Overhauling your eating and exercise habits can help you lose weight, but it can be difficult to sustain major lifestyle changes in the long term. You may find yourself reverting to old habits and gaining back the weight you lost. A smarter strategy includes making small but significant changes that lead to fewer calories eaten and more calories burned while maintaining a lifestyle you can live with in the long run.
Serve Up Smaller Portions
You can potentially save yourself hundreds of calories every day just by putting less food on your plate and stopping yourself from eating a second helping when you're not really hungry. To make it easier, scale back recipes that make more servings than you need, or put a single serving of food on your plate and place leftovers in the fridge or freezer before you sit down to eat; having to take the extras out and heat them up will probably be enough to deter you from eating more than you need.
Eat Lean Protein With Every Meal
Including protein in every meal and snack can help you feel fuller and stay full longer than if your meal consisted of just fat and carbs. This strategy can help you to eat less throughout the day. Lean sources of protein include white meat poultry, low-fat cottage cheese, low-fat Greek yogurt, egg whites, tuna, beans and lentils.
Switch To Whole Grains
Because much of a grain's nutrients are lost in the refining process, switching from refined grains to whole grain foods means getting more protein and fiber to help fill you up and keep you satisfied for hours. Swap white bread and pasta for whole-grain versions, processed cereals for oatmeal and white rice for brown rice.
Find Ways To Be Active Every Day
If the gym just isn't your scene, there are plenty of ways to burn calories without sticking to traditional exercise. Try playing a game of soccer or tag in the yard with your kids, hitting the hiking trails with your dogs or meeting a friend for a daily walk in your neighborhood. Squeeze small doses of activity in throughout the day by taking the stairs instead of the elevator, biking to the post office instead of driving or parking your car at the far end of the lot.
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