Sometimes couples decide to go on diets together. They might do it for an upcoming event, vacation, or just because they want to make a healthy change. While it's fun to encourage each other and strive to be the biggest loser of the household, the truth is that weight loss for women means something very different from weight loss for men.
First, there is the psychology of it.
When it comes to the ideal weight for women-not on a chart, but from the visual perspective-there is only one image that matters: the bikini-clad model strolling out of the ocean.
A good example is when female movie stars gain weight for movie roles. To everyone, at home or in the theater, they look perfectly normal. Even the stars that have just given birth are on the red carpet days later, looking as svelte as they always did.
But how about men?
As men get older, it's considered normal to see a bit of a paunch instead of washboard abs. Men seem to be able to carry extra weight much better than women. And, unless they blow up to Marlon Brando size, they are still seen as handsome and sexy.
So, right of the bat, men, and women are working toward a much different body image goal. For women, that goal can be entirely unrealistic or very difficult to attain.
Therefore, while a man might take off 10 pounds (4.54 kg) and be considered perfectly fine, women might feel the need to lose as much as 25 pounds (ca. 11 kg) or more to be viewed by society as able to emerge from the ocean in a bikini.
Second, biology and physiology play a giant role in weight loss for women and men. Even at rest, the metabolism of a man is much higher than a woman's.
And with the same amount of physical activity, a man will burn more calories than a woman. To make things worse, men need more calories daily, which means they can just plain eat more than women while losing the weight faster with less effort.
There you are, starving and sweating to take off each pound, while your darling husband skips dessert for a week and the weight just melts off.
It can be downright maddening.
Fortunately, the weight loss industry is well aware of the differences between men and women who want to lose weight, and they've taken great measures to cater to the fairer sex.
Many weight loss support groups are open to women only. There are also women-only spas, women weight loss retreats, and even diet menus that are specific to women.
For example, women require a lot more iron in their diet than men. There are also differences in the number of calories from fat they can consume, how much dairy is healthy, and many other factors.
How to Take Body Measurements
Place the tape directly on your skin. The best way to ensure a proper measurement is to put the tape just over your skin, without any clothing, to add to the girth. If you can't do this, your next best option is to wear tight, or form-fitting clothing.
Make sure the tape measure is straight. Keep the tape parallel to the floor, a crooked tape will give a false reading. Use a mirror or find someone to assist you for best results. In most cases, just going by feeling is completely inaccurate.
Pull the tape snug. Don't pull too tight or leave it too loose. Make sure it's just tight enough to not slide while maintaining the sensation of touch all the way around.
Take measurements in the morning. This will help to make sure that a meal isn't interfering with the results. If you can't do it in the morning, just do it between meals or wait until the next day if possible.
For torso measurements, exhale. Be sure to exhale before taking any torso measurements; the point is to measure your body, not your lung capacity!
Stay consistent. Take note of how you do things the first time, and do it the same way every single time—or as good as you can. Taking measurements against the skin one week, and then with clothing the next week can drastically alter your results.
Where to Measure.
Here, I'll list where I measure, you're welcome to include or exclude anything you see or don't see here, of course.
Neck: place the tape around the back of your neck at the base, and pull it around to the front of your throat at a slight downward angle.
Chest: rather than a bust measurement, the chest measurement should be taken just under the breasts in both male and females.
Waist: I consider the waste to be about a half inch above the naval. Some guides will consider this the abdomen, and your waist to be directly under the sternum. Others, consider it to be directly in the naval (i.e., body fat calculators) or just below. Just remember that wherever you choose to take it, you take it in the same place next time.
Upper arm/bicep: taken at the largest point. An easy way to determine this is to snug the tape around where you suspect to be the largest point, then, holding the tape fairly tight, shift it up and down your arm. As long as you don't loosen it, the tightest point will be the largest, and you can take your measurement there.
Forearm: taken at the largest point.
Wrist: taken just below your palm.
Hips: taken at the widest point of your hips or buttocks. If you're more focused on your butt region, just shift the tape down to the largest point of your bottom. Otherwise, just the widest point of your actual hips is fine.
