In order to lose weight and feel better, you need to develop two new habits: eat healthy and exercise daily. Habits are learned over time after repeated efforts. The tips included in this article are all simple things that are well within your reach. You can easily turn each one of these pointers into a new healthy habit for life.
Packing a lunch will keep you from packing on those pounds. Take some time in the evening or the morning before work, to put together a healthy lunch to take to work with you. Bringing in your own lunch will keep you from falling prey to the high calorie items that you will end up with, at your local drive thru.
You may be tempted, when trying to lose weight, to cut fat out entirely. But it’s important to remember that fat has a high satiety value in foods, so a little will go a long way. Case in point: baked potato chips may have no fat, but because of that, they don’t trigger your satiety level as quickly as regular or even the “fat-free” Olestra chips do. So, you’re tempted to eat the whole bag. Better, for example, to eat a small amount of high-quality, high-fat food – let’s say, a small high-end dark chocolate bar – then to gorge on large quantities of low- or non-fat foods. You’ll be more satisfied without having to say “No” to treats.
Make sure to reward yourself! If you have a craving for something, it is okay to give in to it occasionally. If you don’t, you may over-indulge on other snacks. Giving yourself a treat is not sabotage. It is actually a benefit to keeping your diet on track. Just don’t go overboard!
For some people, at some times, a low-carb diet may really be the answer, at least in the beginning. The reason low-carb diets work is that your body normally uses carbs as a first fuel. When you give your body no carbs (the “induction” phase of most low-carb diets), your body needs to use something for fuel, and so turns to burning your own fat. These diets have proven very successful for many people, but should be undertaken with care as people do need some carbs in their diet. Most low-carb diets nowadays move from an induction phase into a much healthier maintenance phase, where “smart carbs” (high-fiber, lower-calorie choices) are reintroduced.
A practice that will help one lose weight is to replace time spent watching television or movies with time doing physical activities. By exercising in some way as opposed to sitting in a couch or chair will translate into more calories being burned and more healthy activity during time that would have been spent sitting.
If you are trying to lose weight, use the Internet! Sure, you can learn about diets online but it’s even better if you join an online weight-loss community or forum. Diet forums can help you stay motivated and offer you the opportunity to help others by sharing your own experiences. There’s an online community for nearly every diet.
Sometimes people will eat when they are not hungry, and this easily packs on the pounds. One trick to stop this from happening is to brush your teeth with a minty toothpaste. The mint flavor will make you not want to eat anymore, and you will end up losing weight.
You must give your permission to break the rules once a day so that your weight-loss plans don’t feel like a jail sentence. One way to do this is to allow yourself one small, indulgent treat per day. Depending on what you crave, this may be a small piece of rich cheese, nuts, chocolate or some other small treat that will make you feel you’ve “earned” it by being virtuous the rest of the day. The key, of course, is to do it only once a day.
When trying to lose weight, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to go into this journey with a friend. Have a support system that you can lean on when you are getting discouraged. Having someone who is going through it at the same time is so helpful, and you can also learn some new tips.
To encourage yourself to stay focused on your weight loss goals, give yourself non-food rewards. After reaching a goal, you could treat yourself to a spa trip or a new piece of jewelry. People often use their success as a reason to break their diet. Giving yourself a reward that isn’t food can keep you feeling positive and help you to resist future temptations.
These tips are a helpful guideline to get you started on the road to making new, healthy lifelong habits. Making permanent small changes like these is the key to losing weight and keeping it off. Decide today to start following these tips, and work your way to a happier, healthier life.