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How to Lose Weight - The Basics of Weight Loss

By Paige Waehner, About.com Guide

Updated July 29, 2009

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• weight loss programs
• basal metabolic rate
• calorie calculator
• burning calories
• exercise for weight loss

Despite the way it feels, losing weight isn't a mysterious process. It's a simple matter of burning more calories than you eat. But, if it were really that simple, none of us would have a weight problem, would we? Weight loss can be such a struggle that we start thinking we have to do something drastic to see results -- diets, pills or those weird fitness gadgets on infomercials that promise instant success. The true secret to weight loss is this: Make small changes each and every day and you'll slowly (but surely) lose those extra pounds. The key is to forget about instant results and settle in for the long run.

Rules of Weight Loss

To lose one pound of fat, you must burn approximately 3500 calories over and above what you already burn doing daily activities. That sounds like a lot of calories and you certainly wouldn't want to try to burn 3500 calories in one day. However, by taking it step-by-step, you can determine just what you need to do each day to burn or cut out those extra calories. Below is a step by step process for getting started.

1. Calculate your BMR (basal metabolic rate). Your BMR is what your body needs to maintain normal functions like breathing and digestion. This is the minimum number of calories you need to eat each day. Keep in mind that no calculator will be 100% accurate, so you may need to adjust these numbers as you go along.
2. Calculate your activity level. Use a calorie calculator to figure out how many calories you burn while sitting, standing, exercising, lifting weights, etc. throughout the day. It helps to keep a daily activity journal or you could even wear a heart rate monitor that calculates calories burned.
3. Keep track of how many calories you eat. You can use a site like Calorie Count or use a food journal to write down what you eat and drink each day. Be as accurate as possible, measuring when you need to or looking up nutritional information for restaurants, if you eat out.
4. Add it up. Take your BMR number, add your activity calories and then subtract your food calories from that total. If you're eating more than you're burning, (your BMR + activity is 2000 and you're eating 2400 calories) you'll gain weight. If you're burning more than you eat, you'll lose weight.

Example:

Mary's BMR is 1400 calories and she burns 900 calories in daily activity with regular exercise, walking around and doing household chores. To maintain her weight, she should be eating 2300 calories but, after keeping a food journal, Mary finds that she's eating 2550 calories every day. By eating 250 more calories than her body needs, Mary will gain one pound every 2 weeks.

This example shows how easy it is to gain weight without even knowing it. However, it's also easy to lose weight, even if the process itself can be slow. You can start by making small changes in your diet and activity levels and immediately start burning more calories than you're eating. If you can find a way to burn an extra 200 to 500 calories each day with both exercise and diet, you're on the right track. Try these ideas:

Total Calories Saved: 532 (based on a 140-pound person)

How Much Exercise Do I Need?

Exercise is an important weight loss tool, but how much you need varies from person to person. The ACSM's weight loss guidelines suggest at least 250 minutes per week, which comes out to about 50 minutes, 5 days a week. If you're a beginner, start small (3 days a week for 20 to 30 minutes) to give your body time to adapt. Don't forget, things like walking, taking the stairs and household chores can burn more calories as well. Learn more about getting started with exercise.

DEAR GOD

I want to thank You for what You have already done in my life Father God. I am not going to wait until I see results or receive rewards I am thanking You right now for Your Goodness and Your Grace in my life.

I am not going to wait until I feel better or things look better I am thanking You right now. I am not going to wait until people say they are sorry or until they stop talking about me Lord, I am thanking You right now.

I am not going to wait until the pain in my body disappears I am going to thank You right now. I am not going to wait until my financial situation improves  Merciful Father, I am going to thank You right now.

I am not going to wait until my husband or children are asleep and the house is quiet I am going to thank You right now. I am not going to wait until I get promoted at work or until I get the job I want, I am going to thank You right now.

I am not going to wait until I understand every experience in my life that has caused me pain or grief; I am thanking You right now for the good as well as the bad. I am not going to wait until the journey gets easier or the challenges are removed I praise You right now.

I am thanking You right now. I am thanking You Lord because I am alive. I am thanking You Father because You brought me through another day's difficulties. I am thanking You Dear Lord because You have walked me around lifes’ obstacles.

I am thanking You because I have the ability and the opportunity to do more and do better for You.

I'm thanking You because FATHER, You haven't given up on me. Thank You Lord that You have not removed Your Hand from me and allowed me to utterly fall; I love You Lord.

