While reducing calorie intake and increasing physical activity is essential to successful weight loss, you do not have to diligently count calories and spend hours in the gym. Drastic measures, fad diets and near starvation are not necessary, and in fact may backfire in the long run, warns the American Heart Association. Take easy steps to help you slim down without interfering with your lifestyle.
Food Diary
Writing down the food you eat, even informally, helps you lose more weight, according to researchers from Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research. A study published in the Journal of Preventive Medicine from August 2008, showed that behavioral methods like keeping a food diary nearly doubled weight loss in 1,685 participants. A food diary helps keep you accountable and may make you think before you eat. It also can help you identify food choices that could be bettered.
More Produce
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advocate eating more fruits and vegetables as an effective way to lose weight. Make fresh fruits and vegetables the center of most meals, using starches, lean proteins and fats as accents. Choose richly colored items like eggplant, dark leafy greens, and red peppers. Reach for fruit instead of snack crackers or baked goods for a snack. Use vegetables, instead of chips, to dip into salsa or hummus.
Reduce Added Sugar
Reduce the amount of added sugars you consume daily. Some foods, like fruits and dairy, contain natural sugars---but unnecessary sugars are added by manufacturers to hundreds of items like cereals, flavored yogurts, breads, canned soups, salad dressings and ketchup. The American Heart Association reports that, on average, Americans consume about 22 added teaspoons of sugar daily, amounting to 355 unnecessary calories. Cut out just this extra sugar to lose almost three pounds in a month. Read your foods' ingredient labels and avoid products listing molasses, fructose, sucrose, brown sugar, honey, cane sugar, corn syrup and barley malt syrup in the first three to five ingredients.
Move More
Burning more calories through physical activity helps with you slim down. While regular visits to a fitness center help, they cannot make up for an otherwise sedentary lifestyle. Being active all day long will help you lose weight faster. Getting up from the computer and turning off the television will give you time for more active pursuits like walking, gardening or cleaning house. Meet friends for a hike rather than appetizers.
References
- Journal of Preventive Medicine: Weight Loss During the Intensive Intervention Phase of the Weight-Loss Maintenance Trial
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: How to Use Fruits and Vegetables to Help Manage Your Weight
- Harvard School of Public Health: Getting to Your Healthy Weight
- American Heart Association: Association Recommends Americans Cut Intake of Added Sugars
- American Heart Association: Fad Diets
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