Weight loss
Weight loss refers to the reduction of the total body mass.
The only acceptable form of weight loss relates to losing fat, as losing muscle mass is not desirable and losing water to the point of dehydration is very harmful to the body.
The most effective methods for losing fat are changing nutrition permanently and exercising regularly with much aerobic exercise (cardiovascular activity). Diets should not be recommended as they're only temporary and rely on an excessively reduced general calorie intake, which causes hunger and deprivation.
The idea of weight loss has spawned a multi-billion dollar industry, selling exercise equipment, supplements, diet plans, services, fashion, and gym memberships. The advertising from this industry has encouraged some people to overdo it, leading to exercise-related injuries, anorexia, and body dysmorphic disorder. Young women are particularly vulnerable.
Nutrition[edit]
Nutrition a very important part of weight loss and specifically fat reduction. Good nutrition doesn't require any temporary diet, instead it needs a permanent approach by changing daily eating habits. It needs to be quite strict as any kind of foods containing empty calories (pizza, hamburgers, ice creams, alcoholic beverages and foods containing too much sugar or fat) must be avoided or at least be consumed no more than once every two weeks.
To increase or diversify metabolism, a person should go from 2-3 big meals a day to 5-6 small but balanced meals a day. The bigger portion of every meal should be comprised of vegetables and whole grains. Every meal should have lean proteic components such as beans, dairy, or meat. There should also be a portion of fruit. Fats should comprise less than 20% of the total caloric intake (only good fats like those found in flax, avocados, olives and nuts).
Exercise[edit]
Aerobic exercise is important as it allows to burn calories and has various benefits, like improving lung capacity, reducing the risk of heart diseases, and reducing the risk of diabetes. Proper aerobic exercise executed with the target of burning fat needs to elevate the heart rate of a person to more than 70% of their maximum heart rate (which varies depending on factors such as age and health condition). In order to be effective, aerobic exercise must be performed continuously for at least 30 minutes a day, preferably 45-60 minutes.
Examples of good forms of exercise which help burn fats are: walking at a fast pace, running, cycling, swimming, soccer, basketball, football. Cycling, and swimming in particular, have an advantage over sports where running is required in that there's much less stress on the leg joints and risks of injuries are reduced greatly.
Another good form of exercise is High Intensity Interval Training, meaning that for example for every 1 minute of very fast running there's 1 minute of fast walking. Some research has shown that it burns off more calories in a shorter span of time. Good activities where HIIT can be incorporated are cycling and swimming, as they have much less impact on the knee.
Weight lifting is important as well because it helps burn off additional calories when combined with aerobic exercise. A larger muscle mass requires additional expenditure of calories for the body to maintain it.