by James Kent

Created on: December 23, 2009   Last Updated: December 28, 2009

When you are overweight, you probably want to lose it with the minimum of effort. Therefore, you probably want to go down the lines of losing weight without exercise. The reality is though this can be very difficult. But I certainly understand that gym memberships are expensive and there are other options to lose the excess weight.

Diet is the first thing to look at. It's quite possible to lose some weight by simply watching what you eat. The most important thing here is to eat the right foods at the right times. It's tempting to think starving is a good solution. But in reality it won't work, because if you stop eating your body will start to store fat. So the best thing is to cut out or reduce bad foods and replace them with healthier options. For example cutting down on cakes and desserts will be a positive step. When looking for snacks consider fruit or low fat options.

Now the other thing to do is find a way to burn some calories. when most people think of burning calories they probably think of going to the gym. But there are other options. If you are reading this article then you probably don't want to participate in sport. Therefore, the easiest option is to get out walking. It's easy to do and requires no real equipment. However, it is a good idea to have a pedometer, this will keep track of how far you are walking. Now walking isn't the only option, just pick something you enjoy. But remember the basic rules of eating a balanced diet and aim to be active for 3-5 days each week for at least 30 minutes each session.

In order to stay motivated and reach your goals some targets are a good idea. This may be a ideal weight or the amount of weight you wish to lose within a specified period of time. Generally speaking it's a good idea to be realistic. Start off slowly and gradually build up. Now aside from the weight loss targets it's also good to set some daily step targets, if you are going down the walking route. As a general rule anything above 7000 is good, but as always with these things more is better. However, it's important to do something you can achieve on a regular basis. It's better to do 500 steps every day than 7000 steps twice a week.

If you need some help with this a great website is fitbug.com, which is a membership site with great tips on exercise and diet. They follow this principle of walking step targets and if you sign up, then you will receive a high-tech pedometer with the initial membership. There is plenty of great information on the website and the opportunity to connect with other members aiming to lose weight. One the parts I particular like is the fantasy footfall. Where you can compete with other members to walk the most, I find this motivates me to keep walking.

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