If you've been fighting an ongoing battle with the bathroom scale, maybe it's time to reassess your strategies for attacking calories. For every pound you want to lose, you have to burn approximately 3,500 calories through diet, exercise or a combination of both. Successful weight reduction not only calls for the discipline to conscientiously stick to a plan but awareness of the long-term health benefits that come from fueling your body with the proper balance of vitamins and minerals it needs.
Goal-Setting
Set realistic weight-loss goals. Attitude is a major factor in slimming down and feeling good about your appearance. It is easier to stay focused on your objective if you can see incremental success over a longer period of time than if you strive to drastically drop four dress sizes by your class reunion in two weeks. Frustration with your progress will just cause you to feel more stressed, more hungry and more frustrated. Further, weight that is lost too quickly is likely to come tumbling back even faster. Recruit family and friends to not only keep you on course but to compliment your progress. Make the weight-loss process fun and mutually supportive by finding a workout buddy.
Sugar Alert
Curb your sweet tooth. It isn't just the obvious culprits such as candy, cookies, sodas and slices of pie that are contributing to your love handles. Take a close look at the ingredient labels of prepared sauce mixes, canned fruits and vegetables, cereal bars, concentrated fruit drinks, dairy products, bottled teas and alcoholic beverages. If your sweet favorites contain high amounts of fructose, maltose, sucrose, glucose, lactose, corn syrup, refined white sugar or organic brown sugar, be judicious in your intake. This is especially critical if you are at risk for diabetes.
Lifestyle Changes
Change your eating and lifestyle habits. Eating four or five small meals during the day rather than three large ones allows you to feel less hungry in addition to giving your body adequate time to process what you have consumed. Divide the total number of calories you've allocated yourself for the day by the number of mini-meals you plan to have. Serve these on salad plates rather than dinner plates to psychologically trick your brain into seeing a full meal. Drink lots of water or fruit-flavored, sugarless tea. Only eat when you are actually hungry and refrain from doing anything else while you're eating such as watching TV, doing housework or playing games. Keep a diet journal to identify patterns of when you're the most susceptible to overeating.
Meal Planning
Increase your fiber intake through wholegrain cereals and breads as well as raw fruits and vegetables. Replace meat with lean, protein-rich choices such as seafood, chicken and turkey. Eschew fatty, fried and overly salted foods--the likes of which dominate fast-food venues. Steer clear of the snack food aisle in the grocery store; if you don't have these treats easily available in your kitchen cupboards and refrigerator, you can't fall to the temptation of eating them. Use low-fat or skim milk, low-fat cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese and sour cream. Incorporate spicy peppers, garlic, cayenne, turmeric and curry powder into your cooking--all of which help turbo-charge your metabolism.
References
- "The Real You Diet: Your Personal Program for Lasting Weight Loss"; Madelyn H. Fernstrom; 2009
- "100 Weight-Loss Tips that Really Work"; Fred A. Stutman; 2006
- "The 20/30 Fat & Fiber Diet Plan: The Weight-Reducing, Health-Promoting Nutrition System for Life"; Gabe Mirkin, Barry Fox; 1999
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