Weight Loss System

Weight Loss System

There are many weight loss systems on the market today. How do you know which weight loss system is right for you? From what I can tell, a good weight loss system consists of a diet plan and an exercise plan. I think it’s important to have both to promote safe and effective weight loss. If you only follow a diet plan, you do your body a disservice by not getting proper exercise and if you only follow a regimented exercise routine, your body might not be getting the proper nutrition it needs. It’s important to have both of these included in the weight loss system you choose.

I have read up on a lot of different weight loss systems, but have only tried a few. I myself am overweight, obese (if not close to being it), and I eat poorly plus I don’t get the proper amount of exercise I need. I think it’s good that I can admit that – that to me is the first step in overcoming this obstacle of being overweight, and getting on the right road to becoming a healthier person. I used to smoke at least 1 pack of cigarettes each day, and as of 3 years ago, I’m completely smoke-free. It was a difficult process, as I had tried several smoking-cessation methods, but never had decent results. In the end, I was able to quit cold turkey, with persistence, willpower, and determination. Sometimes I think that quitting smoking might have been detrimental to my weight, but deep down I know that I’m healthier now. It’s been said that smoking can curb one’s appetite, but I’m not sure if that’s true or just a cliché. I still drink regularly, and I know I need to work on that. In college I drank more than I should have, a lot of beer, but I don’t think my weight increased so much because of how much walking I did each day. The classes I was taking were in separate buildings for the most part, so there was a fair amount of walking, which I think kept my weight sustained. Also, I’m told that sleeping can affect your weight. I can tell you that I don’t get enough sleep. I usually average between 4-5 hours of sleep each night during the work week, at best. I know that I would feel better getting more sleep each night, but I also feel like there’s never enough time to get things done. In the end, I stay up later than I should, trying to work on things or just get some extra fun stuff in. As the week goes on from Monday to Friday, I usually feel more and more tired each day. I end up sleeping in later on the weekend to get caught up on the missing hours of sleep from the week before. I was also diagnosed with sleep apnea, which I believe you are more susceptible to if you are overweight. I also have high blood pressure. I feel that all of these factors contribute to my obesity, and more importantly, my poor health. Overall, I think that my appearance is essentially normal, except for my large mid-section.

There is no miracle weight loss system that can combat each of the problems I have. I can recognize that a lot of these issues I’ve described are interconnected. If I can get more efficient sleep each night I’ll have more energy plus that should help with losing weight, which should help overcome high blood pressure and sleep apnea, and so on and so forth. So it’s important to try and remember that this is not just one gigantic problem that’s weighing down – these things, although connected, can in fact be separated and dealt with individually. For now, I’ll start with weight in general. I mentioned that there are a lot of weight loss systems available today, and I’m sure that there will be even more weight loss systems and techniques developed in the future. I have a little bit of experience (some indirectly) from a couple of today’s more popular weight loss programs. The first is The Adkins Diet. My parents had gotten the book on The Adkins Diet and starting trying it out for themselves. As a result, I began The Adkins Diet too, as I still live at home and usually they prepare the meals for all of us. I can say that The Adkins Diet works. I can honestly say that, having seen my father lose weight with it. The problem that I and my mother had with it was the amount of weight he lost in such a short time. We both felt that it was very unhealthy. Effective, yes, but unhealthy as well, in my opinion. The thing was that my father followed all the guidelines to The Adkins Diet, but I think in the end he didn’t eat enough. I know that sounds strange, but take this example. The Adkins Diet states that you need to restrict your intake of carbohydrates initially, and then re-introduce them to your diet little by little over time. So for the first couple of weeks, you can eat all the cheese and steak and whatnot you want, but you can’t have bread or potatoes, for example. So my father thinks to himself “I’ll have a cheeseburger and fries for dinner.” When he goes to prepare the dinner, however, according to The Adkins Diet, he has to skip on the bun and the fries (bread and potato). So he ends up just eating the hamburger patty with a slice of cheese on top. You might say that’s not too bad, where’s the problem? The problem is that that was all he ate. One hamburger and one slice of cheese. That’s not enough food for a proper meal. I don’t think meat and cheese all by itself is healthy to begin with, but if that’s all you’re going to eat, at least make sure you eat enough so you’re not effectively starving yourself. At the end of the first couple of weeks on The Adkins Diet, my father had lost something like 12 pounds. So obviously the weight loss system worked, but I think that was too much weight too fast for a man in his late 60’s. Will The Adkins Diet help you lose weight? Most assuredly, yes, but is it the healthiest and safest way to do so? I think not. Next came another largely known weight loss system, Weight Watchers.

