The Dangers Of Rapid Weight Loss

Current society is a fast paced, highly caffeinated civilization that highlights and even craves excitement and adrenaline. In a twenty-four hour world, everything is more appealing when it is done bigger and faster. But this does not always mean better, and this is certainly true when it comes to weight loss. For long-lasting success, your best bet is to lose weight gradually so that you can get used to your newer thinner lifestyle.

Before setting off on a weight loss journey, visit your doctor. Work with him or her to find out what kind of rate of weight loss is going to be appropriate for your physique, weight, age and gender. Also remember that it is not going to be a linear progression. Weight loss will actually happen more rapidly in the beginning then the end. The initial ten pounds are often just water weight, and as you weigh less, your basal metabolic rate will be less too.

Once you and your doctor establish your target curve, choose reasonable weekly and/or monthly goals depending on where you are on your curve. While your long term goal is going to be your final target number, you are going to get there in intervals. Depending on your pace and setbacks, the projected time you get to your final number is going to move back and forth. Think of yourself as a marathoner, not trying to get to the finish line, but just the next aide station.

Strike the right balance between exercise and rest. Granted, the more exercise you do, the better, but your body is going to need downtime to recuperate. It is this rest time in which you build lean muscle mass that boosts your metabolism, so rest time can in fact lead to burned calories. If you feel the need to exercise daily, alternate your exercises so that cross training can give parts of your body time to rest.

In regards to your diet, you also have to find the right range. You have to get enough calories to not starve your body. This both deprives your body of nutrition but also might slow down your metabolism into fat-storing modes. On the other hand, you have to stay under a certain level of calories in order to actually burn off your weight. Work with your doctor to balance this equation, factoring in food, your basal metabolic rate and activity level.

You have to weigh yourself to monitor your progress, but you should only weigh yourself once a week. Doing it more often is going to expose you to the daily fluctuations of water weight levels that can swing both ways. An accurate measurement system would be a snapshot of your weight every Tuesday morning for instance.

Reality television shows hype up extreme weight loss and the rapid results they can bring. Yet, you never see the off-season when the contestants or participants rebound and put the weight back on and then some. If you already know the dangers of this, look longer term to pace yourself for perpetual success.