 I Thank You Lord and I lift my voice to say Thank You and Praise Your Holy Name, these praises I give in the Name that is above every name, Your Son Jesus

PARENTS, WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO INSTRUCT YOUR CHILDREN? WHILE THEY ARE STILL BABIES!

INSTRUCTING YOUR TEENAGER, can be the one of the hardest things in your life to do.You are always wrong, you are just being mean to them, you don't want them to have fun, you make them sick, you don't understand what they are going through and anything else you can think of our children have said it. Is it wrong to require your son or daughter to respect you and your instructions? We have become so complacent when it comes to us doing what thus says the Lord that the enemy has walked into our homes, schools, and yes even the church and took our children by the throat and started squeezing. Rebuke that negitive spirit in the Name of Jesus!

The Bible tells parents how to raise children so, what happened? God gave us charge over our children why then have we let the enemy come in and march our babies down the path to a Burning Hell?It is past time to fight back; Proverbs 1:7 say's The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: (Know who we are fighting against, Satan) but fools despise wisdom and instruction. We have spared the rod and spoiled the child!" There is a sadness that to this story that parents don't want to hear, we have let our children down by giving in, being far too lenient with attitudes and lies. parents all over this world have allowed children to talk to them like they are the child and the child is the parent.

Parents have thrown up both hands and gave in rather then taking control over our children. What ever happened to "spare the rod, spoil the child?" 

Proverbs 3:11  My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction.

Proverbs 3:12  For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

I could go on and on but you get the picture. Parents read Proverbs with your children they will thank you one day when you least expect it! Let's face the situation the way it really is our children are faced with things that we would have never thought of when we were their age. Oh sure, we had drugs, sex, and even our version of gangs but, when our parents spoke it was clear who was in charge. We had those young people that wanted to challenge their parents authority but, when the dust had settled, they had come to his/her senses! There were many young people who had to experience life on their terms and after it had beat them down they came home with a humble heart and shattered life. 

I have been re-searching these reality TV shows and I see how these children talk to their parents which, I did not have to go very to hear the disrepect, I just had to listen to to the children in my neighborhood and in the church. We allow our children to watch this mess and then they try to act like the kids they see on tv; not realizing it is MADE FOR TV DRAMA! Parents lost their God given authority to rear their children when the Government came in and said to you and to me as  parents we could no longer discipline our child because it was abuse WHAT? The Word of God tells me as a parent that it is my job to CORRECT THEM. If I loved my children I would not spare the rod, why? Because the Bible say's  in Proverbs 13:24:

He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. Chasteneth means to PUNISH to IMPROVE, CORRECT AND DISCIPLINE.

This word "BETIMES" means- EARLY, BEFORE it is to LATE; close the gate after all the cows are gone!

PARENTS do what you can, sit down and talk to your children and teens, you know  they do not want to hear your words of love and wisdom and that's OK, they will come back to you with questions. So, before it is too late remember the rod and the Word!  It is time out for "Time Out" where is that in the Bible? My parents did not read that part of the Bible! 

Now don't write me and say that Sister Lucy said "I don't love my child because I choose to do things differently than what God has said in His Word for us to do. God has given us instructions on how to raise our children, but some of us decided that our lives were so bad when we were children, that there was no way we were going to raise our kids the way our parents raised us! OK, did it work out for you that way? I thought about the fact I have never been in jail, no trouble at all; daddy said that if he ever had to come to the police department to get anyone of us he would send us to live with our grandparents...they had been dead for years!

 Young Ladies, need to be taught to have respect for themselves and their bodies, not walking around with their body parts exposed showing everything God gave them, they have to be given instructions on how to live a godly life, it must be taught to them; Train up a child! The thought that I would one day see young women wearing pants that were bagging off their behinds like the boys do, well, it blows me away.

The Bible has not been the Instruction Book in our homes by which we live or raise our families, as was the case when we were growing up. Our parents came from the Old School of Discipline and would tell you up front "I brought you in this world, I will take you out of it!" yeap, I believed it, a lot of us did!  It was a very strict way of living but we knew who the mother and father were and we did not get it twisted either! Disciplining our children today is not easy to do but, it can be done, mom and dad it must be done and even more important it must begin while they are babies; you can not bend a tree once it has grown tall and thick! I know that this sounds like we need to have our children in Boot Camp under the strictest discipline possible, but the bottom line is this; Would you rather have them laid face down on the ground with a ploiceman who could care less about him or her, beating them to death or would you rather trust God to lead you and run the risk of having your son or daughter angry with you for making the Word of God your Instruction Book of Life and Child Rearing?

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.  Scripture further say's, "For whom God loves, he chastens, what about you?