There are many myths in the fitness industry that help perpetuate the cycle of weight loss, health, and nutrition. Many have believed this for years, but with new studies emerging and more understanding of the human body, fitness enthusiasts, nutritionists, and doctors are all working towards helping people improve their health in line with this research.
It should go without saying that fad diets aren’t good for the body physically and mentally. Many fad diets are unsustainable for long-term health, leading to yo-yo-ing and impacting your overall efforts and results.
With this in mind, you can learn a lot from looking at the basics and following simple rules to help you make more sustainable weight loss efforts and keep the weight off for good.
Reduce Calories
It isn’t as simple as telling people to eat less and move more; that message is simplistic and doesn’t consider people’s lives, habits, or stress levels. People with higher stress levels might find they cannot eat a health focused diet and will either eat too little or too much. So when it comes to cutting your calories, you need to be careful not to cut too many so that you cannot sustain your lifestyle. At the same time, making a significant drop initially will cause you issues as you won’t be able to make too many more changes to your calorie level as you drop weight.
Look at the calories you burn off in a general day to find a lower amount to stick to or use a calorie calculator to help you find out how many calories it takes to maintain your weight, lose weight or bulk up if this is a goal. Let’s say you burn off 2,400 a day; then cutting your calories below 2,000 or 1,900 can help you to see results. 1lb of fat weighs 3,500 calories, so getting this a week will see a good steady weight loss.
Increase Protein
Protein not only leaves you feeling fuller and more satisfied for longer, but it uses 1-1.5 calories to digest 1 gram of protein. Your protein intake should be the majority of your diet to help you avoid snacking throughout the day. An excellent rule for protein intake is to start with 1.5g to 2g of protein per kilogram of body weight or at least 120g for women and 160g for men per day.
You can eat more lean meat to boost your protein, use protein powders, liquid protein, or foods with increased protein levels to help you stay fuller for longer and burn more calories without even trying. This is a shortcut to lean health.
Increase NEAT
NEAT or Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis is the energy you use that isn’t sleeping, eating, or working out. These are your day-to-day activities, cooking, cleaning, walking, and being active, and they all count towards your movement goal, and to help you increase your weight loss, you need to move more. Increasing your NEAT can help you burn calories; it accounts for 15-30% of your calories burnt daily. Whether you get up and walk around more, you increase your step count; it doesn’t matter what you do; make it a point to move around more. That’s the key to better health.