How to lose weight and keep it off

For aesthetic reasons, many people want to lose weight, lose the extra pounds, even quickly, and then maintain their ideal weight and not gain weight. However, there are other, more important reasons. It has been shown that excess body weight is associated with risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Even metabolically healthy obese people have a higher prevalence of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis than metabolically healthy normal-weight people. This supports the idea that obesity without other risk factors is not a harmless condition. Therefore, it is essential to know how to lose weight and keep it off.

Importance of obesity

The potential cardiovascular complications of obesity are multiple. Individuals with extreme obesity present myocardial infarction at a younger age and have a worse risk factor profile. Despite receiving the same diagnostic and therapeutic measures as other patients, extreme obesity is independently associated with higher hospital mortality.

It has been proven that obese people have a high risk of suffering from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. It has been observed that obese children have fatty deposits in the walls of their arteries similar to those of adults. Failure to treat obesity in time can reduce life expectancy by 15 to 20 years.

Obesity is a problem that is constantly increasing. At this rate, all inhabitants of industrialized countries will be obese before long. The proportion of childhood obesity continues to rise. The increase in the number of obese people has been occurring for quite a few years now and continues to grow.

Numerous statistical studies confirm the worrying increase in overweight and obesity in industrialized countries. In some of them, such as the United States and Japan, the incidence of obesity has tripled in the last 30 years.

It seems logical to think that the main cause of this increase is the greater availability of high-energy foods. In addition, the comforts available in more advanced societies encourage a sedentary lifestyle, which also contributes to increased body weight.

Contrary to popular belief, obesity is not just a form of different body constitution, but a real disease. The so-called “happiness curve” can have serious health consequences.

The development of obesity is influenced by heredity, diet, lack of physical exercise and the psychological state of the individual. Obese people inherit the predisposition to obesity and, throughout their lives, eat more than they need and do not exercise regularly.

Parents often force their children to overeat. School canteens frequently prohibit children from leaving the table if they have not eaten everything. However, for many of these children, a small amount of varied food is sufficient.

Nowadays, food takes up a lot of our time. An influential culture has been created around “eating well.” In addition, the consumption of so-called “junk food” has increased, such as hamburgers, chips, sauces, sweets and soft drinks. For all these reasons, it is important to know how to lose weight.

Treatment of obesity

Obesity treatment requires a low-calorie diet, mainly reducing the consumption of fats and sugars. In addition, physical exercise should be practiced daily. In extreme cases, medication (always under medical advice) or surgery may be used. However, to know how to lose weight and maintain it, the most important thing is to change your lifestyle habits.

However, it is more difficult to treat obesity than to prevent it. Therefore, we must insist on preventive measures. This should begin from birth, and breastfeeding is recommended, which reduces the probability of developing obesity.

Children must then be educated from the age of 3, guiding them towards healthy lifestyle habits, so that they regularly practice sports and follow a diet based on fruits, vegetables, cereals, legumes, and fish.

Various studies have shown that the usual therapeutic measures for obesity, excluding surgical methods, are not truly effective in achieving weight reduction and maintenance.

Current obesity treatment programs, based on weight control through primary care, cannot be expected to achieve clinically relevant and sustained reductions in body mass index in the vast majority of obese patients.

The first therapeutic measures for obesity are oriented towards diet and lifestyle changes. It has been proven that diet and physical exercise allow a significant reduction in body mass index, but it is difficult to maintain it over time. Most obese people return to their initial weight, and some even exceed it after a few years.

In some cases, maintaining body weight is achieved through regular visits to the doctor and consistent emphasis on dietary and lifestyle measures. However, the treatment of obesity has required more drastic measures, with drugs and/or surgery, to achieve the goal of maintaining an adequate body weight over time.

The problem of obesity is accentuated by the difficulty of controlling it. Gaining body weight is much easier than losing it. Obese people often say that they eat very little. Although the concept of “eating little” is different for them, it is true that their metabolism makes the most of food, so they gain weight very easily in just a few days. However, to lose the same amount of weight, they need weeks of strict diet.

There are medications that help with weight loss, as well as surgical techniques that have proven to be very effective. However, in any case, the patient always needs to be convinced. The obese person must be made aware of the need to follow a strict low-calorie diet on a sustained basis. In addition, he or she must exercise regularly.

Diets to lose weight

If you think it’s hard to lose weight, you’re right. But the difficulty lies within you. You can’t think that you’re eating too little, because what you’re eating is what’s keeping you at your current weight. If you’re overweight or obese, you need to eat fewer calories and exercise more.

