The Five Key Steps To Losing Weight

Yesterday, a lot of folk will have embarked on a diet in a desperate attempt to lose weight because they are simply fed up with carrying around their excess bulk, feeling unnecessarily tired, and having a very low self-esteem. Monday is the most popular day for starting a diet as it signifies the start of a fresh week and most of us have a pretty predictable work pattern and that helps us stock to our diet.

To be successful on any weight-loss campaign we need to understand that we have to cut down on the calories we eat and we need to step up the number of calories we spend. We can have very good intentions of eating more healthily and doing more exercise but when reality takes over, often we make some effort but not enough to give us the quick weight loss we need to spur us on to our ultimate goal.

So here are my top tips to keep you on track to quick results.

• To lose weight you need to stick to a reduced calorie diet and the easiest way to do that is to eat low fat foods which should contain significantly fewer calories that their high-fat equivalent. Check out the food labels and buy foods with 5% fat or less, and check out the calories per portion that you are going to eat. Cut right back on alcohol as alcohol just causes you to gain weight.



• Next, reduce your portion size. This is, in my opinion, the biggest reason why so many people are overweight. We are just getting used to eating too much. Find yourself a smaller plate and cereal bowl and cut back your portions. If you have a set of my Portion Pots, use them. (find them on our website www.rosemaryconley.com)



• Stop snacking between meals. That’s a tough one if you’re used to munching your way through a packet of crisps and a Mars bar every day but if you are serious about getting back into shape, then you do need to cut back on the high fat treats that do nothing for you except make you fat. If you feel really hungry mid-morning or mid-afternoon, have a small piece of fruit – just one!



• Exercise burns extra calories and any activity that uses your heart and lungs – in other words makes you out of breath – also burns fat. We need to do 20-30 minutes of aerobic exercise 3 – 5 times a week to be healthy, but while we are trying to lose weight, our exercise time is crucial. It will speed up your progress significantly. Also do some toning exercises which will strengthen your muscles and give you a better shape. (Try our diet and fitness classes as the exercises we teach in them will burn fat and tone you up- find out where your local Rosemary Conley Diet & Fitness classes are held here).



• Last, but by no means least, write down everything you eat and drink, every day. By doing so research has proven that you double your rate of progress. It just makes you more accountable than eating something and thinking ‘just one won’t hurt’ – but unfortunately, every little extra adds up.

Remember, we don’t become overweight overnight so be patient but when you do reach your goal, you will feel like a new person and every bit of effort will have been worth it.

Have a good day!

Losing weight is a choice.

The weight we are is a direct result of choices we have made: how much and what we eat, how active we are and whether or not we take regular exercise.

If we are going to lose weight we need to eat less than our body needs for a while so that the body uses some of its excesses (body fat) to make up the shortfall of calories that it needs to carry out its everyday functions. If we step up our activity levels as well as eat less, we lose weight faster and very easily, plus we tone up as we slim down.

Eating the way we have been doing is a habit. Maybe skipping breakfast, grabbing a high-fat snack mid-morning, buying a sandwich, packet of crisps and a high-sugar drink at lunchtime and then topping it off with a pie, pizza or paella for dinner accompanied by a few beers or half a bottle of wine every night, then perhaps eating a snack before bedtime or whilst watching television. ‘What’s wrong with that?’ you may ask and if you had been working on a building site all day and cycled ten miles home, you would probably be fine but most of us don’t lead hugely physical lives and eating more fat and more calories than our body needs, leads to our being overweight or obese.

Weight creeps up on us and you may be someone who never eats chocolate, crisps and who drinks alcohol only at weekends and you cannot understand why you are two stone overweight. The most likely culprit is portion sizes. Just eating too much of relatively healthy food.

The problem is that these days portion sizes have become ridiculously large, particularly in restaurants, and we are getting used to eating them. America is leading the way in over-sized portions resulting in over-sized people. Whenever I go to a restaurant where I know they serve very large portions, I always ask for a child’s portion. I don’t like waste and there’s a limit to how often I can embarrass the person I’m with by asking for a doggy bag for Waise (pronounced ‘visor’), our dog.

If you want to lose weight fast, go on one of my diets but if you just want to lose a bit of weight and trim down a bit, why not just make a few simple lifestyle changes?

• Cut your portion size down by 20%
• Cut your alcohol consumption by half
• Increase your activity levels and wear a pedometer.
  Try to do 10,000 steps a day .
• Cut right back on fatty foods
• Don’t snack between meals

Losing weight isn’t rocket science, it’s just common sense. Eat less and do more!

Check out our website for more information if you need some extra help. www.rosemaryconley.com