How Long Does It Take To Lose Weight – Weight Loss Tips

According to the CDC, roughly 41.9% of Americans are obese. That’s almost half of all American being classified as overweight. Shocking right?  

We’re confident you’ve tried diets in the past. Hundreds are promoted online, and success stories are shared all over social media. 

You attempt them, and the outcomes may vary! Celebrity diets, trendy diets, detoxes, low-carb, keto…The list could go on. But how long does it take to lose weight? And how do you go about doing it? 

In this blog, we will discuss weight loss tips in depth and attempt to answer the million-dollar question, “How long does it take to lose weight?”

How Weight Loss Tends To Happen?

When we make dietary adjustments that lower our intake of calories and up our activity levels, we are more likely to lose weight. You may be familiar with the phrase “eat less and exercise more.” While this is accurate, it’s not quite that easy. Make sure you are consuming the right amount of healthy foods and the right kinds of food when planning to lose weight. Additionally, you must ensure that the exercise you are performing is beneficial for weight loss and differs from what you already accomplish.

Many fad diets and detoxes will severely limit your food choices and cut out major food groups. While you will see results right away, for many people, this is not sustainable in the long run. You run the chance of lacking some vitamins if you follow some of these trendy diets, and some detoxes might leave you undernourished.

Today, we’ll talk about weight loss tips and how long it takes to lose weight in a healthy, sustainable way.

Factors Affecting Weight Loss

Gender

When it comes to weight loss, there are several gender differences to consider. For starters, men and women have different daily suggested calorie intakes. These numbers must be worked with when meal planning to ensure that you are consuming enough calories to fuel the body while not consuming so many that you cannot drop weight through a calorie deficit. 

Gender influences where excess fat is deposited in the body. Men, for example, are far more likely than women to store fat around the midsection, whereas women are far more likely to store fat in the hips and behind. 

Age

We acquire weight as we age as a result of normal physiological changes. Even if you have managed to keep a healthy BMI throughout your adulthood, you may begin to gain weight around the age of 60.

According to research, there is a link between having a higher BMI as a kid and being classified as overweight or obese as an adult. 

Starting Weight

In general, if you begin your weight loss journey at a higher weight, you will see larger losses at first. This is usually due to adopting a much healthier diet as well as drastic activity changes. If you begin your weight loss journey at a lower weight, you may not notice these changes as fast.

Other Factors

A family background of obesity may hinder your efforts to lose weight. This may be the case, in particular, if you reside with family members who engage in unhealthy eating habits and oppose your efforts to lose weight.

It can be very difficult to escape the routine if you were raised in an environment where bad eating habits are common. If this is the case, be careful to talk to your family members about their support for your new healthy eating goals.

You might have trouble losing weight for various reasons, including religious and cultural considerations. For example, when preparing food for religious celebrations, high-carb dough and pieces of bread may be used. In some cultural cooking, frying and the use of heavy butter and oils are frequently used. These foods may very well be rich in salt, sugar, and fat.

Tips For Success In Losing Weight

Best Diet Foods

Most diets promote everything in moderation. And this is true to an extent. One of the most crucial pieces of information as a caveat to this, is you must be in a calorie deficit to lose weight. We will talk about this later! Just know when we look at the best diet foods we need to keep that in consideration. But for now, we will look at the food we consume.

Our bodies convert carbohydrates into sugars to provide us with energy. Therefore any “energy” that is not used is stored as fat. Hence, a diet with a lower carbohydrate intake will be advantageous for you.

This does not mean giving up all carbs

Yes, cutting carbs can help you lose weight, but we desire sustainable weight loss. Most people will notice changes in the scales when they fully remove carbohydrates from their diets.

But after 2-4 weeks of no carbs, it becomes much harder to sustain, and weight loss will plateau. This is where most people ‘fall off the wagon’ and are much more likely to binge on carbs again resulting in weight gain. 

So our best plan is to eat carbohydrates in moderation. This does not just mean things like pasta and potatoes, but also things like bread, certain alcohol, and even certain fruits that are high in carbs!

You will still see results if you make sure to eat fewer carbs each day and increase your intake of fruits and vegetables. You will be able to keep this balance as you won’t feel like you are depriving yourself. The results might take a little longer and will be less dramatic than carb-cutting completely.

More Protein

Make sure that two of your daily meals—typically lunch and dinner—include a primary protein. Fish and lean meat cuts are healthier alternatives, particularly when grilled or baked. Lean meats include items such as chicken and lean beef.

Try to avoid frying your proteins, as this will increase the fat content and avoid buying anything that is highly processed as these items will have hidden fats, salts and sugars.

