Losing weight takes a lot
of sweat and discipline, but even when you're not powering through a treadmill
interval workout or counting calories, there are a lot of simpler ways to
see those pounds drop on the scale. Employing these 10 little tricks daily will
help you lose weight, no gym or diet required.
Always start a meal with a glass of water: You'll stay hydrated and
feel fuller instantly, which can help you from overeating.
Make a few simple swaps at every meal: Going for a vinaigrette dressing instead of a creamy dressing at lunch can save you 80 calories, while
opting for fresh fruit instead of dried can save you dozens as well.
Have a piece of dark chocolate for dessert: Instead of opting for
the biscuits in the break room, quiet your sugar cravings with a piece of dark
chocolate. It may not feel quite as satisfying the first few times, but as you
wean yourself off your sugar addiction, you'll be glad you're saving calories
while having a healthy yet decadent treat.
Unwanted weight gain,
especially when you're supposed to be on a healthy eating journey, can be
frustrating.
While there's no wrong or right way to live a healthier
lifestyle, there may be things you're doing to hinder your progress. Before
throwing the towel in and settling back into your unhealthy habits, read on to
find out if the following things are standing in the way of your success.
Waiting For Tomorrow
There's nothing like waking up
to a bright new day full of possibilities, but if you're raring to go right
now, then don't wait for tomorrow to make changes, because you might lose that
momentum and motivation between now, tomorrow, Monday, the weekend, next year,
or whenever you've promised yourself you'll start your wellness journey. Take
it from someone who's used "tomorrow" as an excuse to consume every
piece of junk food in the house: there's no better time than now. Related: 8 Ways To Motivate Yourself To Start To Lose Weight
Is the key to losing weight tossing your diet to the side?
It just may be—at least for a small break, that is, as a new study in
the International Journal of Obesity suggests.
In the study, 51 obese men
were split into two weight loss groups: One took on 16 weeks of continuous
dieting, eating 33 percent fewer calories than would be necessary to maintain
their weight. The second took “diet breaks.” They stuck to that same diet for
two weeks, then “broke” the diet for two weeks, during which they ate the
number of calories necessary to maintain their weight. They kept up this
pattern so they had 16 total weeks of dieting, too.
Six months after their dieting expert ended, those the
diet cyclers ended up about 18 pounds lighter than those who dieted straight
through.
So how did this
work? When you’re losing weight, your body goes through a process called
adaptive thermogenesis, says obesity expert Spencer Nadolsky, D.O., author of The Fat Loss Prescription.
“Your metabolism (resting metabolic rate) is expected to lower because
fat and muscle burn calories at rest. Your resting metabolism is based off your
weight. So when you lose weight, it should decrease,” Dr. Nadolsky explains. Related: Why You Regain Weight After You Stop Your Diet.
There are any number
of ways to lose weight out there, but for many men and women, there's one
big enemy standing in their way: carbs.
Carbs, overwhelmingly, are delicious,
but unless you're literally a marathon runner, it often feels like every
french fry or slice of sourdough bread is going straight into your gut and
staying there. But researchers may be working toward a solution that combines
the best of both worlds: a miracle pill
that mimics the health benefits of a ketogenic diet without
forcing you to end your loving relationship with carbs.
It's important to note, right away, that this research is
in its infancy—if you were looking for an excuse to go wild on a plate of pasta
tonight, this ain't it (but there are some healthy options, just in case).
In the study, researchers recruited 10 obese adults for
two, 5-day sessions: During one, the participants drank a smoothie containing
48 grams of walnuts each day. In the other, they drank a nut-free smoothie of
comparable nutritional value.
During the course of the experiment when they drank their
walnut smoothies, the people reported feeling less hungry. No surprise there—previous studies have found that
walnuts are a key snack for satiety.
You've
tried eating healthy, tracking your macros, monitoring your portions, and
exercising like crazy, but your body isn't where you want it to be. Enter:
intermittent fasting.
Although there are a variety
of methods of intermittent fasting, most involve eating for a certain period of
time and then not eating for a certain period of time. Certified dietitian
Leslie Langevin, MS, RD, CD, of Whole Health Nutrition says
that aside from a number of health benefits including lowering diabetes and
other disease risks, improving blood sugar levels, extending life spans, and
improving memory, intermittent fasting could be another tool in your belt to
help with weight loss or to break through a weight-loss plateau.
She says, "It gets your
body out of 'storage mode' and mobilises fat stores for energy." This
means that without having the constant source of food (fuel) you'd get from
eating all day, your body will dip into the fat it already has stored. That's
why people find so much success losing weight with intermittent fasting. There
are a few different methods described below so see which one might be right for
you.
As a nutritional coach, people often come to me
complaining of bloated bellies, lagging energy, and an overall malaise
that can often be attributed to mealtime choices.
What and how you eat can
dramatically impact how you feel. Ever devoured a plate full of nachos, only to
face-plant afterwards for a must-have lights-out nap?
What you eat,
how you eat, and even what you think about while you eat can all play a large
role in your digestion, and how you process food. Try to incorporate these five
practices at every meal, and watch your energy grow (not your waistline).
