1. Tell your Friends About your Diet. This step alone will help you the most. Tell as many people as possible that you are on a diet and that you want to lose weight. This way, when they see you eating too much they will remind you of your plans, and they will encourage you to make more progress. While you don’t want to make yourself feel guilty all the time, a little peer pressure in this instance is okay.
2. Eat five to six smaller meals a day. Eating more often throughout the day will actually help you to eat less total calories. Eat small balanced portions at each of these meals and space them evenly throughout the day. After every meal your metabolism works faster to digest the food, so eating five or six meals keeps your metabolism running throughout the day. It’s been shown that eating a large meal slows down your metabolism, promoting the storage of fat; this is why you feel so tired after a large meal. Also, eating smaller meals more often gives your body a steady supply of nutrients throughout the day, but no more than is necessary. Fat storage is really a survival mechanism; your body stores fat in preparation for a period where it expects to get less or no food. Eating small meals more often tells your body that it doesn’t need to store fat because it will get the nutrients it needs.
3. Eat breakfast. Your brain absolutely needs to be fed in the morning. Skipping breakfast will trigger your body to demand more food later in the day, leading to overeating. If you have a sweet tooth breakfast is the best time to indulge, so even something like a pastry and coffee is acceptable.
4. Drink coffee or Green Tea. The caffeine in both of these drinks will jumpstart your metabolism. Your body actually does not need the caffeine first thing in the morning, despite how it may feel, so try to drink the coffee or tea at lunch to keep your metabolism going throughout the day. Green tea is an especially good choice because it has many other benefits to your health, such as helping your body slow down ageing and prevent cancer.
5. Walk. If you can’t find the motivation to work out, walking is a great alternative. You burn about 100 calories a mile whether you walk or run, so the only disadvantage to walking (from a weight loss standpoint) is that it will take you more time.
6. Avoid Sugar. Avoid foods that are obvious sources of a lot of sugar. This includes sodas, ice cream, and candy. For many people, taking this step alone will be enough for them to lose weight.
7. Lift Weights. Byproducts of weightlifting include more muscle mass and a favorable hormonal balance. More muscle mass means your body needs more energy to maintain its muscles. A favorable hormonal balance means that if you over eat, you will store more of the extra calories as muscle mass rather than fat.
8. Avoid Late Night Snacking. Anything you eat late at night, especially foods with carbohydrates, will be stored as fat. Many people eat pizza, popcorn, or snacks late at night, which are all rich in carbohydrates. If you absolutely have to eat something, try peanuts or another snack food without carbohydrates.
9. Control your Portions. For some reason, people feel like they have to eat everything that is set in front of them. Forget what your mother told you and try to get out of this mindset. Eat half of what is on your plate, or start with a smaller plate in the first place. Half of weight loss is mental; if you get into the right mindset about eating you will find that you crave foods less and don’t pig out at every meal. Slow down when you eat and taste every bite so you satisfied more quickly, and so you allow your stomach to catch up to your eating.
10. Set a Goal. Set a goal that is reasonable. At the beginning of your diet decide on a reward you will get yourself when the goal is reached. Maybe it’s a vacation, or maybe it’s a shopping spree. Either way, it will give you the extra motivation you need. Make sure to tell many people about your goal so that they don’t allow you to get yourself the prize unless the goal is reached. |
