Creating A Healthy Agenda

On the topic of health and fitness, in order to lose weight and get fit, it's important to first figure out what's going wrong so you know what to focus on. Without specifically knowing what needs to be improved, you will essentially be wandering around without a specific plan of attack. If you have no idea of what you are doing wrong, or why you have gained weight, how can you expect to make a difference that will matter?
When you're truly committed to losing weight, your goal is to shed pounds off your body that stays off for good. This as opposed to a temporary fix of losing five or ten pounds one month, then putting that weight right back on the following month.

This is one of the main reasons why so many people fail trying to lose weight. They attempt to tackle the weight loss process without any type of plan which is why many folks continually go through the see-saw effect. Lose a bit of weight one month, then gain it all back (and often a bit more) the following month.
Instead of putting yourself through this ordeal over and over again, let's take a different approach so that you can have real success this time.

It's time to focus on only two things right now - Monitor your daily calorie intake and get some form of exercise regularly each week. That is basically weight loss in a nutshell when creating a healthy agenda and if followed consistently you will reach your goal.

Let's look at what each one of these aspects entails so you have a clear idea of how to form your plan.

Monitor Your Daily Calorie Intake

One often overlooked aspect of the weight loss process is the amount of calories put into the body on a daily basis. This is the true key to weight loss success yet it's quite often overlooked.
Train your mind to think of food as just calories. Each type of food, snack, beverage has a finite number of calories that defines it depending on how much is served.

This is why you might hear others speak about the importance of portion size. If you consume too large of a portion, you are essentially taking in too many calories. This will inevitably lead to weight gain unless you find some way to burn this excess off your body generally in the form of exercise.
When portion size is controlled at each eating moment, your calorie count will be appropriate. At the end of the day, you will likely be at your target calorie amount and that translates to a day of healthy nutrition.
Once you gain a firm hold on your daily calorie intake, you are well on your way to losing the weight you're trying to get rid of.

Get A Consistent Form of Exercise

Just as it's important to monitor your daily calorie intake, it is also important to exercise. Not only does exercise help strengthen muscles, but it burns calories. It takes fuel (energy) to workout so naturally that fuel will come from the food you have put into your body.

The amount of fuel burned during a workout will depend on the activity and intensity level you maintain. All activities do not burn the same amount of calories. For instance, walking at a slow pace (2 mph) on level terrain for one hour will burn about 300 calories whereas running at a moderate pace (8mph) on level terrain will burn approximately 1,650 calories.

As you can see there's a big difference between those two activities. That's not to say you should go out and run full speed ahead trying to burn off as many calories as possible. You always want to remain safe and not push your body past its limits.

Just know that each exercise and intensity level will create a different amount of calories that are burned.
If you would like to check the exact calories burned from specific workouts, take a look at one of the many calorie counting apps to get an idea of what will be lost from your efforts. And remember how important exercise is when creating a healthy agenda and you will meet your weight loss goal.

Gregory L. Gomez, a LAUSD teacher who's also on journey to develop a healthy life in an effort to lose weight and get in shape. Follow his progress on http://HealthyChoicesInLife.com as he strives to lose nearly 100 pounds by eating healthy and maintaining a consistent exercise routine. Get a FREE monthly Healthy Choices Newsletter along with a Healthy Eating eBook just for stopping by at http://healthychoicesinlife.com/healthy-eating.

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