Trying to make a positive change in your life like getting to a healthy weight, and exercising more to improve your fitness can be challenging. There is so much advice out there, and only so many hours in the day. So how do you choose which things to do and which to discard?
Well, in truth you have to find the things that work for you, Everyone is different. But you can learn from others’ journeys and try out what they have found helpful to see if it’s something that can have a positive effect on your progress. To help you do this, read on for some idea and suggestions that can help shed those pounds.
Smaller portions
One thing that is super old school, but can actually work is to just eat smaller portions. Remember weight loss is achieved by reaching a calorie deficit, and the simplest way of getting this is to just eat less.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you stop eating altogether. As this can have a disastrous effect on your metabolism, causing you body to store all excess calories as fat it seat of burning them off. Instead this idea is about eating smaller portions, allow your body to digest and burn them off more easily.
Yes, it may be something that takes a little getting used to, but there are things out there that can help. Like portion control plates.
Just remember that eating loads and loads of healthy food is still consuming calories. So by gorging on this stuff, you may actually be making your weight loss journey harder.
Mindfulness
Something that compliments eating smaller portions well is a psychological trick called mindfulness. This when you direct your attention to the texture and taste of the food. As well as regularly checking in with the feeling in your stomach to see if you are full.
In fact, it is the way that we should eat all of the time. But in our modern world, there is always something to take our attention away from the thing we are actually doing. Such as the TV, our cell phones, newspapers or the radio.
The benefits to eating mindfully are that not only do you really taste your food, and get to enjoy it, but also you learn to be aware of when your stomach is full. Something that should help you naturally reduce the volume of what you are eating.
Detox tea
Another option to help your on your weight loss journey is Detox Tea. This is a mix of herbs that is designed to speed up your metabolism and stop bloating, making it easier to burn fat as energy and so lose weight.
It comes in dried form, and you add hot water to it, like any other tea. Although you can also try doing this, and then letting it cool and serving with ice. As this makes a refreshing drink if it’s a particularly hot day.
This is also a strategy that works well in combination with others. Remember when on our weight loss journey it can help to attack the issue from several different sides, as this will maximize your results.
Fat Binders
Fat binders, are relatively new on the weight loss market but are definitely something to consider. They are pills that you take before you eat, and they are designed to attach to the fat that you consume, stopping it from being digested.
This means the fat doesn’t enter your system, but it’s flushed out with the rest of the waste products. Making it easier for you to lose weight.
It’s usually recommended that you take them along with following a healthy diet. Then they can enhance the weight loss you will be able to achieve on your own.
Low carb diet
Something else that many people have success with is a low carb diet such as Atkins. You can read about my story with this here.
These are designed to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you consume. This is because many people eat too much of this type of food, and it is easily broken down into sugar. The sugar then gets stored as fat, if it’s not used up by the body straight away.
Reducing the amount of carbs in your diet means your body has to switch from using instantly available sugar for energy. This can help you to burn off the reserves that you have.
Reducing your carbohydrate intake is something that takes a little getting used to. But once you have got your head around it, it can be a simple and easy way of shedding the pounds.
Variety
When attempting to lose weight, it can also be very helpful to include a lot of variety in your diet. This is because if you cook and eat the same things over and over again, you may become very bored very quickly.
The problem with that is once you become bored, it’s easy to stray from the meal that you have planned. Eating snacks, or choosing fast food for variety.
You can avoid this by including new recipes weekly. As well as new healthy ingredients like fruits and veggies that you are less familiar with every week, to keep things interesting.
Hypnosis
Another suggestion that is more about the psychology of eating rather than what you are putting into your mouth is hypnosis.
Hypnosis is a therapy that involves the subject being put into a light trance. They still have some awareness though, as it’s not sleep. This is done to access the subconscious and to reprogram it to be more helpful in achieving your weight loss goals.
This may include reinforcing only eating when you are hungry. Suggesting that your stomach is smaller, or that you dislike the feeling of being too full. It can even involve suggesting that your favorite foods aren’t that nice, to help you stop binging on them.
There are many books and downloadable tracks out there to help you with this. Although it’s always best to go to a registered and qualified hypnotist wherever possible.
