How to lose weight

You can lose weight by two things:
  1-food planing
  2-exercise

9 Foods to Help You Lose Weight

1. Beans

Cheap, filling, and versatile, beans are a great source of protein. Beans are also high in fiber and slow to digest. That helps you feel full longer, which may stop you from eating more.

2. Soup

Start a meal with a cup of soup and you may end up eating less. It doesn’t matter if the soup is chunky or pureed, as long as its broth based. You want to keep the soup to 100 to 150 calories a serving. So skip the dollops of cream and butter.

3. Dark Chocolate

Want to enjoy chocolate between meals? Pick a square or two of dark over the milky version. In a Copenhagen study, chocolate lovers who were given dark chocolate ate 15% less pizza a few hours later than those who had eaten milk chocolate.

4. Pureed Vegetables

You can add more veggies to your diet, enjoy your "cheat" foods, and cut back on the calories you’re eating all at the same time. When Penn State researchers added pureed cauliflower and zucchini to mac and cheese, people seemed to like the dish just as much. But they ate 200 to 350 fewer calories. Those healthy vegetables added low-cal bulk to the tasty dish.

5. Eggs and Sausage

A protein-rich breakfast may help you resist snack attacks throughout the day. In a study of a group of obese young women, those who started the day with 35 grams of protein -- that’s probably way more than you’re eating -- felt fuller right away. The women were given a 350-calorie breakfast that included eggs and a beef sausage patty. The effect of the high-protein breakfast seemed to last into the evening, when the women munched less on fatty, sugary goods than the women who had cereal for breakfast.

6. Nuts

For a healthy snack on the run, choose a small handful of almonds, peanuts, walnuts, or pecans. Research shows that when people munch on nuts they automatically eat less at later meals. 

7. Apples

Skip the apple juice or the applesauce and opt instead for a crunchy apple.  Research shows that whole fruit blunts appetite in a way that fruit juices and sauces don’t. One reason is that raw fruit contains more fiber. Plus, chewing sends signals to our brain that we’ve eaten something substantial.

8. Yogurt

Whether you prefer Greek or traditional, yogurt can be good for your waistline. A Harvard study followed more than 120,000 people for a decade or longer. Yogurt, of all the foods that were tracked, was most closely linked to weight loss.

9. Grapefruit

Yes, grapefruit really can help you shed pounds, especially if you are at risk fordiabetes. Researchers at the Scripps Clinic in San Diego found that when people ate half a grapefruit before each meal, they dropped an average of 3 1/2 pounds over 12 weeks. Drinking grapefruit juice had the same results. But be careful: You cannot have grapefruit or grapefruit juice if you are on certain medications, so check the label on all your prescriptions, or ask your pharmacist or doctor.

Exercise to Lose Weight

The Beef on Strength Training

In all cases, however, you'll burn more calories with cardio (aerobic) exercise than with strength or resistance training.

"Strength training itself will not lead to an appreciable amount of weight loss because it just doesn't burn enough calories," says Glenn Gaesser, PhD, FACSM, kinesiology professor and department head at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

But what about all that talk that more muscle mass equates to more calories burned, even when you're at rest?

"It's a myth. It's not going to happen," says Gaesser.

The only successful studies to show a significant calorie burn following a weight-lifting workout (afterburn) were done with serious lifters, working out for 60 to 90 minutes at a time and lifting as much as they could on every set.

In fact, Gaesser says, at best, gaining one pound of muscle will help you burn 5 to 10 extra calories a day. You could do that chewing gum.

That's not to say that strength training isn't important for the overall health of the body. But when it comes to burning the most calories, go for cardiovascular exercise. And vary the intensity, says Quist.

"Do aerobic base-building workouts," he says, where you alternate between moderate and higher intensity, either within the same workout or on alternate days.

Quist also recommends cross-training -- that is, doing a range of different activities during your workouts. Not only does this help you keep from getting bored, it's better for your body. Doing different activities recruits different muscle groups. You're also less likely to develop an injury, says Quist, since doing the same thing day after day creates wear patterns on your joints.

