Healthy Weight: It's Not a Diet, It's a Lifestyle

  • When it comes to weight loss, there's no lack of fad diets promising fast results. But such diets limit your nutritional intake, can be unhealthy, and tend to fail in the long run.

    The key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight isn't about short-term dietary changes. It's about a lifestyle that includes healthy eating, regular physical activity, and balancing the number of calories you consume with the number of calories your body uses.

    Staying in control of your weight contributes to good health now and as you age.

    Healthy Eating for a Healthy Weight

    A healthy lifestyle involves many choices. Among them, choosing a balanced diet or eating plan. So how do you choose a healthy eating plan? Let's begin by defining what a healthy eating plan is.
    According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a healthy eating plan:
    • Emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products
    • Includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts
    • Is low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars
    • Stays within your daily calorie needs

    Physical Activity for a Healthy Weight

    Regular physical activity is important for good health, and it's especially important if you're trying to lose weight or to maintain a healthy weight.
    • When losing weight, more physical activity increases the number of calories your body uses for energy or "burns off." The burning of calories through physical activity, combined with reducing the number of calories you eat, creates a "calorie deficit" that results in weight loss.
    • Most weight loss occurs because of decreased caloric intake. However, evidence shows the only way to maintain weight loss is to be engaged in regular physical activity.
    • Most importantly, physical activity reduces risks of cardiovascular disease and diabetes beyond that produced by weight reduction alone.
    Physical activity also helps to:
    • Maintain weight.
    • Reduce high blood pressure.
    • Reduce risk for type 2 diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and several forms of cancer.
    • Reduce arthritis pain and associated disability.
    • Reduce risk for osteoporosis and falls.
    • Reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.
    • Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention