More Great Weight Loss Tips
2013
I figure more weight loss tips are always welcome! I had included every weight loss tip I could think of in my previous weight loss tips post. But even though I thought I had that topic completely covered, since then I have been thinking of more strategies that work to help lose weight and I want to share them with you!
First of all, for the record, I have to say that eating a clean healthy diet filled with lots of nutritious raw foods is going to make the weight slide off effortlessly. I know personally and from many others that you can eat lots of food, never feel hungry, and still lose weight – if you eat the right foods. and yes, that basically means following a raw foods diet. However I know a lot of people are not up for that. It is hardcore to do as a complete lifestyle change and many people prefer just to add in some raw foods with their cooked and that’s fine.
These suggestions are for those of you who want to lose weight the healthy way, whether you eat mostly raw foods or not.
Check out my 1st Weight Loss Tops post
Here is my first post on weight loss tips, check it out as well. This is a great post with lots of important weight loss strategies that work.
It has some great suggestions, such as:
- Keeping a food journal
- Portion control and eating small meals more frequently
- Eating carbs and larger meals earlier in the day
- Drinking water
- About drinking tea and coffee
- Lots of strategies: stock up on healthy food, prepare more of your own food, don’t eat from containers, smaller plates, chewing well and eating slowly and more consciously, etc
- Lists of good foods and bad foods
- Getting active!
So make sure to check it out!
But since writing this I have come across and thought up more strategies that will help you to more easily shed pounds.
More Great Weight Loss Tips!
Keep it positive! If you focus on what you can’t do, like resisting junk foods or exercising, chances are you won’t do do it. Focus on what you can do and repeat positive messages to yourself: ‘I can lose weight’ ‘ I can skip that temptation today’ or ‘ I can walk or exercise for 15 minutes today’ then before long you will find yourself easily doing those things.
Close the kitchen after dinner. Wash the dishes, wipe the counter and turn off the lights. kitchen closed. Late night snacking is one of the biggest culprits for gaining weight. If you know the kitchen is closed you may be less likely to eat after dinner.
Be choosy about evening snacks. Evening snack strategies that work for me are: drinking tea and eating sunflower seeds or something that takes a lot of work for few calories. Pomegranate seeds are good also when they are in season.
Order salad dressing on the side when eating out. Try this: stick your fork in the dressing before picking up your salad with it. Often the dressing that sticks to the tines of the fork is enough to flavor the salad you pick up. Also, if you forgo the dressing for a few meals your taste for the dressing lessens and less seems like so much more.
Make your own salad dressings and condiments. There are often a lot of calories and unhealthy ingredients in commercial dressings, including not only unhealthy fats and sugar but also bad chemical additives, that can take a toll on your health as well as leave you craving more. This can easily be avoided by planning ahead and making your own. Look at the condiments you use the most and see how you can make them more healthy! Think not only of ketchup, relish, mustard and mayonnaise but of salad dressings, dips and sauces as well.
Use seasonings and spices to add life and interest to your food instead of salt, butter and sugar, or commercial sauces. Many spices are incredibly good for you, have health promoting properties and boost your metabolism as well.
Eat at home more often and prepare your own food.
Eat only when you are hungry.
Find other ways to reward yourself, to express love and to relieve stress and boredom. Find an active hobby, get moving: go for a walk or do a workout, practice yoga, do deep breathing exercises, have a hot mineral bath, buy a new book or magazine, buy flowers, write a message/story/poem, call a friend, organize a drawer or a corner of a room, practice visualization, get organized and write a to do list, be aware that you have choices and say no to yourself, think of 3 people you are thankful for and tell them, listen to music, journal, play solitaire or a game with someone else, have sex, read jokes online, plant a garden, surf the net for new inspiration on whatever you are into, flavor some water with cucumber, mint leaves, lemon or grapes and have a glass of it, or have a cup of tea.
Don’t drink your calories! Many beverages have a lot of calories hidden in them. Stick to water and tea for most of your drinks. Eat fruit instead of drinking fruit juice.
Eat lots of vegetables and fill up on vegetables first! One cup of rice or pasta is about 200 calories where one cup of vegetables is about 50. Make vegetables the main part of your meal so you feel full and consume not only really nutritious foods but lower calorie foods as well. Eat bright colorful foods and water filled fruits and vegetables.
Take a walk before your meal.
Drink a glass of water before your meal.
Serve individual courses instead of piling everything onto one plate. I mentioned in the past weight loss post to use smaller plates, but another good strategy is to eat different courses. Have soup or salad first, which are often vegetable based. then have your more calorie dense foods after.
Order the smallest portion of everything when eating out. This is an easy way to cut calories without cutting out the foods you love or feeling deprived.
Dress up when eating out with friends. You will get more compliments and also be reminded to watch what you eat.
Stay away from sugar-free and fat-free. When you see these terms, think ‘chemical shit storm’! and read ‘Danger!’ there instead. Fat-free foods are often filled with fillers and chemical additives to make up for the taste, texture and mouth feel. Sugar-free foods often contain dangerous chemicals, also known as neurotoxins, that can do a lot of damage to your body. These foods are certainly not free. Some in the health and wellness field also call many of these additives ‘obesogens’ as they do more damage to not only your health, but also your waistline.
Watch your diet closely on the weekend. A study from the University of North Carolina found that people eat an average of 115 more calories per day on the weekends.
Pay attention to and smell foods. A study with 300 volunteers showed that the more frequently people smelled food, the less hungry they were and the more weight they lost. One theory is that smelling tricks the brain into thinking you are actually eating the food.
Enjoy your food. Eat well to live long and to be your healthiest, fittest, leanest and happiest self.