Thigh: again, at the largest point. You can refer to the upper arm above to see how to determine that point.
Calf: yet again, the widest point. Are we seeing a trend here?
Aside from not measuring over loose clothing, or keeping the measuring tape even, the most important thing is to measure the same spot of each location every time you measure.
If you want to “keep it official” you should go by the guide, and it's certainly easier to keep track of where you're measuring each time by using the widest point. The main goal we want to achieve here, however, is to obtain accurate results that will help us see progress in our weight loss efforts. If you can do that, you've succeeded!
Tip#1—Envision Your Success
Visualizing can help you keep track of your goal. Once, a man visualized himself in the ideal body of a picture in a magazine every day before he went to bed. His daily visualizing indeed made wonders to him with astonishing results.
It took him 3 months before he literally transformed into the body figure similar to that in the magazine. Michelangelo is undeniably true with his quote: “What I desire, I must first imagine. What I imagine, I create”.
Tip #2—Daily Journal
Penning down your food consumption every day could be the pathway to keep you reminded of your goal. A record of your daily activities, food intake and emotional sentiments may help to discover the cause of your overeating or weight gain.
It may sound ridiculous, but when you notice you should pen down what you eat, even the tastiest food may turn your appetite off. According to the National Weight Control Registry, most dieters practice journal ling before succeeding their plan.
Advice: Make a habit of submitting your food journal at least once a day. You can also do it a few times a day if you tend to forget what you eat. Then your journal will be the reference of your food intake for further analysis and feedback.
Tip #3—Select Appropriate Food Portion
The size of your food portion could be one important key towards managing your food intake. USDA has information stating that the average sum of daily calorie consumption has soared to 148 calories during the past 20 years.
Statistically, this figure accounts for an additional 15 lbs. annually. Perhaps a coherent approach of using a standard size to judge the food portion will be a good idea.
Advice: Take the slow step of chewing your food longer to allow your brain to sense your stomach's fullness.
Tip #4 - Exercise
Daily exercise is the biggest contributor to restrain your appetite and burn calories. According to the National Academy of Sciences, the best recommendation is a 30-minute vigorous exercise along with an additional 30-minute of living activities daily.
The Journal of American College of Nutrition revealed a study claiming that one can enjoy the benefits of 10-minute increments equivalent to 30 minutes of constant exercise.
Advice: 30 minutes of daily exercise for 5 days a week is the best workout.
Tip #5—Select Healthy Meals
You can try out the variety of seasonings, the best cooking method or different vegetables to decide upon what is best for you before you start your diet plan. A good planning will help to avoid messy decisions, and you will have an advanced supply of food to kick off towards your goal.
Shopping once a week is rather significant, as running out of good food will have you eating inappropriately. Containers such as jugs, bottles, and a cooler will be handy to store your food within reach.
Advice: Do not allow hunger to wait. Tiny healthy snacks are better than an empty stomach. A good breakfast can help to keep your hunger under control. Besides, water is also great to help reduce your food portions.
Tip #6—Breakfast Is Essential
Breakfast is the best day starter. As claimed by the National Weight Control Registry, breakfast is one of the fundamental keys towards permanent diet. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition had studies revealing those who take nourishing breakfast are slimmer than those who skip breakfast.
This may be hilarious,, but early meals will help to maintain hormone and glucose levels and trigger your metabolism to burn more calories. The human body applies the circadian rhythm—foods eaten at different times of the day are processed differently.
Fat and protein taken during breakfast will provide energy, but the same foods taken during dinner will lead to weight gain.
Advice: Breakfast is a must—not taking breakfast will have you binging more lately in the day.
Tip #7—Six Meals Daily
Frequent small portion of healthy meals will boost metabolism as food has some thermal effect. The recommended figure is six meals for men, while five for women. This is never too much,, and it is time you put this into practice. Eating will often involve calorie burning during food absorption and breakdown.
The positive effect could be 10 times better when you dwell on frequent eating. In fact, you will be more energetic and less hungry. However, the last meal should be at least an hour before you sleep.
