Getting Started With Losing Weight

By Russell Howe

As a gym instructor, over the last five years I have seen many people try to lose weight. Most pick up the latest celebrity diet plan or try to lose weight quickly for a special event such as a wedding and as a result of their need for a 'quick fix' gimmick, they fail.

Personal trainer Russ Howe PTI explains how to lose weight effectively.

Here are a few very basic and easy to follow rules which will help anybody to drop some unwanted poundage from their waistline.

* To start the ball rolling in the right direction you need to work out your current daily calories and chop it down. Not drastically, but sufficiently so you notice a difference in the amount of food that you eat. Dropping by 10% to 15% is fine, but nothing more than that at the beginning.

* Protein is great for weight loss, that's a fact. If you snack throughout your day time then you need to stock up on protein rich foods. These come in the shape of fish, chicken, protein shakes and a whole ton of other options. The fact is when you eat protein you store way less fat than when you consume carbohydrates or fatty foods. Use that to your, and your hunger's, advantage.

* Losing weight takes willpower. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't help yourself out whenever you can with a little unfair trick or two. You are easily more vulnerable to a fatty snack when you are halfway through a monster shift at your job and do not have any convenient tasty healthy food at hand. Take three-to-four small snack tubs in your back pack with you to work each day. Pack them with a protein rich snack. The calories won't be very high given the size of the actual tub, but the protein will fend off all hunger and have far less impact on your body's fat storage systems than a chocolate bar. Plus you'll actually feel better.

* When you lose weight you want to ensure it's bad weight which is coming off, i.e. you want to be losing fat not muscle. Even if you're a lady and have no intention to look like a bodybuilder, you do not want to be burning off muscle tissue. So when you drop your carbs down to lose weight like most dieters do, be sure to increase your protein intake. This will prevent your body from burning muscle and ensure you are only losing unwanted fat.

* Last but certainly not least is our most important rule. Take a day off each week. Whether you want to or not, it's a good move. Why? Because something as simple as a day off allows you to do two very important things....

First of all your body will react well to suddenly having a completely different day in its schedule. You will also end the risk that if you ever need to eat junk food your body won't start reacting negatively because you have avoided it for years.

If you have had difficulty staying on a diet in the past you will absolutely love this one tip in particular. In fact this is the reason so many people fail. They cut out their favorite foods and punish themselves for wanting a better body. You don't have to. That approach leads nowhere fast. Keep enjoying your day off. Sometimes just knowing you have it coming up is enough to stop you from binge eating during the week.

Nobody we ever meet in the gym says they want to lose weight without following it up with the fact that they also want the weight to stay off forever. We've all known a yo-yo dieter and the terrible things they do to their body every three months or so is definitely not something most people want to follow. These steps will help you not only to lose the initial weight you're after, but they will also ensure it stays off for good.

About the Author:

About the writer: Russ Howe PTI is a fitness coach who shows people how to lose weight every day in the gym. Catch his guide to high intensity workouts with his what is hiit guide and build your best body.