Safe and Effective Weight Loss: The Complete Guide

Are you tired of yo-yo dieting and fad diets that promise quick weight loss but never seem to deliver long-term results? Losing weight can be a challenging and overwhelming process, but with the right information and support, it is possible to achieve your goals and maintain a healthy weight for life.

In this comprehensive guide, we will discuss the key elements of safe and effective weight loss, including understanding your body and weight loss, setting realistic goals, making lifestyle changes, making smart choices, and the importance of support.

Understanding Your Body and Weight Loss

The first step to safe and effective weight loss is understanding how your body works. Your body requires energy to function, and this energy is obtained from the food you eat. The energy from food is measured in calories, and when you consume more calories than your body needs, the excess calories are stored as fat.

To lose weight, you must create a calorie deficit, which means you are consuming fewer calories than your body needs. This can be achieved through a combination of reducing caloric intake and increasing physical activity. However, it is important to remember that weight loss is not a one-size-fits-all process, and the amount of weight you can realistically lose will depend on several factors, including your starting weight, height, body composition, and metabolism.

Setting Realistic Goals

Before you begin your weight loss journey, it is important to set realistic and achievable goals. Rapid weight loss is not sustainable and can lead to health problems, so a healthy rate of weight loss is about 1-2 pounds per week.

To set realistic goals, it is important to consider your starting weight, height, and body composition. It is also helpful to seek the advice of a healthcare professional, such as a registered dietitian or doctor, who can help you determine a safe and achievable rate of weight loss based on your individual needs.

Making Lifestyle Changes

The key to long-term weight loss success is making lifestyle changes that are sustainable and can be maintained for life. This includes adopting healthy eating habits and increasing physical activity.

Healthy Eating Habits

Adopting healthy eating habits is a critical component of safe and effective weight loss. A healthy diet should include a variety of foods from all food groups, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Eating a variety of foods will help ensure that you are getting all of the nutrients your body needs to function at its best.

It is also important to avoid processed foods and high-calorie drinks, such as sugary sodas and energy drinks, and opt for water, tea, or coffee instead. Eating smaller portion sizes and avoiding tempting foods, such as junk food and sweets, can also help you stick to your weight loss goals.

Finally, it is important to listen to your body and eat when you are hungry, rather than eating out of habit or emotion. This can help you make more mindful and intentional food choices, which can lead to better weight loss results.

Physical Activity

In addition to healthy eating habits, increasing physical activity is an important part of a healthy lifestyle and can help you reach your weight loss goals. Physical activity can help you burn calories, build muscle, and improve your overall health and well-being.

Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity, such as brisk walking, every day. If you are new to exercise, start with 10 minutes a day and gradually increase the amount of time you are active. You can also incorporate other types of physical activity, such as weightlifting, yoga, or swimming, to increase variety and target different muscle groups.

Physical activity can also be fun, and finding an activity that you enjoy can help you stick to your goals and make it easier to make physical activity a part of your daily routine. Try a new workout class, join a sports team, or take up a new hobby, such as hiking or dancing, to find what works best for you.

Making Smart Choices

In addition to adopting healthy eating habits and increasing physical activity, making smart choices is an important part of safe and effective weight loss. This includes making healthy food choices when eating out, choosing healthier snack options, and reducing stress.

When eating out, look for restaurants that offer healthy options, such as grilled chicken or fish, and avoid restaurants that focus on high-calorie, processed foods. When choosing snacks, opt for healthy options, such as fruit, nuts, or low-fat cheese, instead of sugary or high-fat options.

Reducing stress is also important for weight loss and overall health. Stress can cause overeating and weight gain, so it is important to find healthy ways to manage stress, such as exercise, meditation, or spending time with loved ones.

The Importance of Support

Finally, the importance of support cannot be overstated. Having a support system, whether it is family, friends, or a support group, can help you stay on track and reach your weight loss goals.

