Diet And Exercise Habits of Successful Losers

Diet And Exercise Habits of Successful Losers

Losing weight successfully is extremely hard; no one said it was easy anyway. But it doesn’t mean that it’s not achievable, yet with the dozens of diets, books, magazines and infomercials, weight loss is portrayed as a walk in the park.

Many times, people fail at the start and, they never realize that they are headed for failure until it’s too late. Most things we take as subtle may actually be the difference between success and failure.

In addition to knowing what works, it’s imperative to learn the common mistakes that separate ‘winners from losers‘.

Facts from the National Weight Control Registry – NWCR

The NWCR is a group of men and women who periodically collect information pertaining to the success stories of their members who lost weight permanently. NWCR members consist of men and women who have sustained a weight loss of at least 30-pounds over a full year.

Generally, the members shared these facts: shed 70 pounds on average and maintained their new weight for up to 6 years; were unsuccessful on their previous weight-loss attempts; combined both diet and exercise to lose weight; used numerous dietary and exercise approaches.

What you might have already gleaned from these few points is that no single diet plan or exercise regimen is deemed perfect. You realize that every member scraped out his own way of dieting and exercising and, thus, this should indicate the first secret – or not so secret – step to successful weight loss. You must be willing to experiment and persist until you find the kind of dieting and physical activity that suits your lifestyle.

However, even if its apparent that no single exercise routine or diet plan fits with everyone’s life, all these successful losers are bound by common habits and conduct. Not surprisingly, exercise was one crucial component for all members.

For men, an average of 3293 calories were reportedly burnt every week, while 2545 calories were burnt for women per week. It winds down to about an hour of less-strenuous physical activity every day.

Most members reported walking as the most popular type of activity, but biking, weight lifting and an assortment of aerobic exercises were also popular. What we can infer from this is that it takes more than one form of exercise to achieve real results, but it doesn’t mean you should try all when you’re just beginning.

It not surprising that the next habit of successful weight losers had much to do with diet. Although their diets varied greatly, most members reported eating low-calorie, low-fat diets, averaging about 1306 for women and 1685 for men daily.

Interestingly, half of the members used a commercial diet plan, whereas half put it together on their own. Additionally, almost 80 percent of members reported eating breakfast regularly, which has already been proved by research to lower body mass index – BMI. Portion control and careful food selection are some of the tricks they used to ensure a clean diet, clearly showing that vigilance when choosing food is crucial.

Apart form those two major habits, the other noted ones were consistency and self-monitoring. Majority of members reported recording their weight on a daily basis, while others did it at least once a week. As for consistency, it’s not about following your chosen diet to the letter, it’s about striking a balance with those these you can close out from your life.

One thing that was extremely clear with all successful weight losers is that it took time to achieve success. Thus, take it a day at a time, and remember to get up when you fall.