Make an effort to fill up on vegetables and fruits

Aim for at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day as a general rule. A fruit salad for breakfast, a side salad with lunch and a few portions of vegetables with dinner are a few examples of what this could look like.

Although some fruits contain hidden sugars, in general, fruit and vegetables are low in calories, so you can consume an ample amount and still be within the recommended daily allowance.

In addition, fruits and veggies are packed with vitamins and nutrients that are good for your body.  Currently, the CDC suggests that in US adults, only approximately 1 in 10 were meeting the daily suggested intake. There are numerous advantages to making this simple transition.

Dairy goods are still okay to consume

However, this should be done in moderation once more. Cream and cheese, for example, are very high-calorie and fat-dense foods. Therefore, it would help you lose weight if you reduced or eliminated these servings. Low-fat yogurts, for example, are excellent for breakfast or even as a snack!

To summarize focus on these key points:

• You can still consume carbs, just fewer of them. You will see results if you try to eat a low-carb breakfast and smaller carb portions with your other major meals.
• Consume seafood and lean meats because they contain less fat.
• Stay away from processed and prepared meals. These contain hidden calories!
• Make sure you consume 5 portions or more of fruit and veggies each day.
• Reduce your dairy consumption. Pay attention to how much you are eating.

Manage Your Appetite

Overeating may be the cause of obesity in many cases. Three meals and up to two light snacks per day are advised. Portion management and a healthy balance of vegetables, carbohydrates, and protein should be the goals for your meals.

Your stomach will have expanded to handle this if you frequently consume larger portions or if you are a serial snacker. You might experience hunger when beginning a new weight loss plan because of the difference in the amount of food you’re consuming.

Drink 6 to 8 cups of water each day. Many of us will consume more than we need to because we confuse thirst with hunger.

If you are feeling hungry, start by attempting to drink a bottle of water. If, after 30 minutes, you are no longer hungry, then you are only thirsty. Since we are already somewhat dehydrated by the time we experience thirst, some people may mistake their natural desire for refreshment for hunger.

Get Regular Exercise

Now this will depend on how active you are right now. Some individuals might be overweight and very inactive. Therefore, a simple daily stroll could be your new routine exercise. If you are already quite busy, this might entail adding an additional workout each week.

The idea is that you must move more if you want to lose weight. Find something that works for you, and keep doing it at least twice a week. The gym, swimming, or walking could be used for this. Anything you do is preferable to doing nothing. You will be able to see results by doing this in addition to calorie counting and making sure you are in a calorie deficit. 

Set Realistic Goals

Identify realistic goals for yourself. If you attempt to take on too much, you will soon become exhausted. You will quickly return to bad habits if your goals are impossible to achieve.

Assign weekly activity targets for yourself. Ensure that you can fit this into your lifestyle and work obligations. When we start a new weight loss journey, we frequently overcommit, quickly grow tired, and then fail to sustain it in the long run.

Be sensible with your timeframe for weight loss. Instead of losing weight in 6–12 weeks, it should be done progressively over time to lose weight in a healthy way to keep it off. Yes, you will notice results right away when overcommitting, but how often have we all tried drastic plans like this only to fall off the wagon and gain back everything we lost?

Be Patient and Stay Active

Losing weight can take effort. Even if you follow all the correct steps, the scales might not change for a few weeks. Don’t let this discourage you!   Keep moving, and you’ll end up seeing results.

Don’t let a non-loss week halt your progress. Stay motivated and active. We frequently let good habits slide and revert to our old unhealthy habits when we feel stuck at a certain weight.

Change up your workout regimen and diet once more, making sure you are selecting the healthiest foods by referring to the bullets above.

Safe Weight Loss Rates

The majority of diets encourage everything in proportion. And to some extent, this is accurate. One of the most important pieces of information is that weight loss requires a calorie deficit.

What does “calorie deficit” mean? Men and women alike should consume a certain number of calories each day to keep a healthy weight and provide our bodies with the energy they require to function. Men typically need 2500 calories per day to keep a healthy weight, while women need 2000 calories per day.

By moving more and exercising more, we can burn more calories and create a calorie deficit.  We drop weight because of this deficit, which forces your body to use its fat reserves as an energy source.

For example, a woman who consumes 2000 calories a day would need to burn 3000 calories to achieve the calorie deficit necessary to lose 1 pound per week.

Conclusion

Your goal might be to lose weight as quickly as possible. However, you must choose which is more important. Long-term outcomes or immediate benefits?

Your aim should be sustainable, long-term weight loss, which you can achieve by incorporating a varied calorie deficit diet and upping your exercise frequency.

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