Get creative, says Gaesser, whose graduate students teach an entire class on novel ways to burn calories. For example, he says, if you're a golfer, ditch the cart and walk with your clubs. You'll do what you love -- and burn more calories.

Exercise Is Just One Piece of the Puzzle

Keep in mind that exercise is just one portion of a successful weight loss program, say experts.

"Eating and exercise are not separate issues," says Church. "They're intimately connected. Too many people think these large doses of exercise are an excuse to eat whatever you want."

Unfortunately, today food is everywhere. There are candy bars at Home Depot and cheesecakes at Barnes & Noble. Gaesser says his kids can't believe a gas station used to be just a place to get gas. And portions are out of control, says Church -- just look at the size of the plates at restaurants.

"It's so much easier not to eat calories than to burn them off," says Quist.

And keep in mind that the definition of successful weight loss is keeping the weight off.

"It's not hard to lose weight," says Church. "Anyone can lose weight. What's hard is keeping it off. Those that combine both diet and exercise keep it off."

But what about metabolism? Many people who have struggled to lose weight believe they have unusually slow metabolisms.

Chances are, "you don't have a slow metabolism," says Church. "It is so rare that of all the metabolisms we've checked (and he does this daily), I can't remember one being legitimately slow."

The truth is, he says, "bigger people have a higher metabolism because they're bigger. Metabolism is how much mass you have. The more mass you have, the more energy you burn just sitting around."

How Much Do I Need to Exercise for Weight Loss?

Do the math: You need to burn 3,500 calories to lose a pound. So if you're burning 300 calories in one workout, it will take you nearly 12 workouts to lose one pound. If you cut your calorie intake by 300 calories in addition to burning 300, it will take you half as long to lose a pound.

If you want to lose weight, shoot for at least 200 minutes (more than three hours) a week of moderate intensity exercise with everything else consistent, says Church. If you cut calories and exercise, he says, you can get away with a minimum dose of 150 minutes (2 1/2 hours) a week.

If you're a beginner, says Gaesser, start with 50 minutes of exercise a week and work up to 200.

"You didn't put on that 20 pounds in the last six months; you're not going to take it off in six months," says Church.

"People don't want to hear about the patience aspect," he says. "They want instant gratification. But the cold, hard reality is if you want to lose weight and keep it off, it's work. No one loses weight and keeps it off without trying."

Here are eight tips to help you adhere to a weight loss workout and meet your goals.

1. Have an exercise buddy or partner. This is a must, according to the experts who spoke with WebMD. Having accountability to someone else, even if it's your Labrador, keeps you honest. "It's much easier to say no to yourself than to someone else," says Gaesser, who goes for bike rides regularly with friends.
2. Schedule your workouts. Keep a calendar that lists specific times for your workouts, says Gaesser. Make an appointment with exercise ahead of time, and you won't have the excuse of running out of time.
3. Weigh yourself daily. This is one of the best tools to see if you're slipping up, Church says. Weighing yourself daily can keep you on track so that you don't let 300 extra calories a day or one missed workout set you back.
4. Don't do too much, too fast. Don't get over-motivated, warns Quist. Lifting weights that are too heavy or starting out with six days a week of aerobic exercise is a mistake, says Quist. "People end up hurting themselves in the first week and then they give up," he says.
5. Log your steps. Logging the time that you work out will help you achieve your weekly goal, even if you get off track one day, Church says. It will also inspire you at the end of the week, when you can look back and see what you've accomplished.
6. Cook more often. Portions, and calories, are out of control when you eat out, says Church. You'll almost always consume fewer calories in a meal cooked and eaten at home. Save restaurants for special occasions, and get together with friends for a walk instead of a meal.
7. Don't turn water into wine. Not only does a glass of wine or beer add a couple hundred extra calories, after a few glasses, you're not as conscious of consuming more calories in your meal. You don't have to give up drinking, says Church, but do cut back.
8. Beware the one-way valve. You walk past the hors d'oeuvres at a party, grab some cheese and crackers, and quickly consume 300 calories before dinner even starts. "We have no problem randomly over-consuming extreme amounts of calories," says Church, "but we never randomly, sporadically have extreme bouts of caloric expenditure."