1. A pound of fat equals 3500 calories, so most diets that claim to cause extremely rapid weight loss are lying to you. You may lose more weight in water (up to ten pounds) at the beginning of a diet, but after that, your weight loss will slow considerably, so don't get discouraged!
2. To lose 1 pound of fat a week, cut 500 calories from your diet each day. To lose 2 pounds, cut 1000 calories, and so on.
3. Burning another 500 calories per day through exercise will also help you lose a pound. Walking is one of the best ways to do this, because you can be sure you're losing fat rather than muscle, since running and other intense cardio activities force your body to access its glycogen stores (more on this in the next point).
4. Have you ever been doing great on a diet, eaten a slice of cake and then stepped on the scale the next day to see that you've gained 3 pounds? How could you gain 3 pounds from a slice of cake? It's simple: You can't. Our bodies have something called a glycogen storage. Our bodies store extra energy as glycogen. Think of glycogen as "a fuel tank full of stored carbohydrate. Some glycogen is stored in the liver and some is stored the muscles themselves. This energy weighs more than a pound and it’s packaged with 3-4 pounds of water when it’s stored. Your glycogen supply will shrink during the day if you fail to take in enough carbohydrates." for more info on water retention, check out this site
So, basically, if you overdo the carbs, your body will "save them" for the near future in your glycogen storage tank. If you don't use up that storage, it will turn to fat.
5. If you restrict calories excessively, your metabolism will slow down and you might even gain weight.
What can you do about this? Exercise. It's an amazing way to boost your metabolism. Also, exercising ensures that you will be losing fat, not muscle. If you lose too much muscle, you will be burning calories because muscle uses calories even when your sitting. Fat tissue, sadly, burns no calories and is pretty much totally useless.
6. A calorie is a calorie, is a calorie. Sort of. You should try to eat well, but remember, if you eat a low or non-fat diet and consume 3000 calories a day, you are going to gain weight, even if you don't eat a gram of fat. Portion control is absolutely essential.
7. It doesn't matter what time of day you eat! Obviously it's best to spread your calories out--you'll feel less hungry. But if you have a big event in the evening that you "save up" calories for, you'll still lose weight. If you want a drink in the evening, it's okay to cut out a soda in the afternoon, etc.
8. Related issue: It doesn't really matter how many times you eat each day! Eating 6 mini meals may keep you from getting hungry, but it's not a recipe for automatic weight loss. If you have social occassions where you need to eat, save your calories for those occassions!
9. There should be no "forbidden foods" you may have an occassion where you must eat, say, chocolate cake or you'll look antisocial. Just determine how much you'll be eating ahead of time and stick to it.
10. People seem to think that models and actresses are thin because they get lipo and have personal trainers. That's what the tabloids say because they want to make jealous people happy. Sorry--it's simply not true. While some celebrities may take advantage of lipo, it can't make you look amazing. Celebs look awesome because they work incredibly hard and they are MOTIVATED. Everyone can look like a model or actress. It is no lie. It's about determination and dedication. Do you have it in you? Then you'll succeed.
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