How to Lose Body Weight Naturally

With so many diet pills and supplements out there, it can be difficult to know how to make healthy choices regarding weight loss. The truth is, the only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you take in. Your body naturally burns calories every day to survive. In order to lose weight you must exercise to burn more calories than you consume, eat fewer calories than your body uses for basic functioning or a combination of both.

Things You'll Need

• Food scale
• Measuring cups
• Calorie count database
• Journal or spreadsheet program

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Instructions

• 1

  Figure out the number of calories your body consumes in one day in order to function and support your normal level of activity. Every body burns calories slightly differently. Enter your personal information into an online calorie calculator for the most accurate estimation.

• 2

  Determine your body mass index and how many pounds you must lose to reach a healthy BMI. Multiply your weight in pounds by 703. Divide this number by your height in inches, squared. A healthy BMI ranges from 18.5 to 24.9, with anything above 30 qualifying as obese and anything between 25 and 29.9 as overweight.

• 3

  Measure your food portions carefully each day, and determine how many calories you consume using a food calorie database. Aim to cut your calories back to no less than 1,200 per day for women and 1,800 per day for men.

• 4

  Eat a small meal or snack ever four to six hours, and never skip a meal. Keeping your body fueled will allow your metabolism to work at an optimum level, while skipping meals will send your body into starvation mode and make it more difficult to shed pounds.

• 5

  Pay attention to what kinds of food you are eating, and aim to eat a variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. The fiber in these foods will help keep you feeling full longer than consuming excessive fat or sugar, helping you eat less and lose weight.

• 6

  Exercise for at least 30 minutes most days each week. Fit your exercise into your daily life by parking further away from the store when you shop, standing up to fold clothes or do household chores. Start slowly if you feel overwhelmed or have a lot of weight to lose. Even leisurely walking will burn more calories than sitting, and eventually your lung capacity and aerobic fitness will increase until you are able to do more strenuous exercises.

• 7

  Add strength training to your workout routine. Stronger muscles help your body burn more fat. Two half hour sessions of weight training, Pilates or yoga each week can increase your fat burn up to 20 percent. Muscle weights more than fat, so an initial gain or stagnation of your weight loss may occur. You may actually get smaller even if the scale doesn't move, so don't be discouraged and stick with your strength training routine.