Due to the quick-paced lifestyles practiced by most people today and the up-sized meal culture, it has become very challenging to lose weight and to keep it off. If you are like most people who have tried to lose weight and failed, you may have lost faith in the effectiveness of diets for yourself. Perhaps you are right about the ineffectiveness of traditional diets, particularly in the long run. There are however, several other very effective techniques that you can use to lose weight, make sensible eating choices and establish a healthy association with what you eat.
Get started with the right choices
There is no magic solution for everyone to lose weight permanently. However, there are a few guidelines that can help nearly everyone. Instead of looking for a short-term diet, think about a permanent change in your food choices and lifestyle. For consistency in your efforts, find a support group, which could be friends or family, or a structured weight watchers program. Set short-term objectives, such as losing one or two pounds per week. This will make your weight loss process healthy and not drain your body of muscle and water. Maintain a journal to keep track of what you eat and every pound or inch that you lose. The key is to find the system that works for you and staying committed to it.
Avoid common hazards
Commercial and quick-fix diet plans generally fail as you feel deprived when complete food groups are eliminated in these programs. Completely cutting out carbs or fats from your food intake is unhealthy, as it creates a nutritional imbalance. Diets that require eating pre-prepared foods can work for a while, but maintaining the same weight becomes impossible as soon as you get off the plan. When you reduce your food intake drastically during the diet plan, your body's metabolism slows down temporarily and bounces back as soon as you start eating normally, therefore, you may gain weight more rapidly after the diet.
Use your determination to stop emotional eating
Many of us eat more for stress relief and comfort, than due to hunger. Comfort foods are generally ones with high calorie count, resulting in more pounds. Understand the hazards of emotional eating and learn to stop yourself. Identify the triggers that cause you to overeat and stock up with healthy foods for such situations. Some people eat more when they watch tv while eating, when bored or stressed, or even to celebrate. Now gradually change your eating strategies for these situations. Make a list of things to do when you are on the verge of an emotional eating scenario. You could take a relaxing bath, go for a walk, listen to music or even take a nap to relieve stress.
Think about what you eat
Most people eat mindlessly while working, on the run, or while watching TV. We end up eating more food than we need to. The irony is that we don't actually enjoy the food very much, since we aren't attentive towards it. Deal with this by actively being attentive towards what you eat. Choose healthy foods that you can enjoy eating and get pleasure from each bite. You will lose weight and have more success in maintaining it simply by being aware of what you eat. Avoid watching TV, working, using your phone or computer, or even driving while eating. Take smaller bites and chew longer, savoring each texture and smell. Eat smaller portions at each meal and increase the frequency to five meals a day.
Adopt a healthy lifestyle
Insufficient sleep causes exhaustion, which impairs judgment and results in poor choices. Get sufficient sleep, approximately eight hours at night. You will burn more calories while sleeping instead of watching television. Get some kind of exercise routine into your routine. You could go for walks with a friend, jog with your favorite music, do simple exercises at home, get an exercise video or register at a gym. Make smart calorie burning choices such as using the staircase instead of the elevator or walking to the nearby grocery store. Drink less of alcohol, soda or coffee and more of water. Water helps in food digestion and curbs hunger too. These healthy lifestyle choices will help you in losing weight and keeping it off.
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