Rules of Weight Loss: How to Lose Weight Naturally

Whether you fight a constant battle with weight problems or only feel that you need to lose a few pounds, losing weight is a topic that seems to be top on our minds. Special diet books consistently rank amongst best-sellers on the shelves, and websites catering to weight loss rake in profits every day. It’s impossible to watch television or open our email without being assaulted by “magic pills” that are guaranteed to help us lose weight; and even if we are ruled by the knowledge of health disasters like ephedra, these ads can be very tempting.

The true secret to weight loss is a very simple one, although it can be a challenge. Just a few small changes that you make in your every-day lifestyle will help you lose the extra pounds without resorting to the expense (both financial and physical) of fad diets.

Step One: Calculate Your BMR

Your base metabolic rate, or BMR, is the calculation of what your body needs to function properly. Your BMR maintains functions like breathing and digestion. In other words, figuring out what your BMR is shows you how many calories you do need to eat per day if you were just lying around in bed doing nothing but breathing and blinking.

Using your BMR as a starting point, you can figure out how many calories you need to cut per day. If you want to lose weight, you need to run a calorie deficit; you need to be burning more calories than you’re eating. The tricky part to this, which many people ignore, is that you still have to get enough calories for your BMR. If you don’t eat enough calories per day, you’re definitely going to lose weight … but some of that weight will be muscle loss instead of fat loss. Not healthy.

To calculate your BMR, try using this free online calculator: http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.html . Once you have your results, jot them down on a piece of paper for reference.

Step Two: Calculate Your Activity Level