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Are you struggling to lose weight in the New Year? Many people start out the New Year with the best of resolutions, but as the months pass, it becomes harder and harder to keep on track.
The problem with the New Year resolution approach is that the best - and healthiest - way to lose weight doesn't involve either crash diets or sudden manic bursts of exercise.
Weight gain is a slow and gradual process, the result of a million little decisions and a hundred bad habits, so if you want to lose weight it has to mimic that to be successful - it is therefore built around making constant positive decisions and changing bad habits for good ones.
The bottom line is that if you increase the amount you exercise while gradually and sensibly cutting your calorie intake, you will inevitably lose weight. So let's look at how you do this.
Exercise: If you are currently sedentary, any exercise, even a short 20 minute walk, will be beneficial. The key is consistency - if you exercise three times one week, then don't do it again for a couple of weeks, you never give it time to have a significant effect, never allow it to become a new, positive, habit. Equally, if you haven't exercised for years, it's not wise to start running miles a day or pounding the weights. Too much too soon will leave you feeling disheartened and de-motivated, and will more than likely lead to an injury. Regular exercise that you can sustain is the key.
There are lots of ways to achieve this. Running, walking, swimming and cycling are the first things that people think of, but you can also try team sports, racket sports, aerobics classes, weight training, a dance class. Any of these will improve your fitness levels and burn extra calories.
Make sure that whatever you start is something that works for you - this means finding something you enjoy that's easy for you to in terms of both costs and location.
Diet: The bottom line is that you simply can't continue with your current eating habits if you want to lose weight - what you are currently doing is what put on the pounds, so you are going to have to make some changes if you want to lose weight. For most people that means cutting down on cakes, sweets and soft drinks. Junk food will also have to go! Does this mean you can never have any treats? No! But you have to learn how to limit yourself to small, occasional portions of these foods.
The other issue for many people is quantity - you simply have to eat less. If you consistently eat 300 to 500 calories less per day, and exercise regularly, you can expect a weight loss of between one and two pounds per week - it might not sound much, but in just six months you could lose up to three stone!
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