If you are struggling with your weight, you’ve probably heard time and again that you need to lose the excess weight, in order to benefit your health. This doesn’t have to be impossible, however. Losing weight and becoming healthier, can be eased with the use of some of these helpful tips.
Two fantastic words for weight loss: eat salad. Not exciting enough? Research by Joel Fuhrman of “Eat to Live” shows that the most overweight people can lose prodigious amounts of weight eating prodigious amounts of nutrient-rich, low-calorie food. One key is simplicity: try an entire head of romaine, chopped very fine (the water method in the blender is useful), and topped with an entire can of chili beans. It’s a tasty, 300-calorie lunch that is jam-packed with fiber, protein, and vitamins. It will keep you full for hours, not to mention what it will do for your intestinal health.
A great way to lose weight is to join an organization like Jenny Craig. You can find help and support there, as well as resources like meals you can get at your home. If you can afford it, a diet center like this is a great investment.
When you want to have a snack or are eating a meal, make sure you sit at the table to eat. Sitting down to eat helps you avoid “mindless eating” while losing weight so you can avoid eating more than you planned. Eating at the table also helps you control portions.
A healthy diet for weight loss includes plenty of helpful protein. Protein provides excellent nutrition – fuel for fat-burning. It also takes the place of unhealthy carbohydrates in the diet, reducing cravings for junk food. Many sources of protein carry less-healthy ingredients like fat and carbs. Minimize the effects of these undesirable additions by sticking to protein from lean meat.
Try to cook at home as much as possible. Food from a restaurant often contains a lot of fat and salt. Also, restaurant portions are huge, which might tempt you to eat more than you really need. When you cook your own food, you can control exactly what goes into your meal, and you can control your portions.
Start your dinner with a salad or broth based soup. This will help fill you up and reduce the chance that you overeat. Do not overload the salad with dressing, cheese or meat. Try to choose a lower sodium soup as well. If you do this consistently you will be more successful with your weight loss.
Purchasing a pedometer can help you lose weight. A pedometer measures how many steps you take a day, allowing you to calculate the distance traveled. Wearing a pedometer can serve as a reminder to walk and exercise more too.
Processed food is something that you want to avoid like the plague when you are on a diet. Not only is this food very high in calories and fat, even in smaller servings, but it’s usually also loaded with simple carbohydrates that burn up extremely fast and cause your body to store the excess calories as body fat.
Yoga is essential in calming your body so that you are less stressed during the day. High levels of stress can hurt your body and can prevent the natural breakdown of certain foods, hurting your ability to lose weight. Do yoga once a day to improve your weight loss regimen.
If you are afraid that your legendary sweet tooth will get the best of you and your healthy eating plan, allow yourself to indulge in a small serving of dark chocolate. In addition to being highly delicious, dark chocolate is also filled with healthy things like antioxidants and flavonoids. Plus, dark chocolate is especially rich and many people find that even it is immensely satisfying, even in small amounts.
Just because there is food on your plate does not mean that you should keep eating. As soon as you feel your body is full you need to get up from the table. If you are in a restaurant then you should ask to have your food wrapped so you can take it home.
Many people experience difficulty losing weight because they aren’t aware of appropriate serving and portion sizes for their favorite foods. As you map out your meals for the upcoming week as part of a weight-loss diet, consult a nutritionist or online source to get a good feel for what the recommended portion size actually looks like. You may be surprised to find out exactly how much you SHOULD be serving and eating.
When you are dieting, it is important to take a long-term view of the process. This includes having mercy on yourself if you fail or “cheat” on the diet. If you feel the need to treat yourself, that is perfectly acceptable every once in a while. Remember that you are striving to create long-lasting habits of taking better care of yourself. A healthy mind and a happy attitude are just as necessary to weight loss as pulverizing exercise.
It can be harder to get fruits during winter. Don’t forget that high quality fruit and vegetable juices and drinks, frozen, canned or dried fruits also count. Be careful though when you buy fruit in sweetened syrup, as they usually have high sugar content. Eating whole fruits are healthier as they contain not only vitamins, but fiber too.
Bringing your weight down to a healthy range is one of the most important things you can do to improve your overall health and extend your lifespan. By following the advice given in this article, you’ll be ready to make the necessary changes and lose the extra weight that you’ve been carrying around.
