Your weight is a balancing act, but the equation is simple. If you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. And if you eat fewer calories and burn more calories through physical activity, you lose weight. In the past, research found about 3,500 calories of energy equaled about 1 pound (0.45 kilogram) of fat.
You can lose weight by eating less, but adding physical activity allows you to burn more calories than dieting alone. Any weight-loss plan that includes regular exercise is not only more successful — it's also healthier. By eating a healthy diet and exercising, you're keeping your bones, muscles, and heart strong.
You can lose weight without exercising or increasing the amount of physical activity you do — as long as you burn more calories than you take in. Plenty of factors contribute to weight gain. But the main causes typically involve consuming too many calories and not getting enough physical activity.
You Might Be Eating Too Little
This phenomenon is called “starvation mode,” and while your body isn't actually starving, it will naturally hold onto whatever calories it receives in an effort to help you maintain your energy balance.
The most effective and easy way to lose weight around your abdominal area is by gradually controlling your food portion and not by drastically stopping consumption of food altogether. You need to count your calorie intake and feed your stomach with nutrient filled foods.
1. Exercise: Vigorous exercise trims all your fat, including visceral fat. Get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise at least 5 days a week. Walking counts, as long as it's brisk enough that you work up a sweat and breathe harder, with your heart rate faster than usual.
However, calorie intake should not fall below 1,200 a day in women or 1,500 a day in men, except under the supervision of a health professional. Eating too few calories can endanger your health by depriving you of needed nutrients.
The fact is very-low-calorie diets (~1,000 to 1,200 calories or less) are contributing to weight gain more than they are helping people to find lasting weight loss.
Study participants who tried eating one meal a day ended up with less total body fat. This particular group of people didn't experience significant weight loss. That said, intermittent fasting in general has proven to be an effective weight-loss method. The typical weight loss is 7 to 11 pounds over 10 weeks.
Absent a medical condition that is causing weight gain or obstructing weight loss, the “secret” to losing weight is to live a lifestyle that has you ingest fewer calories than you burn. It's diet, not exercise.
So, if you're eating 1,200 calories and not losing weight, it could be that your body is really struggling to function on so little fuel and your metabolism is not functioning well enough to respond to a deficit in the way you'd like.
According to the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, a “very low-calorie diet” provides about 800 calories or fewer, so although a 1000 calorie meal plan isn't quite below this threshold, it is certainly a low-calorie diet and an insufficient energy intake for most people.
A slow metabolism has many symptoms, and you're likely to have one if you find it difficult to lose weight and easy to gain weight. Other symptoms include fatigue, poor digestion, constipation, low mood, and a colder than average body temperature. All of these are caused by the lower production of energy and heat.
Chronic diseases: Certain medical conditions such as obesity, hypothyroidism, diabetes or Cushing's syndrome can slow down metabolism. Obesity: Obese individuals with higher fat mass and lower muscle mass tend to have a slower metabolism.
Cardio such as swimming, aerobics, running or dancing will burn this excess fat store. HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) is the fastest way to trim down stomach fat.
It simply takes time. Another common reason why people report not losing weight despite reducing their calories is that they don't give it enough time. Our bodies will do their utmost to hold on to our fat reserves and you often have to be in a calorie deficit for a while before you will see any meaningful weight loss.
However, other studies show that while consuming 1,000 calories a day may result in significant weight loss, most people cannot sustain it and often experience significant weight regain . The reasons include regaining lost muscle mass and increased appetite. Also worth noting is that the human body can adapt.