When Fat Is Your Enemy — 7 Weight Loss Weapons

You Can Use Now For A Healthy Diet

If you’re the type of person who only has to look at a chocolate cake to put on an extra five pounds, then I sincerely hope that the following will help you win your battle with the weight loss demon.

I don’t have a problem with my weight (at the moment) but some of my family and friends seem to be permanently on a diet. They long to be thinner and enjoy the health benefits that losing excess pounds — from the right places — will bring.

“Your weight is a kind of balancing act. And the logic is simple. If you eat more calories than you burn off through physical activity, then you will put on weight. But if you eat fewer calories than you burn off, then you will lose weight.”

Such words of wisdom, from my local doctor, are indisputable, but it all sounds too easy.

According to the experts, we make weight loss much more difficult than it needs to be with extreme diets that leave us irritable and hungry. And we often make unhealthy lifestyle choices that sabotage our dieting efforts and adopt emotional eating habits that stop us from making any actual progress.

But my doctor assured me that there was a better way. You can lose weight without feeling down in the dumps.

By making intelligent choices every day, you can adopt new eating habits and preferences that will leave you feeling satisfied and keep your emotions on an even keel.

While there is no guaranteed panacea to permanent healthy weight loss, the following tips, given to me by my doctor friend, might help some of us get off to a positive start.

Weight loss weapon #1: Sidestep these common traps

Some diets, especially the faddish types, the ‘quick fix’ pills and plans, often set you up for certain failure. This is because of all or some of the following ‘side effects.’

• You feel deprived. Some diet plans often prohibit entire food groups, which is impractical and often unhealthy.
• You may lose weight, but it quickly returns. Some dietary plans might work in the short term, but they don’t offer a solution to maintaining your chosen weight.
• At the end of your dieting program, you will often put on weight more quickly.
• If you break your diet, you feel disappointed and discouraged to try again.
• You lose money faster than you lose weight because of the expense of that special diet program.
• You feel lost when dining out at what to choose to eat.
• You cannot lose weight as promised by the diet advertisement and you become disillusioned.

Weight loss weapon #2: No more emotional eating.

Some people will turn to food for comfort and stress relief. When this happens, their weight increases. So recognizing your emotional eating triggers can be a valuable insight into your eating habits.

If you eat when you’re stressed, try to find some alternative method of calming yourself down. Gentle exercise, yoga or meditation might help.

If you snack when lonely or bored, then try to contact and mix with other people. Go for a walk to the local park or shopping center — anywhere that you can be with other people.

Weight loss weapon #3: Be mindful when you eat.

Our fast-paced lifestyles often cause us to eat on the run, consuming food that we don’t really need, often without realizing it.

Get into the habit of ‘mindful’ eating: slow down, pay attention to what you eat, try to savor each mouthful and choose nourishing foods.

Weight loss weapon #4: If you feel hungry then fill up with fruit, fiber and vegetables.

Remember, if you eat fewer calories than you burn off, then you will lose weight. But that doesn’t mean that you should eat less food. It’s the choice of foods that is important.

High-fiber foods will make you feel full and they take longer to digest, so that ‘full feeling’ will last longer.

So channel your cravings to such foods.

Examples are fruit, vegetables, beans and whole grain items such as high fiber cereals, brown rice, oatmeal, whole-wheat pasta and whole-wheat or multigrain bread.

Weight loss weapon #5: Sometimes you’re allowed to treat yourself without overindulging.

If you think of some foods as “banned” from your meals, then you will give in and fall to temptation. So agree with yourself that you can still eat such foods, but in moderation and only occasionally.

A diet that places all of your favorite foods on the “banned” list won’t work in the long run. Eventually, it will be too much of a temptation not to indulge yourself and usually it will become an over indulgence.

Weight loss weapon #6: Create a managed food environment

Think carefully about your food environment; the food available, when you eat and how much. Take complete control.

Try to eat early in the day. Studies have shown that consuming more of your daily calories at breakfast and fewer at dinner can help you lose weight faster.

And aim to serve yourself smaller portions. A psychological trick you can adopt is to use smaller bowls, cups and plates. Try using smaller utensils too — a teaspoon instead of a tablespoon.

It is important to plan your meals. By doing so, you are more likely to eat in moderation and keep to your prescribed food intake.

Being in control means that you also cook your own meals. You then will decide upon portion size and the content.

Don’t just decide to go food shopping. Always create a shopping list beforehand and stick to it — no extras.

Don’t have too many high-calorie foods in your kitchen. If they are not there, then you won’t be tempted.

Try to fast for 14 hours a day. This sounds drastic, but it is achievable by eating your last meal at a time so that you then fast until breakfast the next morning. Studies show that eating when you are most active and giving your digestive system a long break each day — may help you lose weight easier.

Weight loss weapon # 7: Create healthy lifestyle changes

Exercise is a dieter’s best friend, as it will help to burn off calories.

The more exercise you can manage daily, the sooner you will reach your target weight. You don’t have to run a marathon, but three 10-minute spurts of exercise each day are just as effective as a hard, 30-minute workout.

Being sedentary, perhaps watching too much television, is not ideal for your metabolism. If you really must watch your favorite programs, try to incorporate a gentle workout while watching, e.g. easy squats, sit-ups or jogging on the spot.

Many of us just don’t drink enough water. So drink as much water as you can. Try to replace some of your tea, coffee or fizzing drink intake with water. You will feel much better. Strangely, thirst can sometimes be confused with hunger, so by drinking water, you may avoid consuming those extra calories.

Losing weight is difficult for many people.

But, with some determination to reach your goal and the right approach, it can be achieved sooner than you think.