Having someone to share your successes and challenges with can help keep you motivated and provide encouragement when you need it. Support can also help you stay accountable and on track with your weight loss goals, and can help you make healthier choices and adopt healthy habits for life.

In conclusion, safe and effective weight loss requires a combination of understanding your body and weight loss, setting realistic goals, making lifestyle changes, making smart choices, and having support. With the right information and support, you can achieve your weight loss goals and maintain a healthy weight for life.

Diagram: The Key Components of Safe and Effective Weight Loss – A Review

Why Walking is Important

Walking is a simple as well as an efficient type of exercise that can be conveniently integrated into your daily regimen. By strolling for 45 minutes a day, you can enhance your physical health and also wellness in a variety of ways.

Here are some ideas to aid you with an everyday walking routine:

– Establish an objective: Beginning by establishing an objective on your own, such as strolling for 45 minutes a day, five days a week. Having a specific goal in mind can help you remain motivated and also on track.

– Find a comfortable rate: Walking must be comfortable and pleasurable, so find a rate that helps you. You may need to start out strolling for much shorter time periods and progressively work up to 45 mins.

– Be consistent: Attempt to make strolling a part of your daily regimen by reserving the exact same time each day for your stroll. Whether it’s the initial point in the early morning or after supper, having a constant schedule can aid you to establish the behavior.

– Vary your route: Mix things up by varying your strolling path. This can help stop dullness and maintain you interested in your everyday walks.

– Play music or a podcast: Listening to music or a podcast while you walk can help make the time zip and also keep you amused.

– Utilize a pedometer: Monitoring your steps can be a great motivator, and a pedometer can help you see how far you’ve come.

– Buy comfortable footwear: Buying a comfy set of strolling shoes can assist avoid foot discomfort and make your daily strolls more delightful.

– Go outside: Ideally, try to walk outside in the fresh air and also sunshine. This can aid improve your state of mind and offer you a break from the stress of everyday life.

Walking for just 45 minutes a day can have a significant impact on your total wellness and health. By making strolling a component of your day-to-day routine, you can improve your physical conditioning, lower stress and anxiety, as well as appreciate the advantages of a regular exercise program.

Which Weight Loss Program is Best for Me?

 Ensure You Pick the Right Plan!

Don’t Get Fooled by Fad Diets

Successfully Change Your Eating Routine Instead

Brian Roberts Your Central Mass Fat Loss Coach Here…

We are inundated with diet books, weight loss programs, and magazines touting the latest Hollywood diets. Not to mention that Google searches on ‘diet for weight loss’ return over 300 million results! This is why fad diets can seem like an attractive option for the majority of people who do not educate themselves on healthy eating regimes.

The scientific definition of a fad diet is: “Any of a number of weight-reduction diets that either eliminate one or more of the essential food groups, or recommend consumption of one type of food in excess at the expense of other foods. Fad diets rarely follow sound nutritional principles for weight loss, which focus on ingesting fewer calories and/or consuming more energy through exercise; fad diets are generally not endorsed by the medical profession.”

This is the link to one article we found that gives an idea about some fad diets out there and another link to a fad diet timeline.

Despite best intentions, most people have an extraordinarily hard time dropping those extra 5, 10, or 20 pounds – and even more trouble keeping pounds off. It’s not because we aren’t hard-working, smart, or have self-control. Keeping weight off is one thing that’s perpetually difficult. Weight loss and fat loss comes down to basic biology. Your body, programmed by evolution to survive famines, doesn’t like to be given less food. When you diet, it assumes there’s a famine and hangs on to every fat cell it can. The more you diet, the more resistant your body becomes to losing weight. So instead of going for that quick weight loss, you’re more likely to succeed by making small diet and exercise changes that will produce more lasting effects. The good news here it that you don’t need to spend a lot of money, join a fancy gym, avoid your favorite foods, have special meals delivered or buy another diet book.

