Losing weight is not a very difficult proposition as many might think. There are certain small instructions to follow and losing weight would be among one of the incentives when life pays you back for leading a healthy and sound lifestyle. Nowadays, losing weight doesn’t necessarily mean drastic curtailing of your diet plan or a vigorous exercise routine. Losing weight is generally overtly complicated but it can be easily simplified. Weight loss is something which is troublesome for many to decipher. It can be very simplified and following is a list of methods to beat weight gain and start losing weight.
Slow down the pace of what you eat
Many people have a habit of eating too fast. If you too have this habit, there are two very good reasons for you to slow down your pace:
a. Eating quickly means that each bit spends much less time in your mouth and you barely taste it before sending it down to the stomach. Eating and chewing slowly allows you to relish each bite, tasting all the flavors viz., salty, sweet, bitter, sour and savory.
b. When you chew each bite fully before you swallow and take 20 minutes or more to eat your meal, your stomach has enough time to signal your brain that it’s full.
Sleep more
Sleeping an additional hour helps in losing weight. A research at Michigan University has shown that getting to bed at the right time and sleeping for an additional one hour would cut down the craving for midnight snacks, and also many studies and researches all over the world have shown that the lack of sleep increases the habit of unnecessary gorging. If you go to bed early, you are consuming less calories, around 250 calories to be more precise, than what you would consume while you are staying up. If you start today, you would lose 24 pounds in a year. With a healthier and regular sleeping pattern, one can eventually lose weight by doing nothing but doing the most untiring activity in the whole world i.e., sleeping.
Eat vegetables
Eating vegetables is not only a healthy option but also a very good and effective way of fighting weight gain and losing weight. Instead of eating a single vegetable in your meal, use more vegetables: it will not only help you cope with weight gain but the taste of the meal will also increase manifold. Make sure to incorporate two or more vegetables especially in dinner or supper. The fiber and water contained in fruits and vegetables will leave the feeling of fulfillment and that too with minimal calorie intake. But one should also make sure that minimal amount of oil is utilized while preparing the food.
Watch out for the carbs that you eat
What is a carb? Carbs can be bread, pasta and potatoes, they are also found in fruits, vegetables and some beans. When you eat carbs, your body breaks them down into glucose. Everyone needs this glucose in blood to let the body function properly but if eaten in excess, it accumulates as fat.
A perfect example of ideal intake of carbs in a day would be to have some eggs and then a bowl of berries for breakfast, and as a snack you can have an apple with some nuts. For your lunch, you can have a salad with raw vegetables and cooked vegetables and may be an orange. For dinner, you can have salad with your meat, whether it is poultry or beef or some more cooked vegetables. This way, one can have the sufficient amount of carbs required in a day and simultaneously feel energized.
Avoid soda and aerated drinks
Avoid sodas and aerated drinks as much as possible and replace them with fruit juices like orange or lemonade. Any soda or aerated drink contains around 150-200 calories. Even if you are thinking of substituting these with diet sodas, it won’t be of much use as many studies have linked this to eating more sugary calories as the body craves for sweet items. Apart from these calories, one doesn’t get anything: nutrition, vitamins or minerals. Studies have also linked consumption of aerated drinks to loss of enamel from our teeth.
Cardio exercise
Jogging is very important as it would increase cardio vascular activity, but the best way to lose weight while jogging is to do it in interval fashion. It means alternatively fast, slow, high intensity and low intensity pacing. Alternating both the extremes will increase the cardio vascular activity and it will also increase the heartbeat. This increases body metabolism, which eventually will make you lose weight, but one has to be consistent. If you want the fat burning process to take place not only while exercising but also afterwards, jogging in interval fashion will be the best bet. Take it slow at the beginning and gradually increase the intensity. After 30 seconds of high intensity jogging, go slow for a minute and if you find this tough, make a complete stop.
Drink water
Many dieticians across the globe agree that water is a vital tool in fighting weight gain and eventual weight loss. Water is very important to weight loss as it increases the metabolism of fat. One of main functions of the kidneys is to excrete toxins from our body but without water, kidneys are not able to do it. In absence of adequate water, the liver usually performs this function of kidneys and therefore, liver is not able to perform its duty of metabolizing fat. Water also keeps the body hydrated. It is important to eat high fiber foods during the process of losing weight and water helps the fiber pass through the body and also helps in keeping the body functioning normally.
Foods to avoid
First of all, avoid foods which have high sugar or high fructose corn syrup listed as one of the ingredients, you will find this in most processed food and sugary drinks like colas, juices and other beverages and candies. Secondly, one should avoid bland color vegetables like potatoes and also bland colored food like bananas. These tend to have a high glycemic index and don’t offer a lot nutrition. Instead of choosing bland vegetables, try to choose vegetables which are colorful, like choosing sweet potatoes over potatoes and sweet potatoes fries that are baked over French fries. Instead of bananas, you could opt for berries or apples.
Smaller meals
Break down your three meals into 4-6 smaller meals. This keeps the blood glucose and insulin level constant, so that you don’t suffer the fluctuation that can bring on hunger. But how does one do it? Take your average size meal and cut it into halves and you then eat it in small portions throughout the day.
Also make sure that when you choose to break down the main meals into smaller meals, it suits your personality and lifestyle. When you are trying to lose weight, an irregular eating pattern and the habit of skipping meals will mess up the whole idea of losing weight. Based on the eating pattern, your body builds up body metabolism and if you keep changing the eating pattern frequently, there is a higher chance of your body storing more calories than expected. So, when you choose to cut down the main meals into smaller meals, it is always advisable to stick with the plan.
Calorie in, calorie out
Normally people become overweight because a few calories everyday add up and not by overeating. The few extra things that people consume every day – the cake or the cookie at the office, extra beer and the second glass of wine – slowly add up and at the end of the year, end up adding an extra 10 pounds. Count your calorie intake and make sure that you burn more calories than you take in.