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Dieting and Exercising

For several months, I have been searching for different ways to create a faster, easier process of losing weight, even if I only wanted to lose five or six pounds. Now that I've figured out ways to help me, I wanted to share it, since, to many people, weight loss can seem like it's impossible. While some say you just need to diet, or some say you just need to exercise, finding the healthy but moderate balance is key to keeping the process of weight loss simple and easy.

Dieting

Dieting can actually be a pretty fun technique to try out because of all the unexpected changes you experience while doing it. Firstly, the content of the food is extremely important. Having a variety of healthy but great-tasting meals is a perfect balance when talking about dieting. For example, instead of having fast food for lunch, you could have something nutritious that you enjoy--which, for me, would be a plate of my favorite fruit and maybe some yogurt. Or, at a restaurant, you could have your favorite type of salad instead of a hamburger. Only you know what you like in terms of healthy food, so use what you know to create some more variety in your meals. Trust me, it will be a lot easier if you find healthy foods that you’d to try when dieting.

While the content of the food is very important, so is the quantity. By cutting down certain small portions of what you eat in meals, you will become less and less hungry to the point where, if you eat too much, you'll be eating moderately; and, if you already eat moderately, you'll be cutting down just a little bit (but not to the unhealthy point). This became a very quick process for me. I use to fill my bowl up to the brim with cereal in the mornings, but when I cut it down to half that amount I became less and less hungry for breakfast. Almost immediately, everything I ate at that time of day was cut down. This can go for any meal. As long as you're decreasing the amount, it will help you, even if you believe the process is slow.

You don't have to absolutely cut out all those things that you love that may not be the healthiest. I adore chocolate, and I have it occasionally, and in small amounts. This way, you can still have that kind of stuff, but being away of quantity is important.

Exercise

There are also so many people, like me, who eat moderately, but exercising is just the key point that they're lacking. There are so many different ways to exercise, and you may not even know it. I do a variety of all of them daily, which not only helps me lose weight, but also builds my stamina. Some days, I go on 15-minute morning jogs or bike rides, which I've seen helps me cut off weight in my thighs and stomach. On commercial breaks at home, you can even get up and do jumping jacks, use a jumping rope, run in place, or do the classics--lunges, push-ups, sit-ups, and crunches.

Doing those little things every day will help you burn fat and build up stamina. Gaining muscle is also extremely important. You can achieve this by doing yoga exercises, which -depending on the exercises- can tone different parts of your body, like doing jackknives or leg extensions. (You can look up or buy tons of videos on how to do certain yoga positions.) You can do little things, like taking stairs instead of the elevator, or walking to a store instead of driving. Using weights and doing things such as tricep extensions can help build up muscle, which will make your body fight off some of the unwanted fat. Even if you don't do sports as team sports, you may still be able to do them locally - like swimming, which helps build muscle in your abdomen, or even playing catch.

Signing up for a gym membership, if you can, is also another way to build muscle and lose weight. Also, doing all these exercises with friends can provide weight loss for both of you, as well as a way to interact. Good luck!