Unlike other diet plans, this way of eating will not cause deprivation. You may have difficulties dealing with consistent eating,, but the effect could turn out amusing.
Advice: Do not leave your stomach empty for too long. Hunger can make you prone to more food binging. Proper meals thrice a day is good to cope with your hunger.
Tip # 8—Importance Of Protein
According to the Journal of Nutrition published by University of Illinois, having more protein in the food during weight loss can help to get rid of body fat and retain the muscle mass.
The presence of L-leucine, an amino acid, will provide spare muscles during weight loss thus only the fat are eliminated. Sustaining your muscles during your diet period can boost the calorie burning activity.
Excess protein may cause calcium leaching from your bones, damage your kidneys, so go moderately with the amount.
Advice: Try taking lean protein from beans, meat, fish and low-fat dairy products.
Tip #9—Lose Weight
Perhaps you could have somebody of the same aspirations, thus encouraging each other to work towards healthy eating and avoid inactivity.
Advice: Take a friendly losing weight competition to help boost your spirit towards your aim.
Tip #10—Permanent Weight Lose
Take note, instead of losing weight, you should focus on losing fat to ensure a permanent weight loss. Losing weight will include water, muscles, and fat. However, the reduction in lean muscle tissue can pull down the metabolic rate; hence it is the muscles that you should maintain.
With more muscles in your body, you can still lose weight even with more calorie consumption as the muscles will feed on the calories. You can lift weight or take in more protein to prevent your muscles to lose.
Advice: Forswear, the famous diet pill content, was patented for the ability to boost lean muscle tissue leading to continuous fat loss.
Tip #11—Grains And Colorful Food
The phytonutrients in entire grains are also found to help prevent diabetes, heart disease and fight against cancer. Entire grains require longer digestion, thus preventing hunger much longer. The recommended choice is foods made of 100% entire grains with diverse types of carbohydrates, containing all the required minerals and vitamins.
Advice: Most products in the “Negative Calorie Foods” can aid your weight loss plan!
Tip #12—Consume More Fiber
Fiber triggers fullness more quickly and dwell in the stomach longer than other foods, hence decelerate the digestion process and sustain the full feeling. One entire grain bread serving can bring a double feeling effect compared to two white bread servings due to the richer fiber content.
Fiber also reduces fat absorption as it smoothen the digestive flow. Most white rice, sugary cereals or white bread already have the fiber removed. They will transform into glucose very soon and, therefore, contribute to diabetes.
With the abundance of glucose in blood, the body system will not burn fats yet begin storing them. The presence of fiber will keep sugar level in the blood.
Advice: Glucomannan is one of the cheapest fiber supplements to aid weight loss and maintain healthy weight, as it can expand the stomach and absorb fats. It will remove the fats from the body and prevent fat digestion.
It also takes up spaces in the stomach and sustains the fullness feel. Your body will then turn to fat storage for an energy source. Dieters Cheaters Caps is the most popular Glucomannan supplement at a price of $0.52 a serving.
Tip #13—Drink Plenty Of Water
Water is called the World's Cheapest Appetite Suppressant. Half the amount of your body weight is the quantity of water you should drink in a day, so drink to be slim!
Tip #14—Cheat Meals.
Sporadic treat food can help prevent deprivation. Depriving may lead to binging, so a “Free Day” will help motivate you towards your goal. This is also a good way to avoid your body from switching to starvation mode—a possible occurrence after constant calorie control. However, keep your treats and cheats during the “Free Day” in modest amount.
Two or three slices of pizza are alright but certainly not the whole pizza. It is definitely okay to blew your diet occasionally, but be sure to get back on track. So, basically, cheat meals can be one of the pathways towards weight loss.
Tip #15—Pamper Yourself
Everybody loves reward,, so you can certainly pamper yourself with something you like when you achieve any small goals. Rewarding yourself will enhance your confidence and higher self-esteem will avoid you from food binging. However, one important note—the reward should not be in the form of food. Shopping, spa, or movies are way better.
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