The team at Lose Baby Weight are often asked about what the most important part of weight loss is, as well as what the best way to lose weight is. The answer is simple – diet is the most important part in any weight loss regime, and the best way to lose weight is to limit your calorie intake so that you take in less. If you eat lots of food and don’t burn it off, you’ll gain weight.

It might seem that celebrities drop weight very quickly – but there is a very simple reason for this. Celebrities have trainers and likely spend half of each and every single day training – creating a huge calorie deficit. They also have dieticians and personal chefs, enabling them to eat healthy food without having to prepare it themselves – whereas ordinary individuals have to go it alone, which can make it much harder. Fast celebrity weight loss can put undue pressure on normal people to lose weight in a too-short space of time. It’s also worth remembering that celebs have a team around them that will make it easier for them to sustain their weight loss.

So how can I lose weight?

There is really only one way to lose weight and that is to eat less and move more. An individual who has a couple of kilograms to lose will need to eat up to 500 calories less per day to create a calorie deficit of 3500 calories per week, and an individual who has over 12 kilograms to lose needs to eat between 500 and 1000 calories less per day to create a calorie deficit of between 3500-7000 per week. Moving more and eating less will help you to burn off even more calories. Generally, a calorie deficit of 3500 calories per week is equivalent to 500g of fat – so take in 3500 calories less, and you lose 500g.

The exact number of calories you need to take in to achieve sustained weight loss depends on a number of factors, including how much exercise you do, your age, current weight, sex and height. These factors determine your basal metabolic rate (BMR), which is how many calories you need to consume to function. Take a look on our website for more tips on BMR and how knowing your BMR can boost your weight loss and use our BMR calculator.

Instead of just cutting your calories, try to improve the quality of the calories that you take in. The better quality of the food you eat, the more nutrients and vitamins you taken in, which will improve your overall health. If you eat food that is full of goodness, it will also help you when it comes to exercise, as you’ll have more energy. You could easily use your calorie intake for the day on treats or foods that are bad for you and you’d still lose weight – but you’d feel sluggish and you’ll crave more bad foods, rather than good foods.
We recommend that you eat a diet rich in a range of fruits and vegetables of all different colours – the more colours, the more nutrients. Eat complex carbs to keep you fuller for longer, lean protein to keep you going, low fat calcium to boost weight loss and improve general health and a little heart healthy fat to improve general health. It’s also a good idea to include a few treats in your eating plan, as cutting out everything you love could really impact on whether or not you stick with the plan.

One of the best tips for weight loss cooking is to cook double the food at least once a week. Freeze the extra food and serve it up the next day for dinner, or portion it up ready to eat over the week, or add extra flavours into each portion to turn each portion into a new meal.

When you’ve got your head around healthy eating, add exercise into the mix to boost your weight loss even further. The more of a calorie deficit you create through diet and exercise, the more weight you lose. Try walking or cycling for low-impact exercise, or gym classes, aerobics, dance exercise classes or even swimming to boost your weight loss and improve your health.

This article was written by Rhian Allen, Founder of Lose Baby Weight. For more motivation, advice, recipes and exercise plans visit http://www.losebabyweight.com.au and for daily motivation join the Lose Baby Weight Facebook page with 45,000 other mums at http://www.facebook.com/losebabyweight.com.au