I am sure many people would agree with me on the claim that the biggest issue in losing weight is to keep off the pounds that you have already shed. This issue highlights the flaws in your diet program- you’ve either lost too much weight at a time or you have lost it too soon. This is why it is so important that one must choose a diet program that is simple and easy to follow so that the results are sure and steady, sparing one the heartbreaks and disappointments. Hence the easy weight loss tips for you to follow with simplicity and ease of follow up.
Numerous books and articles have been written on weight loss, offering as much as 100 easy weight loss tips but are they really easy in practicality? I have come up with 10 simple tips on weight loss which are not only common but essential to this regime.
1. Find out the cause for over weight.
First of all, with the help of your doctor and yourself, find out the cause of your weight gain and why you over eat. Let me provide you with my own example. I had put on 14kg in seven months. Somehow I was blaming my recently prescribed anti -depressant for the excess weight gain as I had read so in the literature. When I approached my doctor he suggested I carry out a few blood tests to rule out some thing. Turns out my thyroid function and insulin readings were way out. My insulin was three folds high so it kept cutting my sugar levels and I would rush for some snacks or sugary drinks to bring the level back up.
Quite often over eating is triggered by emotional factors like stress, boredom, loneliness, depression and so on. It will greatly serve weight control if one learns to deal with these emotions without food. To do so one might require the help of licensed counselors or therapist. Chronic or emotional eaters gain significantly by learning new behavioral skills.
2. Exercising to lose weight.
It’s nothing you haven’t been told before but exercise truly is a great determinant in whether or not you will be successful in long term weight reduction. A 30 minute session of easy and rigorous exercise five times a week is the key to weight loss. Research suggests that even 10 minute sessions three time a day amount to a 30 minute session so time should not be the excuse.
3. Weight training
Weight training in itself has significant weight loss benefits other than exercise. The idea behind weight training is simple: while muscle is an active tissue, fat is not. This is why the more muscle tissue you have, the more calories you will burn. Therefore muscle burns a fair amount of calories everyday to maintain itself. So while a simple aerobic activity can help burn calories, the muscles will remain to give your metabolism a significant daily boost even at rest.
4. Maintaining a diary on weight loss activity
Each day try and note down the food you eat and its quantity. Also write down your hunger levels and any other emotional or physical ups and downs. This helps to create self awareness and identifies any emotion or behavior that triggers overeating. Another advantage of maintaining a diary is that as you monitor yourself, it helps you stay focused and committed in achieving your goal.
5. Focus on becoming healthy rather than thin
If you choose to focus on becoming healthy rather than thin, this change of mindset allows you to overcome weight gain more easily. Pay particular attention to what you eat for a healthy body because isn’t that what the whole weight loss regime was about? – How excess weight and obesity leads to health problems? To make it easier it is best to look at the food pyramid in any health book which provides with ideal basic food intake guidelines.
6. Control your portions
Be careful with the amount of food you consume in one sitting. As many dieticians suggest, it always a good idea to either cut down your serving or divide the existing ones into two and save the half for a later meal.
7. Loose weight slowly
Do not set yourself hard targets to be reached in a short period of time. Remember that drastic weight loss only brings back the shed amount as soon as you lose it. Ideally you should aim to lose less than four pounds a week. Try and aim for example, to cut down 250 calories from your meal and burn 250 from exercise at one period. Fat loss is best achieved when weight loss is slow.
8. Eat slowly
If you observe carefully, thin people usually are the ones to eat slowly. It takes twenty minutes from the time you start eating, for the brain to tell you it is full. Hurried meals fill you up faster and more before you realize you are done. Chewing your food slowly not only helps digestion but also spares you from over eating.
9. Eat less fat
We have learnt through research that fats pack in 9 calories per gram while proteins and carbohydrates only give 4 calories per gram. This does not mean that fat free food has no calories. On the contrary some fat free foods have as many calories as their fat counterparts. If you eat more calories than your body uses you will gain weight. So be wise in what you eat.
10. Join a support group
There are many weight loss support groups that you can join to find the encouragement and support that you need. Look up any such clubs or groups to share your experiences with people on a similar front. Even people you meet at a local gym can serve this purpose of giving you that extra push and inspiration.
Hopefully the above mentioned easy weight loss tips should suffice in helping you shape up and staying fit by adopting a healthy and practical lifestyle that you can pursue over a long term. Have a healthy weight loss and enjoy yourself following these most common yet essential and practical weight loss tips.
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