Tiana Warner

A Healthy Way
Would you like to lose weight? No, you dont have to take a magic pill, eat weight
watchers for your meals, get a person trainer, or drink a shake. There is a healthy way to lose
weight without spending excessive money. By eating right/the right proportions, exercising, and
maintaining determination/a positive mind set, you can lose the fat and get toned. Many people
think its more important to shed the pounds instead of focusing on how they are losing the
weight. It is essential to find healthy habits instead of turning to unhealthy habits like fad diets
and eating disorders.
Eating right plays a major role in losing weight. Finding a good balance in what you
consume will help you in your journey. According the Harvard School of Public Health, a well
balanced plate should look like this.

Focusing on drinking a lot of water, consuming a variety of veggies and fruits, and getting a
good amount of protein and grains will lead you on the right track. Avoiding sugar in general,
fast food, and processed food is ideal as well.
Along with eating right, it is important to lower your caloric intake (a healthy amount).
According to WebMD, To lose weight -- about 1 pound a week -- reduce total calories in the
chart by 500 a day (How Many Calories Do You Really Need?, WebMD).
Gender Age Sedentary* Moderately
Active*
Active*
Females
19-30
31-50
51+
1800-2000
1800
1600
2000-2200
2000
1800
2400
2200
2000-2200
Males
19-30
31-50
51+
2400-2600
2200-2400
2000-2200
2600-2800
2400-2600
2200-2400
3000
2800-3000
2400-2800
It is important to make sure you arent losing more than two pounds a week. In the article What
Is the Danger of Losing More Than 2 Pounds per Week, It goes into depth about each problem
that can arise from losing weight too quickly. There are five issues: lean tissue loss, saggy skin,
poor nutrition, gallstones, and even death. First, Losing lean muscle tissue is a concern because
the goal is to lose fat, not muscle tissue. Second, the skin may sag because the body isnt allowed
time to adjust to the rapid change, resulting in the skin not catching up to the fast weight loss.
Third, poor nutrition is mainly caused because of the fad diets and other fast weight loss diets.
The article says how many of these diets dont have a variety of foods that provide all the
essential nutrition. The AHA states that concentrating on one food -- like a liquid diet -- violates
a second rule of nutrition, which states that food must be enjoyable to be sustainable (Williams,
What Is the Danger of Losing More Than 2 Pounds per Week?). Fourth, gallstones are an issue
because they are known to be very painful. The NIDDK warns that people who lose more than
3 pounds a week have a higher probability of developing gallstones than those who lose weight
slowly (Williams, What Is the Danger of Losing More Than 2 Pounds per Week?). Lastly, death
is probably the most concerning issue. In an eye-opening report from the CDC, during the
course of one month in 1997, three collegiate wrestlers in three different states died from
hyperthermia and dehydration as a result of rapid weight-loss measures. To quality for
competition, each athlete used a similar rapid weight-loss program. The wrestlers took in limited
amounts of food and liquids, wore clothing that decreased heat loss, and exercised in hot
environments for long periods of time. The first athlete died while trying to lose 15 pounds in a
12-hour period. The second athlete died while attempting to lose 4 pounds in 4 hours. The third
athlete died while trying to lose 6 pounds over a 3-hour period (Williams, What Is the Danger
of Losing More Than 2 Pounds per Week?).
Diet is the key factor to losing weight, but exercising greatly helps with the results. You
cant build muscle from your diet for example, along with these other benefits found on Choose
My Plate.
Increase your chances of living longer
Feel better about yourself
Decrease your chances of becoming depressed
Sleep well at night
Move around more easily
Have stronger muscles and bones
Stay at or get to a healthy weight
Be with friends or meet new people
Enjoy yourself and have fun
(Why is Physical Activity Important?, Choose My Plate)
By not getting exercising, these problems can be a result.
Get heart disease
Get type 2 diabetes
Have high blood pressure
Have high blood cholesterol
Have a stroke
(Why is Physical Activity Important?, Choose My Plate)
Having a variety of different physical activity is going to be the best in the long run.
Aerobic/Cardio, Muscle strengthening, Bone strengthening, Balancing, and Stretching are all the
different activities you can engage in. First, cardio is important because it helps give an
individual endurance and a healthy heart rate. Second, muscle gets rid of fat. With muscle
strengthening, you want to make sure to give muscles a full 24 hours to recover since the tissue
is tearing and healing during that time period. Thats why you may hear that people have leg
day or arm day; they may be working on their leg muscles while their arms are recovering
from the day before and vice versa. Third, according to Choose My Plate, Bone strengthening
activities, like jumping, are especially important for children and adolescents. These activities
produce a force on the bones that promotes bone growth and strength (Why is Physical Activity
Important?. Choose My Plate). Lastly, balancing and stretching are important because it gives a
person stability and flexibility which reduces injuries. All of these activities play an important
part in exercising.
Although your diet and physical activity are significant, I believe having determination
and a positive mind set is important when losing weight. A lot of people get discourage because
they cant see any progress made based on a scale. Do not pay attention to a scale! Take a look at
this picture from Bamboo Core Fitness:

As you can see, fat occupies more space than muscle. This can show how someone can gain
more weight (because of muscle taking over the place of the fat). Based on this picture for
example, someone who loses five pounds of fat will get it replaced with ten pounds of muscle.
This would make the person weigh five pounds more than they did before. I like how Dr.
Courtney Manser says, Ask yourself this: Why do you want to lose weight? If the answer is to
be skinny or some other version of that, then you're only setting yourself up to fail. Self-
confidence is not a number on the scale, and your weight does not define your beauty. So change
your outlook on exercise and eating right for a happier, healthier you(Manser, Skinny vs.
healthy). Its important to lose weight for the right reason, and that is to be healthier. If your
mind set is to be thin then you can start obsessing over your looks and weight that you will never
be satisfied with your body. This is where eating disorders arise like bulimia and anorexia, both
very dangerous. Gain confidence and love yourself for who you are and work to be a healthier
you.
In conclusion, remember that you are the only one who can decide on the method you
want to take to lose weight. Keep in mind that your diet, physical activity, and mind set all have
a part in losing weight in a healthy way. Try to stay away from diets that prevent you from
getting all the essential foods that you need. It will affect your nutrition and you may not get
important vitamins and minerals that your body needs. Exercising is a great way to keep your
body in shape and your body properly functioning. Overall, have a good outlook on your journey
to be a better you, because it will help you to not give up and make healthy choices.







Works Cited/Pictures
Exercising. Shutterstock. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.shutterstock.com/s/exercising/search.html>.
Healthy Eating Plate. Harvard School of Public Health. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.

How Many Calories Do You Really Need? WebMD. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.webmd.com/diet/calories-chart>.
Manser, Dr. Courtney. "Skinny vs. healthy." She Knows Canada. N.p., 1 Aug. 2013. Web. 1
Mar. 2014. <http://www.sheknows.ca/health-and-wellness/articles/959747/lose-weight-to-
gain-health>.
One Pound of Fat Versus One Pound of Muscle: Clearing up the Misconceptions. Bamboo core
fitness. Web. 1 Apr. 2014. <http://bamboocorefitness.com/one-pound-of-fat-versus-one-
pound-of-muscle-clearing-up-the-misconception/>.
"Why is Physical Activity Important?." Choose My Plate. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.choosemyplate.gov/physical-activity/why.html>.
Williams, Terri. "What Is the Danger of Losing More Than 2 Pounds per Week?." Az Central.
N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2014. <http://healthyliving.azcentral.com/danger-losing-2-pounds-
per-week-16101.html>.