With all the swarming weight loss sites over the internet, the need for true and effective best weight loss program and information has become a search endeavor. How can you determine the best weight loss program suitable for you? Is there any gauge, measure, or standard for it?

Many individuals find weight loss a chronic endeavor. For some, the shedding of pounds may seem lasting but it is just a temporary event. They do not know until they once again stand on the scale and found that they have regained the lost weight – worse, the weight regained is greater than the weight lost. On the other hand, several popular diets are found ineffective because they lack the lasting factors of what the best weight loss program truly is.

Thus, what do we need to find in a weight loss program? Here are the effective factors and strategies to consider:

1. Exercise. Exercise is a cliche in the fitness industry. No matter how cliched the word is but this still remains one of the genuine factors for weight loss. Recent studies have shown that it is advisable to exercise 30 minutes for 5 days in a week. Alternatively, another study has shown that 10 minutes of exercise three times a day is also effective. Thus, there is no reason for individuals to give the “no time for exercise” excuse. Always find time and discipline to exercise 4 to 5 days a week and increase your exercise intensity level every two weeks.
2. Train with Weights or Do Some Weight Training. Weight training helps you shed off some body fats better. Muscles burn fats. On the other hand, cardiovascular exercises are still effective for weight loss since it burns calories but muscles gained from weight training gives you the maintenance for a healthier and leaner look. It is advisable that at the minimum, you increase your weights 5% every two weeks from its current weight. For example, if you are lifting 30 kilogram weights then you must, at the minimum, lift 31.5 kilogram weights after two weeks.
3. Keep a record. Keep a document of your food intakes and the things that hinders you to your weight loss. This record is effective in tracking your food intake, activity, and lifestyle. In this way, you will have a better plan and idea on how to approach your weight loss goal better. However, do not be too overly conscious in taking a record. It is not good to overdo the recording responsibility or else you will lose fun in your life. Just keep some information in your long term memory and transfer them later in your log book or journal.
4. Stop overeating. Know the reasons and factors behind why you overeat so that you can control and ultimately stop overeating. If the primary reasons are stress and pressure, then find ways to channel your energy better. Most overeating problems are due to stress and pressure at work or family life. Learn to know the cause of your overeating and ask for psychological help if necessary.
5. Join a support group. Create or join a weight loss support group for you. In this way, you have people to back you up and keep you motivated for your weight loss goal. These are the people that will kick your ass when necessary to keep you in your weight loss goal. Your support group must be heterogeneous in nature. This means that you must compose your support group coming from your close friends, immediate family members, office mates, and other pivotal people in your life. In this case, there is always a person who can monitor you wherever environment you are.
6. Learn from the meals. Meals in fast food chains and restaurants are not normal anymore. Some, if not most, are already supersized. If you have observed the meals in all these fast food chains, hamburgers, fries, sodas, and many more are all supersized. Thus, always watch your diet. This is already a good time to apply tip # 3: keep a record. Always have a track on what you eat so that you will know what you must learn and what you must do.
7. Take joy in small progress. Acknowledge yourself when you have done little and consistent weight loss progresses. Do not be too harsh on yourself if you cannot shed off pounds that easily. The key here is consistently losing of unwanted body fats. On the other hand, do not be saddened for some weight gains after several exercises; it may be due to the muscles you build. Remember that muscles are heavier than fats, thus, weight gain does not necessary follow that you are getting fatter – it could be that you are getting leaner. Above all, always be honest to yourself if you really have gained some pounds due to fats or due to muscles.
8. Chew your food well. By chewing your food well, you eat slowly. This is because, once you have take in some food, it takes 20 minutes to signal your brain of the feelings of fullness. Thus, if you eat fast, there is a big tendency that you have taken a lot of food within 20 minutes compared to eating slowly. Aside from that, chewing your food well helps your body easily metabolize what you eat. It also prevents you from constipation and indigestion problems.
9. Eat fewer foods with unhealthy fats. Eat fewer foods that contain unhealthy fats like transfats, unsaturated fats, and cholesterol while eat foods that contain healthy fatty acids coming from nuts, fish oils, olive oils, almonds, and other healthy oils. Essential fatty acids contain omega 3 and omega 6 that are good for the heart that helps in promoting sound health and healthy cardiovascular performance.
10. Be healthy, not thin. Being thin does not necessarily mean that you are healthy. What is the worth of being thin when you look skinny and dull? Thus, focus your energy on being healthy by combining exercises, healthy foods, and balanced lifestyle all together. The absence of any of these factors may result from imbalance – unhealthiness. It is difficult to get lean muscles or gain muscles fast when an imbalance occurs.

All in all, the best weight loss program does not solely rely on the different diet programs out there that you can avail, but more so, it is all about choosing the best weight loss program suitable for your body. It takes research to get to know the best weight loss exercise program for you. However, always choose the program that comes in natural and not those ones that promote expensive and easy solutions to weight loss. Never do some shortcuts in your weight loss goals or you will pay the price later. Weight loss is not just a physical problem, it is also a moral and personal problem towards one self.