How to Healthily Lose Weight

About 63.1% of adults in the United States were either overweight or obese in 2009 and that number is expected to climb, according to the finding of the latest Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.

Many fad diets exist to counteract obesity, but some do little to improve your health. Although some of these diets do indeed help you lose weight, they do so in an unhealthy manner, leaving you susceptible to malnutrition, starvation, or even death. Such methods of weight loss include the diet pill, eating once a day, forcing yourself to vomit, or even starving yourself for days at time.

In order to lose weight in a healthy way, try these steps and see what works best for you.

Calculate Your Body Mass Index:The first step to losing weight healthily is determining whether you need to lose weight in the first place. To do this, you need to measure your BMI, a common measure of body fat based on height and weight. If your BMI is 30 or greater, you are considered obese and should probably lose weight. If your BMI is 25-29.9, you are overweight, but you do not need to lose as much weight. If you have a BMI of 18.5-24.9, do not do anything because your weight is ideal. A BMI below 18.5 means you better eat up because your are underweight. To calculate your BMI, simply search for a BMI calculator on the internet.

Buy a Notebook and Count Your Calories:Some overweight people do not realize how many calories they consume in a day. No matter how you look at it, 3500 calories consumed equals one pound gained. This makes your goal to burn off more calories than you consume, resulting in weight loss. Before you start counting calories, visit www.thedailyplate.com. Here, you can find out how many calories you can consume per day to lose however many pounds you want per week. For example, a man who weighs 190 pounds needs to eat about 2200 calories per day to lose 1.5 pounds per week. After you figure out the amount of calories you can eat, check the nutrition facts of all the foods you consume and record the calories. The calories can add up fast, so make sure to divide your calories evenly between meals (you should eat three meals per day).

Eat Right But Do not Deprive Yourself of Foods You Like: Just because you need to eat less to lose weight, it does not mean you need to completely cut out your favorite foods from your diet. It is ok to have that chocolate bar you crave as long as you eat it in moderation. Instead of eating a whole Kit-Kat bar, just eat half and save the rest for another day. This does not mean you can just eat unhealthy foods to fulfill your 2200-calorie limit. You must get the nutrition your body needs, so it is important to include a good daily dose of fruits and vegetables. For more information on how you should breakdown what you eat every day, search for a food pyramid online.

Remember, be sure to exercise three to five times per week in addition to following the above steps.