Weight loss can be a slippery slope. Furthermore, it’s a process which is not the same for all people. Nowadays, people usually tend to look for quick fixes or faster ways of losing as much weight as possible. Although these trendy diets may work in the short term, they’ll never result in the final goal of losing weight and then keeping it off.
The plain truth is, there are no bad foods which should be eliminated from one’s diet, nor are there any kinds of miracle foods which will magically make a person to lose weight. So what’s the secret to losing weight and keeping it off forever?
1. CHEW SLOWLY
One of the fastest and easiest ways to help the hunger woes is actually going slowly. Slow down and slowly chew your meals. If you find yourself scarfing down your meal like a homeless dog behind a butchery, take a step backward and become aware of the eating experience. Take it slow.
This helps you in 2 ways. It normally takes the brain about 20 minutes to completely receive the message showing that the stomach is actually filling with food. The longer one eats the greater chances that the brain will get the signal and accept that you are actually getting full. Secondly, when you’re able to double the number of chews for every bite of food, you’ll find that you enjoy your food more and also become more satiated.
2. DRINK WATER BEFORE EATING A MEAL
Here’s another instant hack. Adopting the practices of drinking a glass full of water (8 ounces or so) prior to every meal is a way of telling your gut to eat less. Water literally fills your stomach’s empty space thus creating a feeling of fullness and coaxing your brain to think that a big meal is off your menu. This is a great way of perceiving small meals while dieting enough to fill yourself.
3. THINK PROTEIN FIRST
It’s difficult to weigh and measure everything you eat (in case you’re the type of person who likes keeping track of every morsel and calorie of food) and even more difficult when you’re out at an event or dinner with your friends.
When choosing the menu items, just put proteins at the forefront. Veggies and steak, rice and fish or other combination will work well for you. Heavy pasta plates and carb-laden dishes will throw you off the wagon faster.
4. EAT WHEN HUNGRY
Meal times, calorie counting and food journals all have their places in an effective meal plan but you should never feel obligated to take food when you’re simply not hungry. Human bodies flow when it comes to hunger, metabolism and moods energy levels. Do not put pressure on yourself to eat a particular meal of a given amount at specific times of day. Listen to the body’s signals and then act accordingly.
5. FAST WHEN IN A BIND
Whenever you find you are outside of your normal eating comfort zone do you just eat whatever? Do you just give yourself the green light to overindulge? You should fight the urge!
If it’s just a temporary situation (long drive or traveling), the best thing for you to do is drinking plenty of water and then fast. Fasting for short periods of time when the only options are the bad kinds of food, keeps you on track in the long run. Simply wait until you find the healthier choices. You will definitely thank yourself later.
6. CARB UP AROUND TRAINING
Another good rule to abide by is consuming most of your carbohydrates around your training sessions. Doing this ensures that most of the food energy will be used as fuel during training. Moderate amounts of complex carbohydrates bookending your workouts sessions not only gives you the much needed boost for training but also keeps your metabolism in constant check during the low carb times.
7. WHEN IN DOUBT, EAT FATS
After your proteins are determined, you should focus next on the healthy fats. Fats are not only beneficial for hair, nail and heart health but they are also responsible for fat metabolism, energy production and hormone regulation that spell good news for your fat loss programs. Just remember not to go overboard since fats contain over two times as many calories per every gram as compared to protein and carbohydrates.
8. CHEAT OPENLY
There may be days where you find your body is requiring more calories than you usually do. As with the above, taking into account hunger, metabolic and moods changes throughout the week, one will most likely feel an internal need for extra calories at times than normal.
Cheating once or even twice per week is advisable when dieting given the fact that your body metabolism takes a beating and it will eventually slow down to conserve energy. Consuming a surplus of calories can alleviate the speed bump and enable you to get your fat burning furnaces firing again.
9. EAT BEFORE GOING OUT
A major pitfall for many dieters is the dreaded arrays of party foods during the holidays, office events and birthdays. Fat-laden foods and sugar are displayed at an arm’s length in the perfect bite-sized portions for all to easily enjoy.
Eat proteins and healthy fat-rich meals prior to any event. Having some healthy foods in your tummy when you encounter all the sugary sweets and junk food will help. You will be able to indulge a little but have limits.
10. PRE-PLAN
If you know that you’ll be away from the healthy food choices for a considerable length of time, you should plan ahead. This seems like a no-brainer but how many people actually put this into practice? Taking healthy snacks like nuts, protein bars and beef jerky can potentially be what you require to stay on the right path. Just like the saying goes, there’s no such thing as a rainy day when one remembers to carry his umbrella.
11. GREEN IS FREE
Learning to be friends with green vegetables gives you an unfair advantage over your quest. Green (especially leafy) vegetables are virtually considered to be free foods in regard to the overall picture of your meal. Load up on these! They are filling, fibrous and also offer a number of great benefits to the overall health.
12. EAT REAL FOOD
Supplements like protein powders, meal replacement bars and amino acids all have their places for convenience but under normal circumstances, real foods are still the best option. Fish, meat, eggs, chicken, turkey, vegetables, whole grains, fruits, natural oils and nuts are foods that are filling and familiar to the body. Supplements are just meant to supplement your already existing foods.
You can actually shed weight faster depending on how much you intend to lose and how focused you remain. Patience is a very important part of a successful weight-loss formula. The pounds did not get packed on overnight. As a result, it will take some time to establish healthy eating and exercise habits to lose weight.
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