We’re always looking for a magic cure to weight loss. If this statement weren’t true, then the new drug Alli wouldn’t be flying off the shelves. As a society, we tend to look for quick fixes. Surely it cannot be as simple as diet and exercise. . .or can it?
A researcher at the University of Colorado has poured over dozens and dozens of research papers and has put forth 3 ‘truths’ if you will for weight loss. Here are the three magic bullets that you need to know before you begin a weigth loss journey.
If you are morbidly obese, you need to restrict your calories first. You will not be able to exercise enough to substantially increase and sustain weight loss. However, you should exercise regularly and build up to a sustainable exercise routine slowly. Exercise can improve and reverse damage done to your heart, not to mention the mental benefits to exercise.
People who are substantially overweight can lose a lot of weight without exercising. However, if you want to lose sustainable weight, adding an exercise regime to your dieting protocol is crucial. If you are not significantly overweight though, and you just want to drop those 20 pounds. . .adding a sustainable exercise program to your regime is critical. Otherwise, your weight is likely to yo-yo.
The third thing you need to know is not actually about losing weight but regaining it. Individuals who use moderate dietary intervention, introduce moderate exercise to their lives, and sustain it over the long haul, are significantly less likely to regain the weight they lost.
So the rule of thumb is to introduce changes to your life that you can live with and sustain over a long period of time. If you cannot sustain the change because it is too radical–it probably will not lead to permanent weight loss.
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