You can’t go through the check stand at the local store without seeing them. The magazines stacked multiple racks high with their covers featuring the latest celebrity weight loss success story or the buzzing headlines, “See how _____ lost this many pounds in this little time!” or “Follow this weird soup diet and lose 20 pounds in time for your wedding!”
These headlines definitely do their job in getting eye brows to raise, but at the end of the day, they’re only empty promises. Time and time again, women and doctors alike have reviewed these fad diets only to find that, if they lead to any weight loss at all, it’s just water weight that will be inevitably gained back the second any “dieters” return to a normal eating schedule.
The fact is, if you want to lose weight and keep it off, you have to go the old-fashioned way and look at your calories in, calories out equation. That’s the only surefire way to burn fat and actually slim down. The sucky part? It most certainly is going to take time and, yes, effort too. The awesome part? You can most certainly succeed at it without buying any weird gadgets, falling for any silly weight loss tricks, or buying a celebrity’s weight loss edition of your favorite magazine.
All you have to do is figure out how much you should be eating each day to maintain your current weight, and then plan your diet so that you eat at a calorie deficit. This forces your body to burn those extra calories it needs by consuming reserved fat within your body. Any calories your body needs that don’t originate from the food you eat will be found within your fat cells to fuel your day. The larger the calorie deficit (i.e., the less you eat/more you workout), the more weight you will lose.
Of course, there are some things you can do to speed this process along. While most dietitians will advice you to not eat less than 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day in order for you to achieve healthy and sustainable weight loss (at 2 pounds or less per week), some things can be added into your routine to help you reach your goal sooner. More exercise, for one, can help you burn more calories and, therefore, create a larger deficit. But, is there a way to get your body to stop making new fat?
The answer: Yes! There is medication that will stop some of the food you eat from being converted into fat by your body. If you are obese or overweight and you are looking for such a thing to compliment your weight loss routine, the question you should be asking comes down to Xenical vs Orlistat, as those are the two medications on the market currently being prescribed for this purpose and use.
Speak with your doctor today about your weight loss plan and whether a medication could be beneficial in helping you lose weight.
