The typical scenario
You wake up one day and decide that, yes, the time has come to lose weight. You’ve been carrying an extra few pounds for a while but not really thinking about it. However, lately you’ve just started to feel a tiny bit uncomfortable with the excess body fat that’s gathered around your waist, and maybe also on your thighs, or even under your chin.
You know you’re a pretty determined person, so losing weight should be easy, right?
How people sometimes deal with being overweight
There are a number of possible ways to deal with your overweight scenario. Now, before we go any further, let’s stop right here and state the obvious: if you have any health concerns, don’t go reading blogs in search of a definitive answer: speak to your doctor. This post is intended as a guide only!
So, ways to deal? Many people seem to believe that a short term diet is going to do the trick. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve witnessed going on a short term regime consisting of (for example) grapefruit and boiled eggs – only for no weight, at all, to drop off at the end of their citrus and egg ordeal.
Then there are the rather far-fetched ‘weight loss’ products that sometimes surface – at one time a brand of tea was sold as something that would make you lose weight. Sorry, but a cup of tea and a hamburger has about the same calories as a hamburger. And the amount of fat and other calories you take in are what affects your weight, not cups of tea.
Be realistic: lose weight steadily
So when all is said and all the fads are done, it’s still you and your extra pounds. Losing them hopefully shouldn’t be all that difficult. But it will require a bit of effort and a bit of time. It’s a matter of changing your habits rather than temporarily eating in an eccentric way.
It’s all too easy to view dieting as this big, onerous challenge but in many cases it can be – if not effortless – then at least achievable with a little bit of thought and effort. One thing that’s worth remembering in the early days is that much of it is about habit. If for instance you always have a can of fizzy, sugary pop with lunch, then you might miss it for a couple of days when you replace it with a glass of water. That’s the power of habit. But pretty soon you get used to the water and wouldn’t want anything else with lunch.
Obviously if you are clinically obese or if you’re underweight, then your doctor is the best person to advise. But for anyone who is carrying a few extra pounds and wants rid of them permanently, the steady approach might not be the one people talk about round the water cooler at work, but it’s very effective. A bit more exercise coupled with a sensible lowering of your calorie intake.
Jen Jones writes for a number of blogs and websites on a variety of wellbeing topics including nutrition, fitness and international health insurance.