Obesity has become a leading disease in our world today. This is primarily because of our lifestyle, the food we eat and our physical activities. Being overweight is now a cause of leading diseases like hypertension, type 2 diabetes and sleep apnea, to name a few. There is only one solution to this problem, a healthy weight loss diet plan and change in lifestyle. This may not happen over night or over the week end but a gradual change is a positive sign towards healthy living.

A healthy weight loss diet plan would consist of the 3 basic food groups in their proper proportions, carbohydrates, protein and fats, supplemented by vitamins and minerals that are found in vegetables and fresh fruits. Carbohydrates should be in the form of unrefined wheat or whole grain products like whole grain bread, brown rice and oats. The healthy weight loss diet plan includes protein because protein builds and repairs muscle tissues in our body. Healthy fat helps in building and repairing tissues, and absorption of vitamins and minerals that is important in a healthy weight loss diet plan.

Quick weight loss programs that rely on elimination or restriction of one or two of the basic food groups are bound for disastrous results. Quick weight loss programs like the pineapple diet or cabbage diet may promise quick results but cannot be sustained by the body because to keep our body functioning properly we need these basic food groups. These quick weight loss programs do not eliminate fat properly and may decrease our muscle mass thus making our metabolism slow down to cope with the loss. We all know that the faster our metabolism is the more we eliminate fat.

A healthy weight loss diet plan does not end with a balance diet, it’s just the beginning. To burn the excess fat in the body, you need to exercise. Exercise not only burn fat but develops the muscles and this in turn makes our metabolism go faster and make us burn fat even we are at rest. The healthy weight loss diet plan exercise for beginners, walking is the best exercise, leisure sports and activities like golf or hiking are recommended. It is important to note that a healthy weight loss diet plan does not happen overnight. It is like building a brick wall where we stack the bricks until we get the height and the width that we want for the wall. After a month or two of moderate exercise, you may want to step up the phase either including weight training in your regiment, Pilates, yoga or tai chi, changing your walking phase from moderate walking to power walking, step exercise, spin cycling or running. Leisure sports and activities that are appropriate for this stage are biking, tennis, wall or mountain climbing, and aerobic dancing. The key in exercising in a healthy weight loss diet plan whether moderate or advanced is variety. Spicing up your exercise routine with sports or leisure activities keeps your body from compensating and learning a particular routine to save energy. And it’s more fun that way. A quick weight loss program will never sustain the energy level you need to burn fat in the above mentioned activities.

One important factor in a healthy weight loss diet plan is water. Drinking at least 8 to 12 in an 8 oz. glass of water is a must. Water aids in digestion, flashes out toxins and drinking before a meal suppresses the appetite. We can survive without food for a week but we can’t survive without water for a day or two. The healthy and quick weight loss diet plan considers the importance of hydrating with water because it keeps our bodily functions running smoothly.