The first 5 things you should do if you want to lose weight

Once you’ve decided to lose weight, you’ll find plenty of advice, much of it conflicting. Every “expert” will tell you that they have the secret to losing weight. It can be completely overwhelming. So what do you do first if you want to lose weight?

I’m no expert, just a regular guy who needed to lose about 30 pounds, but here are my top 5 tips on what to do first. It worked for me!

1. to take action. Eliminate all conflicting advice and take action. The simple truth is that if you want to lose weight you need to eat fewer calories than you burn through activity. Some diets will work better than others, and exercising correctly will burn calories faster. But you won’t lose weight if you think about the best ways, so get out there and get active and start cutting back on your portions and choosing healthy options. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that an apple is better for you than a donut!
2. Walk. It is probably the simplest exercise you can do. No equipment, no training and you can fit it into your everyday life. Just see how many calories you could burn

• Slow walking for one hour = 170 calories
• Moderate pace for one hour = 224 calories
• Fast pace for one hour = 340 calories
• Brisk walking (fast pace, pumping arms) for one hour = 442 calories
• Climbing stairs for one hour = 544
• Climbing stairs one flight = 10 calories

All of these estimates are based on a person of average weight and physical condition. The big advantage is that if you are overweight and out of shape, you will actually burn more calories with the same activity. And remember you don’t have to do a whole hour. Four 15-minute walks will burn the same number of calories.

3. Work on the basics

• A good nutritious diet
• reducing your portions
• increase your exercise

Everything else can come later.

You should get a healthy diet that contains carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, fiber, and plenty of water. But forget about fancy diets, just make sure your main foods are vegetables and fruits. Eat protein with each meal and try to cut down on foods that are saturated in fat. It’s also good to cut down on portions, so if you normally have three potatoes, cut down to two.

4. Calculate the calories you currently eat and use it as a start for the reduction. You can get a calorie counter by searching the web or buy a little calorie counter book. Then write down everything you eat, and I mean everything. Then try to gradually reduce each week until you reach your desired amount. The problem with many diets is that they give general advice, but if you’re currently eating 4,000 calories a day and you try to cut it down to 1,500, you just won’t be able to stick with it. It’s much better to go one week at 3,500, then one week at 3,000 and so on until you reach your goal.

5. Include some weight or resistance training. Muscles will burn more calories and will continue to burn while you rest. While most people will recommend hours of cardiovascular activity, you’ll actually be much better off doing 10 to 15 minutes of a slightly breathless and heart-pumping activity, and then follow up with some weight training. You can do many exercises with a pair of dumbbells.

So there you have my 5 tips for beginners, but as a bonus here is tip number 6.

• Never give up

I’ve heard of so many people who give up because they don’t see results fast enough or break their diet or get stuck in weight loss. This is the real world, there will be setbacks. If it happens to you, you need to get back up. Forgive yourself and start taking action again.