5 Easy Tips to Lose Weight
Gaining excess weight and realizing the health implications
is not always the easiest thing to do. And taking it off may seem like an
impossible job and a painful undertaking. But losing weight doesn’t have to be
an exercise in denial. All it takes is a few targeted lifestyle changes that
you practice consistently until they become habits.
1.
Practice mindfulness
Are you on autopilot and wolf down your food when you eat? Then
before you know it, your plate is empty and you aren’t sure what or how much
you have eaten?
Learning how to maintain a healthy weight really starts with
getting attune with your body. Do you know what you feel like when you are
truly in need of food and how you feel when you have had enough to eat? All too
often we eat based off of cues, like when we see a television commercial for
pizza and then we just have to have
it for dinner. Or maybe the cue is a place, like being in the mall where there
is a food court, or an activity like the movies with the concession stands.
If you want to lose weight, practice slowing down at meals
and being mindful of where you eat, what you eat, and how much you eat. A good
trick is to set a timer for 20 minutes and see if you can stretch out your meal
until it goes off. It takes the signals in your stomach about 20 minutes to
reach your brain to register that you have eaten enough. And while you are at
it, leave a few bites on your plate and practice eating until satisfied and not
stuffed.
2.
Add, don’t subtract
When it comes to losing weight, adding foods in may sound
counterintuitive, but not if you are adding in the right types of foods. Most
vegetables and fruits are high in water and fiber and they fill you up without
adding in a lot of calories. Try starting your next meal with a bowl of a broth
based soup or a nice big salad (watch the dressing) and see if you eat less
during the meal. Snap peas and carrots are great crunchy snacks and fresh
cherries make a great swap for chocolates.
Deprivation never works, so work on adding in a few more
servings of fruits and vegetables to your day. Choose foods that are low in calories
but high in nutrients. You’ll be filling your plate with more food but eating
less calories. Think of it as more bang for your buck.
3.
Eat at home more
Sure you are tired after a long day of work and picking up
dinner by going through the drive through sounds appealing, but cooking doesn’t
have to be complicated or take a lot of time. Do some menu planning, grocery
shopping, and food prep on the weekends. Have a dinner plan in your mind when
you walk in the door after work at home. Not only will you save yourself a lot
of calories and unwanted ingredients by avoiding fast food but you will
actually burn calories making the meal! A 140-pound woman burns an average of
100 calories when cooking for 30 minutes. Cutting just 100 calories a day for a
year results in an average 10 pound weight loss!
4.
Practice using the Plate Method for meal planning
Are your meals balanced? Are you carbohydrate heavy and a
little too low in the vegetable department? Or does meat take center stage. One
way to control hunger and keep your energy up is to be certain that each of
your meals is balanced. Include a portion of lean protein, vegetables and/or
fruit, and if you need the calories some complex carbohydrates like brown rice
or a sweet potato. Too many people eat meals that are mainly carbohydrates and
end up hungry in an hour and reaching for junk food. Think balance and see if
you can tweak your meals and snacks so that each one has some lean protein, a
fruit or a vegetable, and a small portion of complex carbohydrates.
5.
Size matters
Eating less without feeling deprived is as close as your
dinnerware. If you serve less food on a big plate you are left craving more,
whereas a smaller plate gives the visual that you have more. It is an optical illusion
but one that you can work to your advantage. The same idea applies to bowls,
cups, glasses and silverware. Use smaller dishes for all of your meals and
snacks, but load them up with nutrient dense low calorie foods.
The majority of overweight Americans have no idea how risky carrying
around a few extra pounds is, and how it increases their chances for developing
a number of chronic diseases. Losing weight can seem daunting but it doesn’t
have to be that way. Think in terms of strategies that you can start practicing
as part of your routine and turn them into habits. Everyone deserves to look
good and feel great so give these tips a try and see how easy eating healthy
can be.
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