Weight Loss For the Obese

Obesity is the number one health challenge in the western world, so if you suffer from obesity and have decided you want to do something about it. Congratulations. Weight loss for the obese person brings with it challenges but the benefits you will gain by far outweigh the difficulties. Just remember it probably took some time for you to gain your weight and you need to look upon weight loss as a long-term goal

The very first thing you must do is to get checked by your doctor, they are the best person to give advice about how much it is safe for you to do.

Once you've had that check and know how far to push yourself there is some good news. The more weight you are carrying the more calories your body will burn in carrying out any activity. Moving excess weight requires more energy.

Your best approach is to slowly increase the amount of activity you do while at the same time cut back on the amount of calories you are consuming. If you try to do either of these things too quickly you are likely to give up. Exercise too hard at the beginning and you are likely to pick up an injury that will stop your progress. Cut back too hard on your food and you will feel hungry all day and think of nothing but food.

The next thing to do is to recognise your starting place. You may have very restricted mobility. You may be tied to your home. You may find your increased waist line makes some movement hard. Whatever your position it is possible to increase the level of your activity. Many aerobic activities can be performed in a sitting position. The simple act of raising your hands above your head will raise your heartbeat. Performing 3 sets of hand raises may be your starting point, but do it every day, then twice a day, then with a small weight in your hands and you will be increasing the calories you are burning.

Do you rely on others to fetch things for you? Wherever you can set yourself the goal of doing things for yourself - this will naturally increase your activity. Standing and walking around your room could be a really good starting point. Are you beginning to see the point - any activity you add and continue to build on a regular basis will start to burn off extra weight. Of course if you are already more active that's great, just add to whatever you do.

Apply a similar strategy to your food. Begin to switch some of your snacking from junk food to more healthy options. Try to have plenty of healthy alternatives around. Sweet summer fruits can make a good substitute for candy and vegetable sticks and humus is a great alternative to bags of savoury biscuits or fries.

You can also cut your intake by reducing your portion size, just do it gradually. Try having just one fewer potato at each meal this week, cut back slightly on the dressing. Try leaving some food on your plate - I know that will be difficult for some. Another good strategy is to reduce the size of your plate, you won't notice the reduction of food so much.

If you increase exercise and decrease food every week for a month you will soon be burning more calories than you consume. Taking this gradual approach means you are much more likely to stick to it.