Stop Thinking Start Doing

Being obese or overweight is obviously not healthy.
Eating an unbalanced diet is not healthy either.
So, it follows that becoming less heavy and consuming foods that are part of a balanced diet are both important aspects of becoming healthy. Only you can make the changes necessary to address these problems successfully,
Let’s begin to look at how.
Reversing The Weight Gain
Despite the plethora of trendy or faddish diet plans that you can spend your
money on, there really is no magic answer to losing excess weight.
And, before you can actually begin to lose weight, you must take the all
important first step, that is, you must stop putting the poundage on.
To do so, you either need to burn 100 calories of energy more a day with
physical activity or eat 100 calories less, simple as that.
How would you do that?
Well, there are 400-500 calories in 100g of chocolate, for example, so you
would need to eat around 20-25g less.
A well known brand of ice-cream contains 300 calories per 100g, so you
need to eat 35g less.
A can of cola or soda weighs in at 130 calories, so skip one per day, and
there is your 100 calorie reduction!
Or, take a 15 minute walk, and burn off that cola.
Now, do not get the idea that shaving 100 calories off your daily intake or
walking for 15 minutes is going to lead to significant weight loss It is not.
But, you cannot begin to lose weight without first stopping gaining it.
Maybe that sounds silly, but it seems to be a fact that many would-be dieters
choose to ignore,
Stopping your weight gain is a significant first step towards a sleeker,
‘Healthier You’.
Start Eating Right
Okay, now that you have stopped gaining weight, it is time to actually start
losing it.
To do this, you need to increase your exercise levels and reduce the calories
that you take on board every day.
The actual amount of calories that you need to take in every day will vary
according to both your size and the work you do as, logically enough, if your
work involves a good degree of physical effort, then more energy is needed
to drive that effort.
So, for a 60kg male, a light worker would require 2450 calories per day,
whereas someone involved in physical labor would need nearer to 3800
calories to power them through the day.
Similarly, the calorie requirements for a 50kg female would range from
1875 to 2925 per day, in the same comparative circumstances.
Children need far more calories than their size would possibly suggest as
well, simply because they need fuel for growing at such a rapid rate!
For example, a child of 1-3 years of age needs 1240 calories per day,
increasing to 1950 calories per day for a child of 7-9.
Taking these calorific requirements into account, it is crucial that you start
eating a healthy, balanced diet, one that will help prevent disease and illness
as well as managing your weight.Such a diet will also assist you to live longer and keeps things such as hair,
skin and nails in good condition too.
First and foremost, eating healthily does not mean that your diet should
consist of only salads and steamed vegetables – although both can be
extremely enjoyable!
A healthy, balanced diet is one that is made up of a bit of everything in the
correct proportions.
This ensures your body gets enough of what it needs and is in no way
deficient, but that you are not taking on too much either, as it is essentially
this ‘too much’ that invites your body to store it as fat.
In fact, recommendations on diet are now laid out not just to prevent
deficiency, but to actively promote optimal health!
Your specific personal nutritional requirements will vary according to your
age, sex and overall level of fitness.
However, for the average adult, it is recommended that around half of your
energy should be provided by carbohydrates, 35% from fats and 15% from
protein.
To turn this theory into a workable and usable diet plan, first divide
foodstuffs into the following 5 groups:
* Bread, cereals and potatoes
* Fruit and vegetables
* Meat, fish or other protein alternatives
* Milk and dairy
* Foods containing fat and foods containing sugar
Then, base what you eat on these guidelines:· Try to eat 5-10 portions of starchy foods, such as bread, cereals and
potatoes every day. (This also ensures that you eat enough fiber too).
· 2-3 portions of meat, fish or protein rich alternatives;
· at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables (we’ll return to this later)
and
· finally, try to stick to only 2 portions of fatty and/or sugary foods each
day.
The fact is that good nutrition, a varied diet and keeping fit are the keys to
optimum health.
So, please remember that all foods can be included in your balanced diet,
and that nothing is actually forbidden as long as it is eaten in the right
proportions.
Eating correctly is not only meant to help you to lose excess weight, nor is it
solely a preventative measure either.
Instead, it promotes maximum health and vitality, which is something that
we all wish to achieve!

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