The Secrets of Counting Calories Weight Loss and Your Health

Achieving reasonable weight loss usually requires a number of lifestyle changes in order to have long term and lasting success. Many people mistakenly attempt to focus on only one aspect of their lifestyle when planning to drop unwanted pounds. Often they feel that simply reducing their daily food intake is all that should be required to slim down and eliminate that extra weight they've carried around for far too long.

But the plain truth of the matter is that this strategy is unlikely to produce the desired results, because when you only count calories weight loss is more difficult to achieve. In fact, simply reducing your caloric intake can actually slow your metabolism and restrict overall weight loss.


If we accept the premise that we must do more than count calories weight loss -- real long term and significant weight loss -- will be something that we can look forward to and, in fact, actually achieve. So what other aspects of our personal lifestyles must we address in order to drop unnecessary pounds? No doubt you've probably heard this many, many times before, but an appropriate amount of exercise is also critical to lasting weight reduction. Changes in diet alone typically won't be enough for most of us to get the weight loss results we're hoping for. Instead, we've got to safely increase our physical activity. We've got to get off our rear ends and get our bodies moving in order to reach our weight loss goals.

Activity is essential to our overall well being. When we rely solely on reducing calories weight loss is more than likely going to be much more difficult for us to achieve, because we need to raise our energy levels and boost our metabolism when we reduce the amount of food in our diets. While it may be appropriate to cut back on our daily food intake because we're exceeding the amount of calories our body needs to function properly, cutting back too harshly or too quickly will likely have very adverse affects on our ability to lose weight. The bottom line is that we've simply got ensure that we're getting the right amount of exercise, otherwise by simply cutting down on calories weight loss will not come as expected.

Remember, these are just general weight loss principles and each person is different. Before you embark on a weight loss regimen, you should first consult with your doctor or health care professional. This advice is essential to ensure that you approach your weight loss program in a safe and healthy manner. Changes in our diet and our exercise plans could have significant effect on our overall well being, both positive or negative. While we may want to jump right in and start exercising and counting calories weight loss will be much more risky without the guidance of a qualified health care professional. When it comes to losing weight, be smart and stay healthy.