Weight Loss: How to adapt your diet to suit your lifestyle

Carbohydrates, fats and proteins may be referred to as macronutrients - the human body requires them in large quantities - but the excessive consumption of any or all of these essential nutrients can quickly lead to additional weight gain if we fail to eat in accordance to our lifestyle and level of physical activity.

Although basic bodily functions such as breathing, keeping warm and maintaining a beating heart all rely on energy (calories) in order to function effectively and efficiently, paying additional attention to specific aspects of our lifestyle will not only allow us to adapt what goes into our mouth, but ensure that a healthy weight and body shape is maintained.

For example, a physically active person participating in regular exercise of a moderate to intense nature will expend more energy (calories) in comparison to an individual leading a sedentary lifestyle of little to no exercise.
Therefore, the inactive individual has an increased risk of excess weight gain should he or she fail to adapt their total caloric intake, macronutrients and portion sizes to suit their lifestyle due to the fact their body is only burning energy via maintaining basic bodily functions, as opposed to via maintaining basic bodily functions, sustaining a physically active lifestyle and participating in physical activity on a regular basis - all of which lead to increased energy expenditure and the body requiring more energy (calories) to survive, sustain physical activity and avoid excess weight loss.

By analysing our lifestyle, we are far more likely to determine the exact amount of energy our body requires in order to lose, gain or maintain a healthy weight i.e. the more that we move, the more our risk of gaining additional weight is reduced due to our body successfully burning the excess energy destined to be stored as fat should we fail to use and burn it by remaining physically active.

Much to contrary belief, the ability to maintain a healthy weight and/or sustain a successful weight loss programme isn't based on strict and strategic diet plans and fitness regimes, it stems from common sense, moving more, eating in accordance to our lifestyle and our ability to listen to our body on both a physical and psychological scale. Once these simple skills have been mastered, you'll be surprised at how easy a healthy diet, weight and lifestyle are maintain.