Here at Central Mass Fat Loss, we don’t want you to get fooled by those excellent marketing and branding tools they use to attract interest. Instead, we teach you about portion sizes and healthy eating routines as discussed in a previous blog post: Healthy Eating and Portion Sizes and we give you that 1-1 attention for your individualized program to ensure that you are successful. We make sure that we’re assessing what nutrients YOUR body needs and what minerals will assist YOU in burning fat.

If you ever have any questions or need any advice, don’t hesitate to touch base with us.

Get in contact with us here to set up a consultation with us.

You will be amazed at what we bring to the table!

Brian Roberts – Director
Central Mass Fat Loss
6 Colonial Drive
Westborough, MA 01581
(508)834-6260 Cell or Text

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Get Your Portion Sizes Right

Healthy Eating and Portion Sizes

Brian Roberts Your Central Mass Fat Loss Coach Here…

Whilst a majority of people are embarking on fad diets or quick blitzes, you are very much aware that those fads never end well, and it in turn inspires you to improve your diet and health at ANY time of the year.

Out go the crisps, chocolates and biscuits, and our shelves are stocked with avocados, coconut oil and hummus.

The trouble is, it’s easy to forget that just because something is healthy, that doesn’t give you a free pass to binge. Binging will actually set you back in reaching your health and fitness goals. Your goal of slimming down or building muscle will take longer. Understanding there’s more to losing fat than just ENERGY IN vs. ENERGY OUT, is definitely a good place to start.

Few nutritionists or dietitians would recommend counting calories – that’s because counting NUTRIENTS is a much more sensible way to go – and keep in mind that the quantity and quality of food you’re eating IS important.

Everything can be ‘unhealthy’ if consumed to excess; even water!

“Foods that are high in fat and low in nutrients, such as fries, doughnuts, crisps, chocolate and cake should definitely be kept to an ‘occasional’ food, but when it comes to foods that are high in fat and high in nutrients, we can indeed have them more frequently.”

It’s essential to get your portion size right though.

“There are days where we overindulge and eat more than we usually would, but in general it can be helpful to be mindful of what a portion size is for different foods and different individuals’ needs.”

At Central Mass Fat Loss, together we figure out what portion sizes work for YOUR body, what nutrients YOUR body needs and what minerals will assist YOU in burning fat. We give you that 1-1 attention for your individualized program to ensure that you are successful.

If you ever have any questions or need any advice, don’t hesitate to touch base with us.

Get in contact with us here to set up a consultation with us.

You will be amazed at what we bring to the table!

Brian Roberts – Director
Central Mass Fat Loss
6 Colonial Drive
Westborough, MA 01581
(508)834-6260 Cell or Text

Check out our website for upcoming events as well as previous posts

For updates and event info, subscribe to our newsletter HERE

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Cold and Flu Season – Recommended Best Practices

Brian Roberts Your Central Mass Fat Loss Coach Here…

This time of year the common cold is on the rise. Individuals typically catch between two and four colds a year and there are approximately 200 viruses that can cause the common cold.

Basically a cold is an infection of your nose and throat caused by viruses. Symptoms of the common cold (usually appear one to three days after being exposed to a cold virus) include a runny nose, cough, nasal congestion, sore throat, sneezing, watery eyes, mild headache, mild fatigue, body aches, and fever less than 102 degrees.

The flu (Influenza) is another unpleasant illness that nobody wants to experience. Symptoms of the flu (some are also symptoms of a cold) are: Fever over 100.4 F, aching muscles, chills and sweats, headache, dry & persistent cough, fatigue and weakness, nasal congestion, and sore throat.

In preparation for cold and flu season, here are some suggested best practices and natural remedies for the prevention and treatment of the common cold and flu. Consult your physician first before trying any over-the counter medications.

Although it’s tougher to stick to your Central Mass Fat Loss plan when you are not feeling well, doing so will help you get through it easier.

Encourage proper hand hygiene

Since hands can spread germs from one person to another, or to other surfaces, proper hand hygiene is an essential habit. When hands are dirty, wash with hot water and soap or apply hand sanitizer if water and soap are not available.

Clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces

When surfaces are left dirty, they can transfer germs to people and cause illness. High-touch surfaces such as door knobs, handrails, elevator buttons and desks or countertops should be disinfected especially when someone is ill. If you are working when ill (not something I recommend), clean any surface that you (or the ill person has touched) from high to low, from cleanest to dirtiest and from dry to wet.

Hydration

Water has the ability to help digestion and the absorption of nutrients to benefit overall health. Staying properly hydrated helps the kidneys do their job of balancing electrolytes and filtering waste from the body. If you’re sick and sweating a lot, vomiting or having diarrhea, your body is naturally releasing more liquid. You are losing fluids which can contribute to dehydration. Your body needs to make this up by you drinking more water. Avoid sugary beverages and just stick to water. Drinking water can also help illness by lessening congestion and allowing mucus to be coughed out of the body.

Get extra sleep-time in

You really do need extra sleep when you’re not feeling well because of a cold or the flu. Plain and simple … Sleep helps your body fight the infection that’s causing you to feel ill. The secret is to make sure you’re getting deep sleep, where your body is able to do it’s heavy lifting to protect and restore you. It strengthens the immune system and you’ll fight off the flu better and make a speedier recovery because of it.

Vitamin C

In 1968, Linus Pauling, PhD, proposed that 1,000mg of vitamin C daily could reduce the incidence of colds for most people. Since then, vitamin C has become a popular cold remedy.

Zinc

A number of studies have found that zinc helped to reduce the duration of cold symptoms, especially if people started taking it within 24 hours after cold symptoms appear. Zinc also reduced the severity of symptoms and decreased the duration of symptoms by three to four days. Zinc lozenges may work by blocking the cold virus from replicating (preventing it from spreading) or by impairing the ability of the cold virus to enter cells in the nose and throat.

Garlic

Garlic is one of the more popular home cures for colds. Many cultures have a home remedy for the cold using garlic, whether it’s chicken soup with lots of garlic, a drink made with raw crushed garlic, or if it just involves eating raw garlic.

Echinacea

Echinacea is still one of the most popular herbs used today for colds and flu. Herbalists often recommend taking echinacea every two to three hours at the first sign of symptoms. The key to using echinacea is starting it at the smallest sign of symptoms, because after about 7 days, it loses it’s effectiveness in remedying a cold.

Ginger

Ginger root is another old time remedy for a cough, colds, and sore throat. It’s used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat coughs and is also for colds accompanied by a runny nose with a clear nasal discharge, headache, neck and shoulder aches, and a white tongue coating. In Ayurveda, the traditional medicine of India, ginger is also used for coughing and colds.

Hot ginger tea is a popular home remedy for cold symptoms and sore throat. Honey and lemon are sometimes added.

Eucalyptus Steam Inhalation

A steam inhalation with eucalyptus oil may help to alleviate symptoms from colds and flu. It is thought to work by thinning mucus in the respiratory tract.

In summary, these are just a few examples of best practices and natural remedies to help you get through cold and flu season. As mentioned, our coaches here at Central Mass Fat Loss are here to help you during your journey to better health, and will ramp it up even more if you’re not feeling well during the process. All you have to do is reach out!

Get in contact with us here

Brian Roberts – Director
Central Mass Fat Loss
6 Colonial Drive
Westborough, MA 01581
(508)733-1410 Cell or Text

Check out our website for upcoming events as well as previous posts

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Benefits of a Couples Fat Loss Program

Brian Roberts Your Central Mass Fat Loss Coach Here…

If you’re thinking about embarking on a new, healthy lifestyle with your significant other (or even a friend that’s a great accountability partner), then you’ll want to pay close attention to the information below.

Before I get into what Central Mass Fat Loss offers, I will share some overall benefits to “couples” who take on the challenge together.

You’ll have an in-house support system –

Countless studies have shown that support from others is an important part of success, which is why having a built-in support network is one of the biggest perks to losing fat as a couple. For example, when one person doesn’t feel like working out or is tempted to over-indulge, the other person can push them harder and remind each them that they’ll regret it if they give into those temptations. Going grocery shopping and going out to dinner is easier when done together to help each other make healthy choices, as you’ll be sharing the same food and saving money in the long run.

Your relationship can become a priority again –

When you and your significant are working together to accomplish something, you’re essentially bonding — maybe in a way you haven’t before. Maybe you’ve been so busy with kids, grandkids, work, life, etc. and haven’t spent a lot of time together lately. Now that you’ve made this decision for a healthier lifestyle, you’ll cook together, eat together, and work out together. It’s inevitably going to bring you closer and possibly add benefits of getting along more and being even happier together.

Someone’s Gonna Lose It First (And this is a GOOD Thing) –

Men tend to lose weight faster than women, and for the woman, seeing him lose first can be inspiration that it’s going to happen for her soon. And if it doesn’t happen, well that can motivate her to step up her game to catch up.

So to sum it up, sharing this experience together is twice as easy and less work — but twice the reward!

Our couples have not had one complaint and trust us on regular follow-ups, twice the smiles….

Our Central Mass Fat Loss Deal Saves You Money

If you haven’t heard about the Central Mass Fat Loss Couples Program yet, you are in for a treat (and this one doesn’t contain sugar). Our Couples Program saves your “ready to be healthier” household thousand of dollars versus any competitive programs. Call to factor out your household financial savings..

Luckily for you, we are offering a 10% discount right now as a way of welcoming new clients to see our convenient location in Westborough and to share the benefits of the program itself.

Get in contact with us here to set up a consultation with us.

You will be amazed at what we bring to the table!

Brian Roberts – Director
Central Mass Fat Loss
6 Colonial Drive
Westborough, MA 01581
(508)733-1410 Cell or Text

Check out our website for upcoming events as well as previous posts

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New Location For Your Convenience

Hello, This is Brian Roberts your Central Mass Fat Loss Coach…

I wanted to share the exciting news that we have a brand new location to offer to our clients beginning March 4th, 2019.

Our location is:
Westborough Family Chiropractic
6 Colonial Drive
Westborough, MA 01581

This office will have easier access and convenience for our clients, as there is FREE parking at this facility.

As our gift, we are also offering a 10% discount on all packages for new clients. So tell your loved ones to take advantage of the new location and savings.

Brian Roberts – Director
Central Mass Fat Loss
6 Colonial Drive
Westborough, MA 01581
(508)556-6208 Office
(508)733-1410 Cell or Text

Check out our website for upcoming events as well as previous posts

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Weight Loss vs Fat Loss

Crash Diets vs. Correct Nutrition

Brian Roberts, your Central Mass Fat Loss Coach here …

People talk about how they want to lose weight, but the truth is … what they should really want to do is LOSE FAT.

Anyone can lose weight. All you have to do is stop eating (please don’t do that – that is what most of those unhealthy crash diets have you do). The point is that yes, you will lose weight, but the weight you lose will be muscle, fat, bone, water, and every other part of your body in an unhealthy fashion. This is reason why it comes back…

The real goal for your “loss” journey should be to preserve as much muscle as possible, or possibly even gain some muscle mass, all while losing as much fat as possible. That way, you’re going to have a much improved body composition. Central Mass Fat loss will accomplish this and we will share how.

What I tell my clients to do is STOP focusing on weight loss ( that is hard to do when your losing close to a pound a day, depending on commitment and personal health starting point) because that just leads to sabotaging any results you might have. And the scale is not the best and only judge of a healthier body. Instead, I give an individualized nutrition plan where the focus is on eating foods that are good for the body, and teaching them to change their eating and lifestyle routine. Once they have been on the program for a specific amount of time, I tell them to focus on how their clothes fit and feel, their strength, endurance, energy, and confidence levels. If these progress markers are improving over our short time and they’re feeling better about themselves, then that’s all the more reason to continue enthusiastically forward to reach our health and fat loss goals.

