t tried before, but could really work…this time. Second, gimmicks are designed to hide the boring truth about weight loss. That truth is that the only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you take in. But let’s face it, a diet that just said that wouldn’t sell, regardless of how effective it was.

Okay, there are a lot of fad diets out there, but there are also a lot of diets based on sound nutrition, too. Those are the diets you should be choosing from. Look into them to see if they let you eat a wide variety of foods, as that’s always a sure sign of a healthy diet. Some diets work by severely reducing certain foods; the low-carb diets, for example. And it’s true that you could lose weight by following them, but weight is only one small part of the bigger health picture. While the idea of eating all the meat and fat you like may sound appealing, the risk of clogged arteries, high cholesterol and heart disease are not appealing.

When you are comparing diet plans, you also need to be realistic. You know what foods you like, which ones you can tolerate, and which ones you don’t like at all. If the diet is heavy on the foods you don’t like, then it’s probably a good idea to move on to one that you’ll be able to stick to. In other words, don’t let the promises of a diet plan convince you that you will somehow start liking foods you can’t stand.

Instead, find a diet that focuses on the foods you love. There is a wide variety of diet plans, so you can be sure there is one that is the best way to lose weight for you. It may take a bit of searching, or you may get lucky and find one right away. Either way, take advantage of it as soon as you find it…once you start seeing positive results, you’ll be glad you did.

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Exercise And Healthy Eating To Lose Weight – Is It Really Enough

Gaining a little extra weight is fairly normal, and you may be able to carry a few pounds without too much trouble. But if you start getting too overweight, then it’s time to start thinking about exercise and healthy eating to lose weight. The key word here is ‘and’, as you will soon see.

Fad diets seem to come out every day. They all make bold claims, and one of the most common claims is that the particular weight loss plan is the easiest ever. All you need to do is follow some contrived plan of eating the right food at the right time; and the wackier, the better! You may actually be able to lose weight by following these diets, but it’s not because of the gimmick the plan uses. Allow me to explain.

There is only one way to lose weight: you have to burn more calories than you take in. Every fad diet is nothing more than a clever variation on this very basic fact. They will often go out of their way to disguise it. That way they can suck more people in by tricking them into thinking the fad diet offers something new. Now, that’s not to say all diets are bad; their not. A lot of them really work, and some are even designed for the long term. However, it’s still a case of of taking in fewer calories than you burn.

So, what this all comes down to is that exercise and healthy eating to lose weight is the real key. You may be able to lose some weight by only watching what you eat, and you may be able to lose some through exercise alone. But you will have to work much harder, and it will take a lot longer to see results. This can be discouraging, and you may stop trying to lose weight if you don’t drop enough weight in a decent amount of time.

A simple rule to keep in mind is that 3,500 calories equals 1 pound. Therefore, if you can get rid of an extra 500 calories per day, you will lose 1 pound per week. That may not sound like a lot, but it adds up to 52 pounds in year’s time. However, losing that amount per week isn’t very motivating. But if you take in 500 fewer calories per day through proper diet, and burn 500 more calories each day through exercise, then you can lose 2 pounds per week, or just over 100 pounds within a year. Sounding better?

Which particular diets or exercise programs you follow isn’t all that important (as long as they aren’t too crazy). Also, remember to check with your doctor before starting any program of exercise and healthy eating to lose weight. Once you get going, you will be amazed at just how quickly the pounds start to melt off. It’s up to you whether you want to tell your jealous friends about your weight loss secret.

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Running for weight loss is recognized as being one of the very best methods to lose weight fast and get in great shape. The cardiovascular benefits alone of starting a running regime are huge.

The one downside of running for weight loss is that some people take it to the extreme, they run too much and too often and instead of losing weight they also reduce their overall muscle mass which can give them a gaunt, unhealthy appearance.

In order to keep your muscle tone while you burn fat some simple changes to your technique can help.

Stay away from long runs. Any run that is over 45 minutes long can be detrimental to maintaining muscle mass. The biggest reason is because on those long runs your body needs all the energy it can get and one of the easiest to access is burning muscle.

Think of marathon runners, many of whom supplement their workouts with some form of weight training, no matter what else they do for a workout they all tend to look mal-nourished and underfed. That is because their muscle mass is being diminished faster than it is being replenished.

One great way to combat this is to incorporate interval training into your running regime. This is simply a way of working out where your workout intensity goes up and down like a roller coaster.

You do very heavy cardio bursts for a short time, taking your body to it’s maximum limits, then you alternate that with a lower intensity session.

How many times you alternate between the high and low sessions as well as how long each session will be, needs to be determined by your current fitness level and overall fitness goals.

When you first start out with interval training it is a very good idea to enlist the help of a trainer who can help you develop a good program specifically for you based on your current fitness level and your overall fitness goals.

For most people the best combination will be to do running on one day and weight training on the next. Keep alternating that way to maximize your results.

If you can avoid it, do not combine both exercises in the same day. If you absolutely can not avoid it, at least do one exercise (say weight training) in the morning and allow yourself at least 8 hours before you do the running portion of your workout routine.

Doing it that way will allow your body the maximum amount of time to rejuvenate and replenish itself. You will get the benefits without having too much stress on your body.

Also it’s crucial that you provide your body with all the nutrients it needs to support your high energy workouts. Make sure you provide your body with a lot of lean high protein foods. This is essential to help maintain and build muscle mass.

And, of course, make sure to keep hydrated. If you feel thirsty you are already dehydrated. Keep drinking throughout the day and your workouts to avoid feeling thirst in the first place.

All these tips will help you get the maximum benefit out of
running for weight loss.

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