You’ve probably tried a diet to try to lose those extra pounds. You’ve tried different types of diets, but you always end up with the same results. Furthermore, you’ve initially lost weight for a few weeks and then gained it back. The same thing has happened to many people.

However, some people manage to significantly lose weight and keep it off. They are in the minority, but they do exist, which means that losing weight and keeping it off is possible. It is difficult because willpower fails, not because it is difficult in itself.

There have been many types of diets published for weight loss, but they all end in the same way. Some restrict carbohydrates more, while others limit fat consumption. With any of them, weight loss is achieved initially, but the vast majority of people who follow them end up regaining the weight they had at the beginning.

Only a small percentage of people manage to lose and maintain their weight with one of these diets. Some diets work better for some people and other diets for other people. It is clear that what you have to do is find the diet that best suits you, and persist with it until you achieve the goal of losing weight and maintaining it.

It is very common for obese people to lose a lot of weight when they start a diet, but then they usually stagnate and end up gaining weight again. The method of starting a severe diet and losing weight quickly is not often effective in the long term. Very few people achieve their goal this way. However, people who try it progressively, slowly, frequently get better results. There are many diets to lose weight and lose belly fat, but the most important thing is your will.

Tips for losing weight

1. We recommend that you immediately make up your mind that you must lose weight and maintain your ideal weight, and that you must achieve this little by little. Don’t try to lose a lot of weight quickly. Prepare yourself for slow and progressive weight loss. For example, you can aim to lose one kilo of weight a week. Set that goal.
2. Do not pay attention to miracle diets, products or weight loss programs, as they end up being ineffective. Also, remember that losing weight too quickly can be dangerous for your health. Do not give in to the temptation of taking slimming drugs. These should only be used if you do not achieve your goal with diet alone, and always under medical supervision.
3. The biggest problem is the discouragement that occurs when you fail to lose enough weight. Therefore, if you don’t achieve your goal one week, it doesn’t matter, keep going even if it’s slower. Even if you only lose a kilo a month. Or worse, if you gain weight. The most important thing is to persist in trying. The solution is in you, in your motivation.
4. You should also consider whether your personal situation is influencing you to eat too much or is conditioning you to not follow the diet. Many people have personal problems, with their family or at work, that depress them and lead them to eat more than usual or consume high-calorie foods. Financial difficulties or the type of work can also influence the diet we follow. If you have any of these problems, try to solve them. If this is not possible, prepare yourself so that the problems do not influence your diet.
5. You have to forget about all the negative things and plan to follow a correct diet and exercise every day. The people who achieve the most things are those who manage to get their concerns out of their heads and think only about what makes them happy.
6. It is clear that to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you take in. Therefore, you need to eat fewer calories and burn them off with more physical exercise. To eat fewer calories, you need to reduce or eliminate high-energy foods, such as refined carbohydrates and saturated fats.
7. When you go out to eat, try not to fill your plates too much and don’t have to eat it all. If there are any leftovers, save them for the next meal. Even if you go to a restaurant, don’t eat everything just because you’re going to pay for it. Don’t be shy and ask the waiter to put it in a container for you to take with you.
8. Try to eliminate all fatty and sugary foods from your diet. Cut back on bread, potatoes, and pasta. If you like them, wholegrain products are preferable.
9. Eliminate alcoholic and sugary drinks. Ideally, drink water. If you do drink something different, try a little wine or beer, but only a little.
10. Try to eat fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, fish, chicken, and turkey. That’s enough, and it can be a very varied diet if you know how to combine it.
11. You should not eliminate a lot of food, just reduce the total amount and the foods with more calories. With this, patience and a lot of motivation you will be able to lose weight slowly, which is what we recommend.
12. Of course, along with diet, you should do regular physical exercise. Go for a walk or a run, go for a bike ride or go swimming. But remember that you will come back hungry, and you should restrain yourself so as not to binge and lose everything you gained during the day.
13. To achieve what we propose, you must drastically change your mentality. You must think positively, eliminate anxiety and depression. You must know that it will not be easy, but you must never get discouraged. Furthermore, you will go through worse times, but you must not give up.
14. Try to resist temptations and external pressures. Some situations, and even some people, may threaten your situation, but your willpower has to be stronger. Your health comes first, and your body will thank you every time you lose weight.
15. You are forbidden from saying “I can’t”. You can. What you cannot do is continue like this, with a lot of body fat and weighing more than you should, because it is dangerous for your health. You must start taking care of yourself, your health is a priority, so you have to control your diet and practice physical exercise.