The equation for losing weight sounds easy enough -- just consume fewer calories than you burn. In practice, however, this can prove challenging. Hunger, busy schedules and tempting food can derail your attempts to eat right and exercise. If weight loss were easy, obesity would not be a problem. However, certain strategies can make the process more manageable.
Keep Food Diary
Writing down your daily food intake can make you aware of the impact your dietary choices make on your weight loss efforts. While you may think you are eating fewer calories, a food diary can point out the little foods that add up -- non-dairy creamer in your morning coffee, a sample in the grocery store or a doughnut in the break room at work. If you know you have to record your food choices, you may think twice before indulging. In the August 2008 issue of the "American Journal of Preventive Medicine," a study performed by Kaiser Permanente Northwest researchers found that dieters who kept a food diary, even part of the time, lost about twice as much weight as those who did not.
Start with Soup or Salad
Eating a low-calorie appetizer such as a green salad or broth-based soup can help you eat fewer calories overall. Researchers from the Pennsylvania State University published a study in the November 2007 issue of the journal "Appetite" reporting that people who ate soup prior to their main meal ate 20 percent less overall than people who did not. In an earlier study published in the "Journal of the American Dietetic Association" in 2004, some of the same researchers found that eating a small salad prior to a meal reduced total meal calorie intake by 7 percent, and a large pre-meal salad reduced intake by 12 percent.
Have Breakfast
Of the more than 5,000 members of the National Weight Control Registry, a group of people who have lost an average of 66 lbs. each and kept it off for five years, 78 percent report eating breakfast daily as part of their weight loss strategy. Eating breakfast helps prevent extreme hunger later in the day that can lead to poor choices or overeating. What you eat for breakfast can also affect weight loss. In a study published in the "International Journal of Obesity" in October 2008, participants who followed a low-calorie diet that included an egg breakfast experienced a 65 percent greater weight loss than those who had a bagel breakfast of equal calories.
Exercise
While you may be able to lose weight with diet alone, adding exercise helps make the process easier, reports the American Council on Exercise. Eighty-nine percent of the members of the National Weight Control Registry used exercise and diet to achieve their results, while only 10 percent used diet alone. Exercising for weight loss does not mean you have to spend hours in the gym -- regular walking, doing housework and gardening are all ways to burn calories.
References
- Pub Med.gov: Weight loss during the intensive intervention phase of the weight-loss maintenance trial
- Pub Med Central: Soup Preloads in a Variety of Forms Reduce Meal Energy Intake
- Pub Med.gov: Salad and Satiety
- "International Journal of Obesity;" "Egg Breakfast Enhances Weight Loss"; J.S. Van Derwal et al; October 2008
- American Council on Exercise: Weight Loss
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