Weight Watchers is a well-balanced weight loss diet to follow. Weight Watchers diet could be followed for a long time with good success.
You seem to have a competitive nature in that you compared your weight loss with your friend. I would suggest that your expectation of weight loss was unrealistic. When trying to lose weight, you should set a realistic weight loss goal of 1 to 2-pounds per week. Rather than focusing on losing all of your weight at once, set 1-month goals. Your weight loss goal should be small, short-term timeframe that you can achieve. Otherwise, you will be preoccupied with what you haven’t lost rather than patting yourself on the back for losing what you did. You should have congratulated yourself for not gaining the second week.
You must consume 3500 calories less than you eat or expend to cause a weight difference of 1 pound. For example, if you cut 500 calories per day off your pre-diet food intake for 7 days, you would lose 1 pound in a week. A 1000-calorie decrease would cause a 2-pound weight loss. This loss would occur if your weight has been stable not increasing. The calories you eat combined with the calories you expend through exercise determine whether your weight goes up or down. That is true, assuming you have no metabolic disorders that slow the rate you burn food and store fat. Do realize that as you lose weight, your metabolism will slow as it is fighting to keep body fat in case a famine happens.
If you had been gaining 1 pound per week and you decrease your calorie intake by 500 calories per day, you would stop gaining 1 pound per week. If you decrease your calorie intake by 1000 calories per day, you would not gain your usual 1 pound per week and you would also lose 1 pound. In the following weeks, you would continue to lose about 2-pounds per week. Use nutrition analysis software to periodically track your calorie intake. Compare your weight to your average calorie intake over 3 days. Adjust the calories you eat to lose weight, subtract 500 to 1000 calories per day from your average calorie intake.
When I prescribe weight loss plans, I do not recommend less than 1200 calories in order to assure the person is eating enough vitamins and minerals. (Even this is hard to do for the menstruating female who needs 15 milligrams of iron per day.) Persons on diets of less than 1200 calories should consider taking a multivitamin supplement to prevent nutritional deficiency diseases. Gradual weight loss through learning healthy eating habits has greater long-term success than short-term fad diets.
Lastly, you should consider including exercise in your weight loss program. Talk to your doctor about your physical fitness before you start any exercise program. Exercise helps increase calories burned, decrease your appetite and gets you out of your food environment.
Choose an exercise you enjoy. If you dislike jogging or calisthenics, you won’t do them regularly. Try walking or biking. Start with a 15-minute walk per day for the first week. Increase your walk or ride to 30 minutes per day the second, 45 minutes per day the third week and 60 minutes per day the fourth week, which should be adequate for long-term benefits of exercise. You will find that weight loss will be more consistent if you get about 60 minutes of exercise 5 times per week and intensity to break a sweat.
Companionship while exercising makes the time more enjoyable and increases commitment. Ask your friend to go with you. Companionship also helps with sticking to an exercise routine. If you know that your friend is waiting on a corner for you, you will be more likely to continue your exercise habit. Also, you could channel your competitive feelings into your exercise time with your friend.
