How To Lose Weight When You Have A Sedentary Job

This article was co-authored by Pouya Shafipour, MD, MS. Dr. Pouya Shafipour is a Family Medicine Specialist, Primary Care Physician, and a Weight Loss Specialist based in Santa Monica, California. Dr. Shafipour specializes in dietary, nutritional, behavioral, and exercise counseling to manage obesity and medical conditions related to excessive weight gain or loss. Dr. Shafipour received a BS in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, an MS in Physiology and Biophysics from Georgetown University, and an MD from the Loma Linda University School of Medicine. He completed his internship in general surgery at UC Irvine and a residency in family medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and became board certified in family medicine in 2008.

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There are many reasons why you might want to lose weight. If you have been significantly overweight or obese for a long time, then you might have concerns about what the extra weight could be doing to your health. Obesity increases your risk of many health problems, including diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, gallbladder disease, and some types of cancer. If you have recently gained a bit of weight, then you might just want to lose some weight to fit back into your old jeans. Whatever your reason for wanting to lose weight, there are some important strategies that you should know about.

Where Do You Start To Lose Weight First? We Asked Experts

This article was co-authored by Pouya Shafipour, MD, MS. Dr. Pouya Shafipour is a Family Medicine Specialist, Primary Care Physician, and a Weight Loss Specialist based in Santa Monica, California. Dr. Shafipour specializes in dietary, nutritional, behavioral, and exercise counseling to manage obesity and medical conditions related to excessive weight gain or loss. Dr. Shafipour received a BS in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, an MS in Physiology and Biophysics from Georgetown University, and an MD from the Loma Linda University School of Medicine. He completed his internship in general surgery at UC Irvine and a residency in family medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and became board certified in family medicine in 2008. This article has been viewed 4, 805, 474 times.

To lose weight, you need to combine detailed tracking of your caloric intake with a carefully selected variety of healthy foods and regular exercise. Use a calorie counting smartphone app or website to keep a detailed record of the calories you eat each day. The best calorie counting apps have databases with accessible information about the calories of most foods and recipes, and can help you track your eating over time. Choose to eat lean proteins such as chicken breast, salmon, or tofu; a wide variety of green and leafy vegetables; as well as a selection of fruits and whole grains. Swap out unhealthy fats like butter for healthy choices like olive oil. Avoid alcoholic beverages, which are high in calories, and can also stimulate your appetite. Try eating several small meals throughout the day instead of a few larger meals. This will help keep your energy levels up and prevent you from getting too hungry. Also, drink plenty of cool water to stay hydrated, which can help keep you fuller longer. Avoid juice, soda, and other sweetened drinks. It is important to reduce your daily calorie intake, but don't eat fewer than 1200 calories a day, which can trigger your body's starvation response and slow your weight loss. Also, aim for a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise each day. Depending upon your level of fitness, you can get the exercise you need by walking, running, swimming, cycling, or taking a class at the gym. Mix things up with strength training. You don't need any special equipment – body weight exercises such lunges, squats, and push-ups can all help you get toned and burn fat. Find friends or family to work on losing weight with you so that you can support each other. With consistent attention to diet and exercise, you'll lose weight in a healthy, sustainable, way. To learn more from our Dietitian co-author, like how to make a meal plan, keep reading!Pick up any diet book and it will claim to hold all the answers to successfully losing all the weight you want—and keeping it off. Some claim the key is to eat less and exercise more, others that low fat is the only way to go, while others prescribe cutting out carbs. So, what should you believe?

The truth is there is no “one size fits all” solution to permanent healthy weight loss. What works for one person may not work for you, since our bodies respond differently to different foods, depending on genetics and other health factors. To find the method of weight loss that's right for you will likely take time and require patience, commitment, and some experimentation with different foods and diets.

How To Lose Weight And Keep It Off

While some people respond well to counting calories or similar restrictive methods, others respond better to having more freedom in planning their weight-loss programs. Being free to simply avoid fried foods or cut back on refined carbs can set them up for success. So, don't get too discouraged if a diet that worked for somebody else doesn't work for you. And don't beat yourself up if a diet proves too restrictive for you to stick with. Ultimately, a diet is only right for you if it's one you can stick with over time.

Remember: while there’s no easy fix to losing weight, there are plenty of steps you can take to develop a healthier relationship with food, curb emotional triggers to overeating, and achieve a healthy weight.

Some experts believe that successfully managing your weight comes down to a simple equation: If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you lose weight. Sounds easy, right? Then why is losing weight so hard?

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A different way of viewing weight loss identifies the problem as not one of consuming too many calories, but rather the way the body accumulates fat after consuming carbohydrates—in particular the role of the hormone insulin. When you eat a meal, carbohydrates from the food enter your bloodstream as glucose. In order to keep your blood sugar levels in check, your body always burns off this glucose before it burns off fat from a meal.

If you eat a carbohydrate-rich meal (lots of pasta, rice, bread, or French fries, for example), your body releases insulin to help with the influx of all this glucose into your blood. As well as regulating blood sugar levels, insulin does two things: It prevents your fat cells from releasing fat for the body to burn as fuel (because its priority is to burn off the glucose) and it creates more fat cells for storing everything that your body can't burn off. The result is that you gain weight and your body now requires more fuel to burn, so you eat more. Since insulin only burns carbohydrates, you crave carbs and so begins a vicious cycle of consuming carbs and gaining weight. To lose weight, the reasoning goes, you need to break this cycle by reducing carbs.

Most low-carb diets advocate replacing carbs with protein and fat, which could have some negative long-term effects on your health. If you do try a low-carb diet, you can reduce your risks and limit your intake of saturated and trans fats by choosing lean meats, fish and vegetarian sources of protein, low-fat dairy products, and eating plenty of leafy green and non-starchy vegetables.

How To Lose Weight Fast: What Experts Say

It's a mainstay of many diets: if you don't want to get fat, don't eat fat. Walk down any grocery store aisle and you'll be bombarded with reduced-fat snacks, dairy, and packaged meals. But while our low-fat options have exploded, so have obesity rates. So, why haven't low-fat diets worked for more of us?

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes eating good fats and good carbs along with large quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, fish, and olive oil—and only modest amounts of meat and cheese. The Mediterranean diet is more than just about food, though. Regular physical activity and sharing meals with others are also major components.

We don't always eat simply to satisfy hunger. All too often, we turn to food when we're stressed or anxious, which can wreck any diet and pack on the pounds. Do you eat when you're worried, bored, or lonely? Do you snack in front of the TV at the end of a stressful day? Recognizing your emotional eating triggers can make all the difference in your weight-loss efforts. If you eat when you're:

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Low on energy – find other mid-afternoon pick-me-ups. Try walking around the block, listening to energizing music, or taking a short nap.

Lonely or bored – reach out to others instead of reaching for the refrigerator. Call a friend who makes you laugh, take your dog for a walk, or go to the library, mall, or park—anywhere there's people.

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