At the end of November, a new trend has emerged – everybody wants to lose weight. Obviously, the fall was a “dietary” season for few, and most of us packed on some extra pounds. And now everybody is worried about how to get rid of them fast. Do I have to fast? What diet is more effective? How should I start dieting?
Let’s start with the core point: you can either lose weight fast, or for long. This is well-known fact that quickly lost pounds come back on soon. Set achievable goals for yourself. Instead of losing fabulous 60 pounds till Christmas, aim at 3-4 pounds a month. Does it seem too slow for your? But that’s for sure!
Now about diets. The right diet is that you can maintain, if not for the rest of your life, but for a long time. Express diet plans or fasting will do you no good. They do bring immediate results but slow down your metabolism, therefore you regain your lost pounds later, and what’s worse, even more than those!
So what’s there to be done? Here is the point, change your eating habits.
Starting Diet Log
It may sound boring but it’s the right thing to do. The main reason for gaining extra weight is our bad eating habits. To find out what’s wrong you need to record everything you eat during the day in your secret log. Then, scrutinize your records.
Dieting statistics: Who manages to lose weight by dieting?
Only 18 percent of those dieting are successful at their weight loss efforts. 25 percent hold on a maximum of one month, 10 percent – two months. The majority drops dieting even earlier. Instead of weight loss, they end up gaining more weight, with 40 percent of women and 20 percent of men who were through with dieting having to see a doctor.
Checking Nutrition Facts
Shop for foods consciously – you eat what you buy. Don’t trust your old habits and advertising. Check nutrition facts on labels.
Changing Everyday Eating Habits
It is our everyday eating habits, not overeating at holidays that impact our weight. Your diet log tells you where you should go. Just make sure you don’t change this drastically, it’s supposed to be a gradual process.
Cutting Down On Fats
By doing this, you can ensure your diet is lower in calories. High fat foods include sausages, hotdogs, cakes, cookies, chips, chocolate, and foods with concealed fats. Important! Never should you totally exclude fats from your diet! Recommended amount is 35 to 45 grams per day.
No Fasting
Otherwise you’ll be frustrated. Include more vegetables, fruit and berries in your diet. These make you feel full without adding extra fats and calories.
Using Plate Model
Plate model is an effective method to control the portions of various foods in your menu. Cover half of your plate with vegetables, then fill one quarter with protein-rich food (meat, fish, beans, eggs) and reserve the other quarter for complex carbohydrates (cereals, potato, brown rice, hard wheat pasta, whole grain bread).
Monitoring “Liquid” Calories
Drink water at lunch, instead of sodas and packaged juices. These don’t make us feel full, but sugar in sweetened beverages provides us with calories that convert into extra pounds.
Don’t Rush Weight Loss
You should lose no more than one pound within a week. Otherwise you will be losing your muscles instead of fat. Also, instead of totally abstaining from sweets, you’d better confine yourself to smaller portions. Then, you won’t have that urge to overeat them after long abstaining.
Conscious Weight Loss
Losing weight is not only about learning how to manage your energy balance. The bigger part of the process is purely psychological. Your goal is to alter your lifestyle and you should be aware this will bring about discomfort. Don’t be afraid of breaking your routines and going beyond the territory of your comfort.
More Physical Activity
Losing weight means being more physically active. The simplest way to do this is to walk more. Count how many steps you take everyday. You can use a pedometer. Walk past the nearest bus station and go towards the next one. Climb stairs instead of taking elevator. These, at first sight, minor things are great for losing weight.
Five Tips for Beginners
- Your meals should be tasty. Chose the foods you like. Don’t press yourself to eat broccoli if you hate it.
- You should eat well. You don’t want finish your meal feeling hungry in hope to see a pleasing scale reading. It’s of no benefit if you are hungry all the time.
- Eat on time. Follow your eating schedule. Have 3, 4, 5, or 6 meals a day, but regularly.
- Indulge yourself in sweets. Life would be incomplete without our little joys. 80 to 90 percent of food you eat should be healthy and the rest is up to you.
- Eat with gusto. No pricks of conscience and self-hatred!
Source of the image: sxc.hu/profile/Genkaku.
