‘I am doing this for myself’ is undoubtedly a powerful mantra and keeps you going till you shed those annoying extra pounds from your body. Honestly speaking, there is no magic behind weight loss. It involves commitment from day one. Although exercise and diet are two primary keys to wellness, there are a few other important aspects to consider especially when you wish to get your body in proper shape. Research has shown time and again that psychology also plays a crucial role in the success and failure of weight loss attempt. Losing minimum 10% of your current weight can make a difference in the way you feel every day.
So STOP munching your favourite French fries in the couch and add some beneficial components to the weight loss goals.
The must-to-do tips to lose weight
Positivity is the mental muscle and key to long term weight management:
Think about what you gain from losing weight rather than when you give up. As soon as you experience improved health, better social life, and enhanced self-confidence when you lose weight, you will find yourself flying up in the sky like a bird. Positivity should be especially shown in the way you diet and exercise and lead your daily life.
When it comes to diet, you may think you are eating right, but we are not consistent as we think. The secret is- eat less food more often. Stick to lean proteins, fiber, vegetables, fruits healthy fats and carbs to keep you full, build muscle and stabilize blood sugar. 5 to 6 meals a day is perfect to keep your body nourished. Keep a track of what you eat; consult the online diet communities or a dietician who can instruct you to eat the right kind of food according to your body type. But what should you do when you get an unbearable craving for sweets. Try those high-flavoured, not-so sweet pickles or green pepper. Trust me, these can ‘re-set’ your carvings for sweets.
Diet alone cannot fight your excessive body weight. Workout is a mandatory aspect. Metabolism is the amount of energy your body burns to carry vital body functions. The speed at which this process happens is called Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). If you have a naturally fast BMR, your body will burn food at an amazing speed and transform fat into lean muscle. And exercise is the best way to boost your metabolism. It is important to know your body BMR to keep your weight in check. You should know how much kilojoules you should eat a day to maintain your body weight.
Find better friends to socialize and hang out who help you to stay away from smoking, drinking alcohol and indulge in other unhealthy practices.
What you believe is ‘HEALTHY’ may not be true always:
‘No fat’, ‘Low carb’, or ‘zero trans-fat’ often do no tell you about how much calories you are consuming in a day. Counting your CALORIE is significant to weight loss strategy. The thumb rule according to Professor Marion Nestle at New York University is- check the calories per servings and then check the serving size. You may sometimes find that that once you match the product’s serving size to what you had actually eaten; the calories might be sizeably higher. You may not be aware of it but intake of sugar-sweetened soft drinks for more than a week can add upto 358 daily calories and put on an average of 10 pounds. Whether it’s chocolate, ice-cream, pastries, fried foods, chips, iced tea, cold coffee, they are deceptively high calorie foodstuffs. Cutting calories is not difficult. It can be as simple as
Swapping high calories food with low calories option
Skipping one extra high-calorie indulgence a day
Virtually everyone has cravings but the one who is serious about her body weight will keep the portions reasonable or completely keep it off. So what’s your plan?
Sleep and reduced stress- the two mechanisms behind weight loss:
As we know sound sleep is good for emotional tolerance and memory but did we know how it controls our body weight? I am sure most of us are not aware of it. A good night sleep keeps our body’s hunger hormone Ghrelin lower and the satiety hormone leptin high for 24 hour period. However, inadequate sleep make you overeat the next day to keep you energized and cause chronic stress. Tension alters the stress hormone such as adrenaline, cortisol and corticotrophin that increase your appetite and encourage your to store more fat.
Seven to eight hours of sleep is a must to get you going for the rest of the day. Most importantly, whenever you are stressed, listen to your favourite music or talk to your favourite person instead of grabbing your favourite food. Also you can practice a few breaths which relieve stress and anxiety, low energy, lower stress hormone levels, calms the nerve lessen the muscle tension. Get in touch with a health expert and learn the breathing tricks to reduce stress from your life.
The optional weight loss tips you can benefit from
Do not find excuses to eat:
Your cousin’s bachelor’s party, your son’s first class rank in graduation, your best friend’s birthday are some of the ball games. And what’s a ball game with a burger? If you are sincere to your weight loss diet chart, do not find excuses to overeat.
Be realistic in your goal:
It is natural that most of us want to lose a lot of weight. And when we are unable to do that, we jump back to the fried foods. Unrealistic expectation is the biggest obstacles to losing weight. Make a realistic plan that is achievable progressively and obviously not in one day.
Do not listen to the TV but to your body:
Many of us have the tendency to keep eating until their TV show is over. Also some people continue to eat until almost everyone at the table is finished. Rely on the internal message of feeling full no matter when the TV show is getting over or who is still not finished eating. Keep the salad bowl and veggies ready in front of you.
Take stairs to reach your goal:
As you spend eight hours of your day sitting at your desks at work, why not try taking the stairs instead of the office lift. Additionally, try some more tricks like park your car away, stand up when on a conference call or walk to your colleague’s desk instead of using emails.
Try out acupuncture:
Stomach acupuncture that addresses the specific location to control appetite is quite effective to suppress your hunger pangs. Help yourself with acupuncture and stick to a healthy eating regime.