Important Considerations for Weight Loss

When you're trying to lose weight, there are several things you must consider, some of which you may have never thought of before.  In order to put together a total weight loss plan, your plan must include the following areas.

1.  Eat right.  Counting calories is important, but the most important thing is to eat the right food.  Foods that are high in fats or high in carbs are bad for weight loss.  You want high protein, low fat, low carb.  Each gram of fat has roughly 10 calories, so these are the most critical.  Carbs and Proteins each have 4 calories per gram.

2.  Drink plenty of water.  Don't drown yourself, but your body needs to be adequately hydrated in order to function properly.  In this case, functioning properly includes losing weight.

3.  Build muscle tone.  Muscle is the body's best fat burner.  Better tone doesn't necessarily mean larger muscles.  Women often say, "but I don't want to look like a body builder."  OK, then don't take steroids.  Women - you don't produce enough testosterone to build that kind of muscle, so don't worry about it.  Muscle burns fat and looks good.

4.  Don't skip cardio exercise.  Losing weight is all about math.  You maximize weight loss by burning calories during cardiovascular exercise.

5.  Take supplements.  These include multi-vitamins, amino acids, fat loss supplements, and maybe even metabolic enhancers (although these may not be safe depending on your health condition).  They also include protein shakes as snacks during the day.  When you reduce the calories you eat and you burn calories in exercise, your body loses valuable nutrients that can be avoided with proper supplementation.

6.  Get enough sleep.  The body regenerates during rest.  This means that if you exercise hard, your body recovers best when you are sleeping.  It also helps you function better and feel better so that you have the energy to go back to the gym.  Experts say that getting about 7 hours of sleep per night is just about right.

Over time, I'll get into more detail in each of these areas, but this will give you a general outline of the areas that will be important to you when you want to take up an effective weight loss program.  The most effective plan must include each of these key areas.