Obesity is a common and costly disease in America. The Center for Disease Control estimates over one third of Americans are obese which is defined as having a BMI of over 25. This third of Americans also cost our healthcare system an additional $147 Billion in 2008.

The best way to lose weight and improve your health is through a combination of diet and increased physical activity which always should be started and managed under a healthcare providers supervision.

Ways to improve your diet

Simplify – Avoid diets that require complicated recipes or including more than 5 ingredients per meal. Remember KISS – Keep It Simple Silly.

Track – Track to a level that provides you feedback on what you are eating. If you are detailed orientated, consider a diet diary app to calculated your daily intake down to the calorie. But if that’s not your style, use a simple tracking system like these so you know if you are having more good eating days or more bad eating days.

Improve basic nutrition – An effective diet will need to restrict your calories by about 10% so eliminate any empty calories first so you don’t notice the reduction.

Ways to improve your physical activity

Make a schedule – And stick to it. One of the biggest challenges in working out is recovering from a missed workout. You are significantly more likely to miss a second and third workout if you miss the first planned workout. From the beginning, make a realistic schedule that fits your daily demands so you can set yourself up for success and positive reinforcement from consistently working out as you planned.

Get a workout buddy – If you are highly social or are motivated by not letting a friend down then consist a workout buddy as they motivate both types of character traits. In addition, a partner can provide peer advice and words of encouragement to keep you on track.

Pick activities you naturally enjoy – While variety is great, consistency is more important. Research has shown that learning a new cardiovascular exercise increases your risk of skipping future workouts while people who pick one favorite workout such as running or spin are more likely to continue working out.

Fighting through mixed results

It’s extremely common to try and to fail a few times. Don’t get discouraged and learn each time from what worked and what didn’t go so well. If you have managed to meet your weight loss goal but still are discouraged by a few ‘trouble spots’ where the fat seems to linger, you are not a lone. There are 3 places that personal trainers report seeing toning problems.

1. Cheeks
   
2. Neck
   
3. Back of Arms
   

The best way to tone all of these classical trouble areas start with improving your diet and increasing your cardiovascular active. However, once you reach a BMI under 25 and still have negative body images of yourself, you may want to find specific ways how to get rid of chubby cheeks or how to lose neck fat. The best specific strategies include adding highly targeted stretches and small movement strengthening exercises. These ultra targeted activities will NOT burn the fat from the specific area but you will be able to tighten the muscles in the trouble area which will help naturally hide the fat with tighter muscles.

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