My mother started on Weight Watchers and it seemed to work well for her. I think that the Weight Watcher diet program is a decent program. It seems easy to follow, as I think everything is based off of a point system. Each food is assigned a point value, and you’re allowed a set amount of points for each day. I remember my mother would divide her points up each day so she would have an amount of points set for her breakfast, and then an amount of points set for lunch, and then dinner. I think that the basic concept this weight loss program is that the designers of Weight Watchers have done a lot of the research in determining the appropriate nutrition of foods, and as such each food’s point value reflects that. I also think that you aren’t required to go to the weigh-ins, but for some people I can see the added benefit. The other people that you meet at the weigh-in meetings using the Weight Watchers program can be an additional support system. Sometimes it’s good to have the additional encouragement from others trying to achieve the same goals you are.

I myself haven’t officially begun any specific weight loss system or program, but I do know what’s worked for me in the past. About 3 years ago, I ran on my treadmill everyday after work, and I never ate any meals until I was full – I always left some room. The last time I recorded my statistics, I had lost 50 pounds over 4 months. At that time I remember how excited I was. My weight was 248. I had just dropped below 250 pounds, a personal milestone for me. I think those are results to indicate some form of success. It’s not really a weight loss system, but just following those two guidelines helped me – exercise everyday (even just a little, as exercise is said to be cumulative), and never over eat. That worked for me, but the problem I had was as the holiday season approached, I started skipping exercise sessions, and it just became harder and harder to get back on the treadmill. I kept putting it off and off until now, I haven’t been on the treadmill or done any considerable exercising in over a year. I also haven’t been watching my food portions as well as I should. What is to be learned is that in the end, you need consistency (at least I do) until the point that exercising has become such a routine that it’s automatic. You don’t even think about it, you just do it. I’m working towards getting something of a routine back. I’ve told myself that I need to exercise everyday, no matter how short the time, I need to do something everyday. I’m resolved that I’m going to start that soon. I currently weight over 300 pounds. I have put back on all the weight that I had lost, plus some additional weight as well. I haven’t found a weight loss system that will work for me, but essentially that is due to the fact that I really haven’t been looking. I think that for me it’s more of a matter of stupid foolish personal pride. I think I want to be able to say that I did it all myself and didn’t have to ask for anyone’s help. Actually I know that that’s a big part of the problem. I now believe that it’s okay to ask for help, and there’s nothing to be ashamed of, as I’ve always known.

Finding the best weight loss system is unrealistic. I honestly don’t believe that there is a “best” weight loss system. What works for one person won’t necessarily work for another. We are all individuals, with essentially the same physical make up (in general at least), but at the same time we’re still different from one another. I know that there are other weight loss systems out on the market today, but I’m not sure which ones are the most effective. And even so, one that is very effective for me might not be so effective for the next guy. I still think that the main points to remember with any weight loss system or program is that in order for it to be effective, it should include both a diet plan and a fitness or exercise plan. You should have both to be successful. To break things down even further, a good fitness plan will comprise both strength training and cardiovascular exercise. Strength training will build more muscle and help with burning calories, while the cardiovascular exercise with burn a majority of the calories. The diet plan of the weight loss system is equally important. It’s not just about what foods you should eat, and which ones are healthy for you, but also how much of the foods you’re consuming. I’ve learned that portion control is a very important thing to remember. You can eat the healthiest food in the world, but if you over eat you’re still going to gain weight. The food quantities play a big part in your diet plan. I used to eat enough, but I would stop while I still felt hungry. In essence I was watching my portions; it was just my way of doing it. That, combined with my personal fitness routine of running on my treadmill everyday was what made me lose the weight I lost. I think I should have integrated some other exercises into my workouts, but at the time the treadmill was enough. I’ll be doing some more research into other weight loss systems.