Almost 108 million Americans were overweight or obese in 1999. Until now, obesity continues to be a serious problem and is predicted to reach epidemic levels by the year 2020.

One way to prevent this scenario is to make people aware of the risks of being overweight or obese.

Here are some diseases that you are putting yourself in risk of if you are carrying a lot of extra pounds:

1. Heart disease 2. Stroke 3. Diabetes 4. Cancer 5. Arthritis 6. Hypertension

Keeping excess weight off can help to prevent the development of these and other diseases and can go a long way towards treating them even if they are already present.

The quick weight loss methods which have spread like fire these days do not provide lasting results. More often than not, dieting methods which involve dietary drinks, foods and supplements or pills do not work. If they do, the results are just temporary.

Its healthier to approach weight loss as a process rather than a quick fox. Setting realistic, incremental goals help people to lose weight and maintain a healthy body weight afterwards. These are some healthy weight loss tips which are proven to work:

1. Stop starving yourself

Do not diet; this is the best advice I can give anyone who’s interested in healthy weight loss.

It’s rewarding to see the pounds disappearing from cutting way back on calories and skipping meals, but this will only get you so far. You’ll suffer from a lack of energy and your metabolism will become slower, so it’ll be harder to lose any additional weight.

If you get used to skipping one or two meals a day, your stored calories will be used up instead of the energy that should have been provided by your meals. So if you just eat one huge sandwich in one day, it will end up straight to your problem area (i.e. thighs, buttocks, hips).

2. Start your day right.

Mothers always say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Have a healthy meal in the morning to jump-start your metabolism.

This will get your metabolism working faster and burning fat all day long.

3. Eat smaller meals and eat them more often

Five small-serving snacks per day is better than three hearty meals. Eating more frequently, and in small servings, can prevent over-eating. This will also increase your metabolism and make calories burn faster.

4. Decide on how much weight you want to lose.

Set a weight loss target which you know that you can achieve. There’s no way to lose 30 pounds in a week (no healthy way, anyhow) and keep this extra weight off. Instead, eat a healthy diet and live a healthy lifestyle ” this will take the weight off gradually and in a healthy way and allow you to stay slim for life.

Set your goals and stick to your plan!

5. Drink plenty of water

Water helps you burn fat and stay hydrated ” so get six to eight glasses every day.

6. Cut down on sugar

You should be eating a diet which is largely composed of fresh fruits and vegetables along with whole grains and lean protein. While its fine to treat yourself to the occasional pastry, it shouldn’t be a regular part of your diet.

7. Don’t cut out fat entirely – but do get the right fats

Fat is not the culprit to being overweight. You need dietary fat to keep your weight at the proper level.

However, these should be heart-healthy fats like peanut and olive oils. Fish oils are also healthy and contain healthy Omega-3 fatty acids.

8. Get exercise regularly

If you can start going to the gym regularly, great! There are many other things you can do to get the exercise you need though. Start climbing the stairs instead of taking the elevator, walking or biking to work or to run errands instead of driving and getting a daily brisk walk. All of these will help you to start losing weight ” not immediately, of course, but it wont be long before you can see the difference. You’ll start feeling more energetic as well as starting to shed those excess pounds.

Whatever your weight loss goal happens to be, the way to get there is to set realistic goals which you know you can reach. When you reach a goal, it gives you the motivation to keep going.

Go slow. If you have already lost 5 or 6 pounds, give yourself a break then try to lose the next 5 pounds.

Eating a healthy and well balanced diet, getting ample regular exercise, making sure to get a good nights sleep every night and drinking enough water will help you to lose weight the healthy way. The rewards for your dedication will be more energy, a healthy glow and a slim, trim new you!

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