Weight loss is a tough job, and staying motivated can be a challenge. Even when body weight is lost, according to the Mayo Clinic, it is quickly regained. The good news is that there are a handful of dieting tips for relatively rapid weight loss that can turn into healthy habits for keeping weight from returning.
Snack on Vegetables
Snacking on a carrot or stalk of celery is a dieting tip that pays off quickly. Potato chips, crackers, and even healthier choices of granola bars and nuts add calories to the daily total. When hunger strikes, pick up a carrot and take off approximately 150 calories from the daily total for each snack. Two or three snacks reduce the calories each day and add up to a weekly weight loss of 1 lb., according to the Mayo Clinic. Simple snacking equals fast weight loss.
Eat Smaller Meals
Eating smaller meals helps your body to keep energy levels high while not adding many calories. Several small meals totaling 1,500 calories throughout the day can produce up to a 4 lb. weight loss in a month for dieters on a former daily diet of more than 2,000 calories, notes the Mayo Clinic.
The brain requires time to assimilate food intake. Large meals allow the body time to overeat before the brain sends the signal that the stomach is full. In place of three main meals, eating six to eight smaller meals, spaced out throughout the day, eliminates this problem of delayed signals. The Cleveland Clinic reports lower cholesterol in people who eat smaller-portioned meals throughout the day compared to those who ate two or three larger meals. High metabolism throughout the day assists in burning calories.
Drink Water
Water is a key to proper health. It assists in supplying nutrients to the cells, helps keep energy at high levels for added exercise and keeps bodily organs hydrated. While 60 percent of the body's weight is water weight, according to the Mayo Clinic, this water is critical to helping the body in working with lower food intake and additional exercise during dieting. Lack of water causes dehydration and slows weight loss.
Brenda Davy, Virginia Tech associate professor of human nutrition, foods and exercise, states that drinking water--two glasses at least 30 minutes before the meal --had dramatic results in studies reported in the "Journal of the American Dietetic Association." While the exact weight loss varied with each person, participants in the study ate 75 percent fewer calories during the meals eaten after drinking water. Melina Jampolis, MD, a nutritional specialist, equates the average yearly weight loss at approximately 15 lbs.
Cut Down on Sugar
Dr. Robert Ross, director of the Queen's Centre for Obesity and Research Education at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, states that "the billion-dollar food industry has done a masterful job in learning how to design foods to be optimally stimulating." Ross cites sugar, in addition to salt and fat, as a key trigger for over-eating. He maintains the the "more we eat of them, the more we want." Cutting out the sugar allows your brain to avoid the initial triggering stimulant and also to maintain control of sugar impulses, promoting reductions in empty calories as a rapid way to reduce weight.
Cutting sugar is the easiest way to eliminate empty calories from the daily diet. Skipping the sugar-filled carbonated drink at lunch means 1 lb. of weight loss each week, provided other calorie intake remains the same. The Mayo Clinic states a reduction of only 500 calories a day equates to this weight loss.
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