Advice On Common Sense Weight Loss
posted on 04/03/2009
No one likes to be fat, but I think if you follow these common sense steps in your life, you can either keep your weight under control or eventually lose if you're just patient. I ultimately lost 25 lbs. in 6 months. If I can do it, so can anyone. Forming good habits will give you a healthier body and you'll have a better outlook on your life, too!
1) You won't feel any better if you eat more than your body requires. It's a lie if we think life will be good if we overeat those "fun" foods. Remember last time you overate? You probably felt worse. Deal with the issues that come up in life. Face your difficulties with bravery instead of heading for the fridge. Solve problems, and don't escape with food as often happens. Look ahead: How will you feel after you eat too much? How do you want to feel?
2) Don't pig out at night. Eating late at night is the worst thing for maintaining weight. Your metabolism slows while you sleep, so that food just sticks to you. Eat good, healthy, controlled meals daily and don't add a fourth or fifth. Make it a goal to finish eating for the day at suppertime. In the morning, you'll feel much better.
3) Have three meals a day regularly. If you do this, you will be ready to eat breakfast the next day when you're supposed to be hungry. This is how it's supposed to be. Then you won't get hungry at 3:00 in the afternoon. You can look forward to each meal.
4) Do not let your stomach get too empty during the day. The days of deleting meals altogether are over. You will be deprived and then eat too much later because you feel starved. Your body requires fuel. Feed it what it needs to function properly.
5) Have no more than two or three servings of starches. You don't need more than this. Fill up on meats, fruits, and vegetables. Drink milk. But don't overdo the cookies, pasta, chips, potatoes, and breads. Don't expect to be slender if you have gobs of French fries, pizza, or chips with desserts each day.
6) Don't stop moving, but get that body exercising daily. We're in trouble when we stop moving altogether. Invest in a heart rate monitor. Find out what your target heart rate should be for your age. Walking briskly for at least 20" will do wonders if that's all you can do. When you think that you're awake for about 16 hours each day, 20" isn't much time to invest in your health. Gradually work up to more and more exercise.
7) Eating should not be the main focal point in social gatherings. You'll make it enjoyable for others as well as yourself if you're not greedily eating like it's your last day on earth. Get busy and care about the people around you rather than how much food you get. Enjoy the event and the people more than what you are eating.
8) Cook meals at home and save money. We all know how large the servings are at restaurants, right? When you do go out, don't eat it all. Save some for later or share the meal with a friend to save money. It will probably be enough. Making meals at home doesn't have to take much time, and you are fully in control of what you eat.
9) Get good, regular sleep. If you're tired all the time, you tend to make poor choices about food and exercise. If you exercise, you will be ready to sleep at night. Also, eating late at night means your body has to work hard to digest those cheesies you consumed at 10 pm during the movie, so you don't sleep as well.
10) Finally, don't weigh yourself very often. You won't lose a whole bunch in a few days anyway. Once every week or less is all that's needed. There's no reason to weigh yourself daily. You're changing habits little by little, so the weight will come off little by little. With perseverance in three months or six months, you'll definitely see a difference in your weight.
Making small changes, one at a time, will do wonders for your body. Don't give up! If you pig out one day, fine. Go back to these guidelines and get back on track. These changes can benefit you and cause you to be more fulfilled for the rest of your life!
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