Weight Loss

Reviewed on 11/13/2020

Facts you should know about weight loss

Whether your weight-loss goals involve trying to lose 5 pounds or more than 50, the same principles determine how much weight you lose and how fast your weight loss will occur. Remembering the following simple healthy eating diet tips and putting them into practice can lead to weight reduction without the aid of any special diet plans, weight loss programs, fitness books, or medications.



  • Our level of physical activity




How do you lose weight?




  • One slice of original-style crust pepperoni pizza - 230 calories
  • One glass of dry white wine - 160 calories
  • One can of cola - 150 calories
  • One quarter-pound hamburger with cheese - 500 calories
  • One jumbo banana nut muffin - 580 calories



Weight loss occurs in the belly before anywhere else. See Answer

How fast should you expect to lose weight?



The no-diet approach to weight control

By adopting sensible eating habits and practicing portion control, you can eat nutritious foods so that you take in as many calories as you need to maintain your health and well-being at your ideal weight. Often, weight loss occurs on its own simply when you start making better food choices, such as avoiding

  • processed foods,
  • sugar-laden foods,
  • alcohol.

While nothing is absolutely forbidden, when you do succumb to temptation, keep the portion size small and add a bit more exercise to your daily workout.




An example of a successful no-diet weight-loss journey

A 45-year-old woman complains that she has gradually put on 12 pounds over the past year. In the last month, she's faced a stressful work deadline and added another 4 pounds to her frame.


She decides to make some changes that will allow her to cut back an average of 250 calories per day.

  • Skipping a large glass of sweetened iced tea will save about 200 calories.
  • Substituting mineral water for the cola she regularly drinks during meetings can save another 150 calories.
  • Foregoing her morning muffin snack (or eating only half a muffin) can also save 250 calories or more.

To reach her goal of a 500-calorie-per-day savings, she adds some exercise.

  • Getting up early for a 20-minute walk before work and adding a 10-minute walk during her lunch break add up to a half hour of walking per day, which can burn about 200 calories.
  • On weekends, she plans to walk for 60 minutes one day and spend one hour gardening the next day for even greater calorie burning. If walking for 60 minutes is too much, two 30-minute walks one day would burn the same number of calories.
  • Twice per week she plans to stop at the gym on the way home from work, even if only for a half hour of stationary cycling or swimming (each burning up to 250 calories).


What about special diet plans (fad or extreme diets and popular diets) and weight loss programs?



Remember that the most successful weight management comes from dietary changes and healthy eating choices that will stay with you over time, not from diets that leave you feeling deprived or result in binge-eating episodes.

When should weight-loss medications or surgery be used?



Why is weight loss important?

Maintenance of a healthy body weight has health benefits and is important for maintaining both physical and emotional well-being and disease prevention. Excess weight, body fat, and obesity have been associated with an increased risk for numerous health conditions, including

It should be noted that reduction in weight for those who are overweight can make a major impact on the health conditions listed above. Many overweight people also report improved mood, increased in self-esteem and motivation, and feeling healthier in general after they have lost weight.


Weight loss occurs in the belly before anywhere else. See Answer

12 tips for successful weight loss

  3. Don't go hungry. Make sure not to skip meals, and always have some healthy low fat snacks on hand. When you starve yourself, you are more likely to overeat and make bad food choices. Try to eat healthy, regular meals.
  4. Avoid surroundings where you know you're tempted to make poor food choices. Everyone has a time when we're most likely to overeat, whether it's the morning coffee break or after-work gathering with friends. Try to plan other activities or distractions for those times, or plan in advance how you're going to handle them and stick to it.
  5. Surround yourself with people who support your efforts. Even our good friends can knowingly or unknowingly sabotage weight-loss attempts. Spend time with those people who will not pressure you to make poor food choices.
  6. Decide on some nonfood rewards for yourself when you reach interim goals. For examples, at the end of the first week of healthy eating or after the first 5 pounds lost, buy yourself a new DVD, app, or book.
  7. If you have a slip-up, this is no reason to give up. Giving in to temptation and overeating doesn't have to mean the end of your healthy eating plan. After the overeating episode, just resume the healthy eating plan and forgive yourself.
  9. Study the Internet or your cookbook collection and identify some low fat recipes you would like to try.
  10. Set small goals and focus on these rather than the "big picture." Decide where you want to be in a week or in a month rather than focusing on the total amount of weight you'd like to lose.
  11. Don't compare your weight loss to others. Everyone is different and has different metabolic rates. People also vary in the amount of calories they burn daily or how much exercise they do. Aim for a healthy rate of weight loss, and don't measure yourself by what others are doing or their results.

Health Solutions From Our Sponsors

Saber, Alan A. "Bariatric Surgery." Medscape.com. May 28, 2019. <http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/197081-overview>.

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