How To Lose 25 Pounds Using Common Sense

So you want to know how to lose 25 pounds, or perhaps more, using common sense? Well I'm not a professional dietician or weight loss expert but I lost about 35 pounds a few years ago and thought I'd share my “method” with you. Why? Because, I assume that because you're reading this, you're interested in how to lose 25 pounds. And also because I get so fed up with seeing so many expensive, hyped up diet plans aimed at desperate souls looking to “lose weight fast” when the best way to lose weight is to change your diet gently and permanently. That way you keep the weight off. I lost my 35 pounds some time ago and have no problems in keeping my weight down. I may get a little bit heavier in the winter with less exercise, but it soon comes off in the summer when I'm more active. I don't mean to sound arrogant but it's a fact. Fine tuning my diet a little means I can lose a few pounds when I want to but most of the time it takes care of itself.

So what's my secret for permanent easy weight loss that will help you lose 25 pounds. Well it's not rocket science. In fact it's very ordinary science.

The secret is eat slightly less and exercise slightly more

You may have heard it many times before but it's an inescapable fact.

If you eat more than you need and don't exercise you will put on weight.

If you eat slightly less than you need, and do exercise, you will lose weight.

In essence I'm talking about calorie counting but I don't want you to get hung up on having to add up loads and loads of detailed numbers every day to lose 25 pounds. I found that after a little while I could remember the calories in most of the basic foods (and I still can) and would know what to avoid because it would be full of fat and calories.

The starting point when you want to lose 25 pounds is knowing roughly how many calories you need in a day to keep your weight constant. Very roughly speaking, it is about 2500 for a reasonably active average man (whatever that means!) and about 1900 for the equivalent woman. But if you do a quick search online you will find loads of sites where you can enter your weight, height, age and activity level and it will calculate your typical calorie requirements. Once you have this figure you can make sure you eat slightly less calories and you will lose weight. It's a fact. Eat less than you need in terms of calories and the weight will come off. To lose about one pound a week you need to eat about 3500 calories a week less. That's 500 calories a day less. Add in some extra exercise and you will lose the pounds a bit quicker.

One pound a week doesn't sound a lot but that's about 14 pounds (one stone) in three months, or keep it up for a year and it's about 56 pounds (four stone). When I was losing weight I managed to fairly consistently lose 2 pounds a week so it took me somewhere around four months to lose weight. Here's a few of my suggestions to help you lose 25 pounds successfully.

Start the day with a good meal. There's nothing worse than starting the day feeling hungry and then giving in to something sweet and sticky, loaded with calories in the middle of the morning. My typical breakfast was a piece of fruit, usually a banana and about three slice of toast with a little low fat spread and a smear of marmalade, and a hot drink or two. A typical piece of fruit is about 100 calories and the toast with the spread, etc, is about the same so allowing for the drinks this would typically be a 400 -500 calorie breakfast. This may seem like a lot out of a daily calorie allowance of say 1500 (woman) or 2000 (man) calories but it's a really good start to the day. The goodness of the fruit and carbohydrate reserves to draw on through the day. Get it right and you won't feel hungry until mid-day. If you do – drink water or a low-calorie drink. Which lead me onto...

Drink plenty of water. If you start to feel hungry have a drink of water. In fact drink loads of water within reason. It will help to keep you feeling full and will do you good in any case. If you get fed up with plain water, low calorie drinks often only have a calorie or two, or a black tea or coffee has nothing in it. If you can't stand it black then a drop of milk won't use up too many calories from your daily allowance, and you will stay on target to lose 25 pounds.

Get used to eating lots of salad. If you have got used to the taste of artificially flavoured, processed foods it may take you a while to get used to the simplicity and taste of natural healthy salads. You need to get used to things like celery and lettuce because they contain so few calories, but eat enough and it will fill you up and do you the world of good. Celery is the classic – its almost entirely water and fibre. The minimal calories it contains are burnt up in chewing it. Always have some in the house. If you feel hungry have a stick of celery, or two. I used to eat loads of lettuce and cucumber. Often my mid-day meal would be a big pile of salad and some lean ham, or chicken. Perhaps one small bread roll. Total calories at mid-day 200-300. Add that onto breakfast and I've still got about 800 (woman) or 1300 (man) left for the rest of the day.

Get used to eating lots of green vegetables. It's a bit like salad really. Yes there are more calories in some vegetables but not a lot compared with processed foods. My evening meal would be lean meat or fish plus a pile of vegetables, but not too much rice, or pasta, or potatoes. I would have a little of something sweet to finish with. Perhaps just one or two biscuits (cookies) or a piece of fruit but if I'd had plenty of vegetables then I'd sometimes feel full. My experience was that these three meals would still leave me a few hundred calories for an evening snack, or a beer or glass of wine, and I'd still be on target to lose 25 pounds.

Be flexible. You may have a long term aim to lose 25 pounds by cutting down on your calorie intake but still enjoy yourself from time to time. I still celebrated family parties and special events by eating more than I'd normally allow myself. After all it was only for one day, or one meal. And then I'd get back to my healthy eating routine. If I'd tried to sick absolutely to my calorie counting, I'd probably have failed. Treats are sometimes necessary!

Avoid fat. Sounds obvious doesn't it. More specifically avoid “golden” foods. Gold is the colour of cooked fat. Fries, crisps (chips), biscuits (cookies), cakes, battered fish, fried breadcrumbs, etc, they are all cooked in, or contain fat. And load of calories. They are best avoided, except as a treat from time to time.

Do some exercise. It burns calories. Not as many as you may think but it does burn calories. The more you exercise, the quicker you will lose 25 pounds or however much you want to lose. Typically, swimming for thirty minutes uses up 300 – 400 calories. Exercise for half an hour 2-3 times a week and you will see an increase in the rate of weight loss. Read about using an exercise bike and cardiovascular exercise.

Get used to feeling a little hungry at first. When I started changing my eating habits, the first few days were the most challenging. I just felt different. Sometimes I felt hungry (reach for the celery, have a drink of water) but more often then not I just felt different. And it took about a week to get used to it. After that bit got easier as I got used to not feeling so full. And I had the motivation of seeing the first few pounds lost when I weighed myself.

Try to lose weight in the summer months. I don't know if I could have succeeded in the winter months. It's cold and dark in the UK. I just need to eat to keep warm. But in the summer I don't seem to need to eat as much. And I drink more water in any case. And I'm more active so it all helps burn up the calories. I lost weight from June through September. It worked for me – perhaps it'll work for you.

These were the basic rules I used to lose 35 pounds. If you want to lose 25 pounds, try following these basic principles and you will lose weight.

I started by saying I'm not a health professional in any shape or form – I've just chosen to share my healthy eating, weight loss experience with you, and made a few suggestions you may want to try.

But before losing weight or exercising it is recommended that you consult a qualified health professional for their advice.

I haven't included a calorie list for hundreds of different foods. Many foods have their calorie content on the packaging these days, or there are many booklets you can buy as well as online resources. Similarly with exercise and calories. There are plenty of resources without me trying to list them.

Best of luck with your efforts to lose 25 pounds!