Another key focus is on building muscle (and yes, it means that you might stay at the same weight for a short period of time, but that can actually be a sign that you are gaining muscle). Our clients typically lose 10 to 15 pounds in the first 21 days, than our bodies will start their adjustments. Our clients lose a very high percentage of fat during our 43 day program. After our first 43 days, we start on maintenance and we are having a really good time incorporating more activity, more foods and feeling really great.

If you go into your journey with the right perspective and you optimize for fat loss and muscle preservation, your goal will be a lot easier to accomplish.

In the end, your Fat loss experience will be more than you thought it would be… but the better picture is that you’ll be leaner, happier, stronger, more energized, eating better foods and more of it, and in a far better healthier frame of mind.

Brian Roberts – Director
Central Mass Fat Loss
340 Main St Suite 855
Worcester, Ma 01608
(508)556-6208 Office
(508)733-1410 Cell or Text

Check out our website for upcoming events as well as previous posts

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We Understand Your Frustration…

We Give You the Game Plan to Stay in the Game

Brian Roberts, your Central Mass Fat Loss Coach here…

You’ve been true to a weight loss diet or program and maybe exercise regime. You’ve may have worked off some of the holiday pounds; your clothes fit a little looser, and healthy eating has become a little easier but you still have uncomfortable moments.

The first big party event of the year threatens to undo all your good work and hard efforts — the get together with friends and family watching the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl!

Don’t worry. You can enjoy a Super Bowl party without risking too much of your waistline with a few timely tips. For starters, don’t starve yourself the day of the party — you’ll probably just make up for it by overeating later on at the gathering. Instead, follow my suggestions below both BEFORE you head out the door, and DURING your get together.

The odds of eating healthy will be in your favor if you follow my tips. (Odds, get it?)

The Day of the Big Game, eat as if it was a normal day, Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner…The food at the Big Game Party is still going to be there..

Our first recommendation is to super hydrate. Yes, drink water.. lots of it, as long as you not allergic or have a medical condition prescribing not to drink water… We recommend half your weight in water ounces throughout the day. Try getting half of that in before noonish or 1Pm…
Ex: 200lbs/2 = 100oz try getting about 50 ounces in before noon time..

Water will help to increase your metabolism, help to detoxify your body, help your digestive system dissolve all those heavier foods possibly ingested later in the day.

Our second recommendation: add some healthy veggies to normal eating meals during the day: broccoli, asparagus, cauliflowers, green beans, brussel sprouts…This will give your body the appropriate minerals and nutrients it will need and fill your belly up…let’s not be starved when we get to the festivities.

Our third recommendation is to have a fruit with each normal meal of the day: a cup of pineapple, melon apple or an orange. These will help to decrease urgings for that extra piece of 7 layer chocolate cake or grabbing one too many cannoli’s or cheesecake.

Our fourth recommendation: Get a vigorous walk in… or even better a good workout, if you’re physically able. This will get the blood flowing, oxygen into your system and a little time to ourselves before we take on a social engagement. It’s a social engagement, not a bad food eating contest…lol

So, with that being said… I’ll end this with one very LAST idea:

One of the nice things you can do for others and yourself is to offer to be the “RUNNING BACK” of your gathering… By this I mean that you’ll have better control over portion sizes and food selections if you serve yourself … and also offer to be the occasional food runner and bring back food for others (maybe even healthier choices for them too!). And in doing so, you get your body in motion to work off some of that food.

So there ya go… Now you’ve got your Game Plan .. so go have fun and GO PATS!

Brian Roberts – Director
Central Mass Fat Loss
340 Main St Suite 855
Worcester, Ma 01608
(508)733-1410 Office
(508)733-1410 Cell or Text

Check out our website for upcoming events as well as previous posts

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For updates and event info, subscribe to our newsletter HERE