What is Healthy Weight Loss?

It is helpful to look at what something is not, to help know what something truly is. So let’s look at what unhealthy weight loss looks like.

trying to lose weight too quickly-–a healthy weight loss is generally 1-2 pounds per week—anything faster than this will probably be temporary and include more water and muscle loss than desired

not incorporating permanent lifestyle changes that will inevitably lead to weight gain and yo-yo dieting

starving yourself—you will not get all the nutrients your body needs, your metabolism will slow down and when you get off your starvation diet you will gain weight back— it can also lead to anorexia

using drugs—while there may be a select few safe prescription drugs for this purpose, they do not help you make permanent lifestyle changes which means you will gain your weight back—there are also plenty of very unsafe drugs that can cause permanent damage to your health—even some herbs are in this category: ephedra (ma huang), kola nut, guarana, mate, white willow bark, chapparal, comfrey, germander, pennyroyal, gentian, senna, skull cap, valerian—can also lead to addiction

purging—this can cause malnutrition and permanent damage to your stomach and esophagus—it can also lead to bulimia as a habit

laxatives—these can cause dehydration, bleeding, ulcers and addiction—not worth it especially since you gain the weight back after you stop taking them

smoking—the dangers of chronically smoking are much much greater than the dangers of obesity—extremely unhealthy choice—and of course if you quit you will likely gain your weight back

sweat and sauna suits—these can cause dehydration and increased body temperature and the weight loss is never permanent with these

focusing on only one food group or one food, for example a grapefruit diet—these are unrealistic to implement and cause nutritional deficiencies and ultimately do not work long term

running miles at a time or other types of crash exercising when up to this point you’ve been sedentary—you are likely to injure yourself and end up feeling disheartened and demotivated

not listening to your own body and taking into consideration your unique body chemistry such as food intolerances or sensitivities

losing between 1-2 pounds per week-–you are more likely to keep the weight off the slower you go

incorporating truly healthy foods (as unprocessed as possible and free of additives in general) to get all the nutrition you need such as enough protein and healthy fats and taking supplements (such as a multi-vitamin) as necessary to make sure you are getting proper nutrition

increasing the amount of time you exercise gradually-–not getting fanatical and overdoing it in a hurry

not obsessing about the number on the scale—instead focus on your general health, how you feel, how your clothes fit and your body measurements—weight is not always accurate because it could be you are losing water or muscle

listening to your own body and taking into consideration your unique body chemistry which includes paying attention to your food sensitivities and intolerances

What was the most surprising thing you learned today from this post? Please share in the comment section below.