You Can Lose Weight
Many of us want to lose weight. In fact, about 60% of the country is obese and as we get closer to the New Year, there will be many folk who will promise themselves to trim down in ’10. I’ve got some useful tips for doing so:
Tip 1 Motivation to change is the best predictor of success. So, write down five reasons YOU want to lose weight on a postcard and stick one where you tend to eat. Make copies and put them where ever else you have meals or snacks. These will remind you of YOUR REASONS for losing weight and will increase the chance that you’ll resist the temptation to either overeat or eat the wrong foods. Also, take the Motivation Test at this website.
Tip 2 Identify triggers to overeating or eating the wrong foods and avoid them for one week. These might include certain places, like fast food restaurants or even some people. If you overeat due to an emotional feeling like boredom, do something different like call a friend or take a brisk walk.
Tip 3 Take small bites, eat slowly, at set times and places. The brain takes about 20 minutes to get the message that you’ve had enough to eat. Eating slowly will help prevent you from feeling uncomfortably full. This will greatly help with portion control, which is one of the main reasons people are overweight.
Tip 4 Do 20 minutes of moderate cardio exercise every day. Go at a moderate pace on your bike, treadmill or elliptical machine for 5 mins to get warmed up; then go as hard as you SAFELY can for 1 min; then back to a moderate pace for 2 mins. Repeat this cycle of going as hard as you safely can for 1 min followed by 2 mins at a moderate pace, FIVE TIMES, which will be a total of 15 mins. When added to your 5 min warm-up period, you've got a 20 min routine that's resets your metabolism at a higher rate not only now but for hours afterwards.
Tip 5 Drink more water and eat more soup. Drinking water before a meal will help you to feel full, which in turn will help prevent you from overeating. Having a glass of water as soon as you get out of bed in the morning will also get your metabolism started. Research has shown that the more (non-creamy) soup people eat at lunch or dinner, the more weight they lose. This is because water makes up the large proportion of soup.
Tip 6 Think of urges as temporary and a sign that your body is looking for fat to burn. We normally think of urges as something that draws us toward the thing we’re trying to resist. This turns into a fight which we usually lose. However, by definition, urges don’t last very long, so if you can fill the next 5-10 minutes with some other activity, it will usually fade away. Plus, if you start thinking of an urge to overeat or to eat junk food as an indication that your body is looking for calories to burn, tell yourself that it will have to go to your reservoir of fat to find them.
Tip 7 Eat when you’re hungry and stop eating when you’re full. Use a change in eating habits as an indication of how well you're doing, instead of what you weigh.
Tip 8 Eat breakfast like a prince, lunch like a king, and dinner like a pauper. You want to give your body as much time as possible to burn up the calories that you eat. As they say, obesity starts at 6 o’clock. So, you don’t want to eat your largest meal in the evening.
Tip 9 To satisfy sweet cravings, eat some raw pineapple. To cut down on portion, drink a glass of water and eat some peanut butter (assuming you're not allergic to peanuts!) before a meal.
If you still need help, give me a call to set up an appointment today.