Eat Good Ingredients
First off, start with the best ingredients you can.
Shelly Malone, R.D. and author of Inflamed, says, “Foods heavy in pesticides or
made with genetically-modified ingredients can damage the gut lining,
which over time can lead to digestive upsets and other chronic issues.”
A mere five years ago, skipping meals was a top
diet taboo. Now it's the core of an increasingly popular (and increasingly
research-backed) weight-loss approach.
Intermittent
fasting—periodically eating very little—is not only not bad for you, it may
lower blood glucose levels and insulin resistance and reduce inflammation and
cardiovascular risk. Why? How? Theories abound, but some experts believe
fasting puts your cells under mild stress, just as exercise taxes your muscles
and heart, ultimately strengthening them and making them more resistant to
disease.
And that's not
all, says Courtney Peterson, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of
nutrition sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "Studies
suggest you keep more muscle and lose more fat than on other diets, even if you
lose the same number of pounds." That's because after about 12 hours of
fasting, you run out of stored energy from carbs and start burning
stored fat.
But a troubling flaw has
popped up in this system. (You knew there was a "but" coming, right?)
In a recent study, people on an alternate-day fasting plan for six months lost
about 6 percent of their body weight—the same as those on a conventional
low-cal diet—but 38 percent of fasters dropped out, nearly 10 percent more than
in the other diet group. A similar problem has surfaced in other trials.
The human body is two-thirds
water, and considering how much of that we lose on a daily basis through
sweating and going to the toilet, it's important to keep our fluid levels
topped off. But, let's face it: despite the various ways to make your
water fruity, endlessly sipping water can feel like a chore that
doesn't quite hit our sweet spots, which leads to hydrating with hot
takeaway beverages and carbonated drinks.
If you're feeling guilty about
reaching for a cup of coffee over a glass of water, allow us to put your mind
to rest. Although caffeinated drinks like coffee and tea do have some diuretic
effects — meaning they make you go to the toilet more often — the caffeine
from your daily cup isn't high enough to cause dehydration and may
actually have some health benefits.
That said, it's surprisingly easy to
overdo it and experience the physical and mental side effects of too much
coffee, and one way to alleviate that worry is by switching to potent
brews that have healing, healthy properties, like green tea. Article Source
Pioppi
is a tiny fishing village in the south of Italy that has a cracking beach and a
sea museum. It is also the spiritual home of the Mediterranean
Diet and the inspiration for new
book The Pioppi Diet by Dr Aseem Malhotra and Donal O’Neill,
which aims to provide a simple 21-day lifestyle plan that the authors claim can
transform your health forever.
This remarkable effect is achieved
without drastically cutting calories or exercising every hour of the day. The
Pioppi plan is based around avoiding added sugar and refined carbs, and instead
building your diet around vegetables and fatty foods like oily fish and olive
oil. The plan goes beyond your diet too, with recommended movements and
stress-busting breathing exercises.
People will be talking about this
book, so make sure you’re in the know. Here’s a bluffer’s guide to the key
pillars of the 21-day Pioppi plan, as described in the book.
After dabbling in intermittent
fasting (IF) for over six months, I've experienced some tremendous benefits
including weight loss, improved digestion, increased mental clarity, better
sleep, and getting a handle on my sugar cravings. But it wasn't without
making a few errors along the way. If you're thinking about trying
intermittent fasting, avoid these mistakes.
Choosing the Wrong Plan
There are so many
different forms of intermittent fasting, so be sure to choose the one that
works with your schedule, needs, and lifestyle. One type called 5:2 involves
eating 500 calories a day (600 calories for men) twice a week. If you have a
demanding full-time job, an active family, and an intense workout routine you
want to stick to, eating that few calories will feel impossible on those days.
So the 16:8 plan, where you fast for 16 hours every day, will probably be easier
to maintain; it allows you to just skip breakfast and have a feeding window
from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Do your research and choose an IF plan that makes the
most sense for you so you're able to stick with it.
If your exposure to sweet
potatoes is limited to your favourite restaurant's healthier potato option,
now's the time to open your eyes to the weight-loss wonders of the tuber. Here
are three reasons sweet potatoes help you drop pounds.
They're naturally sweet: No refined sugar overload here — sweet
potatoes make for a healthy, lower-calorie treat. Satisfy any morning
sweet/salty cravings with sweet potato apple pancakes, and get your
healthy dessert fill with sweet potato desserts.
I seriously thought some of these were really healthy. Can't believe I have to watch out for smoothies. Which ones did you find most surprising? Related: Drinks to Avoid That can Hijack Your Weight Loss
One thing you learn early on as you're nailing down
your personal health and fitness routine is that whatever diet worked for
your best friend or mum might not be the best choice for you. Luckily, there
are many diets out there to choose from, whether it's vegan, Paleo, or Weight
Watchers.
The Ayurvedic diet is a good option as well, but
it's not as well known as its peers, so we're here to give you a little
information on this holistic way of eating. The first thing you have to know is
that Ayurveda is a traditional medical system that hails from India (it traces
back 5,000 years!), and the core principle is that you choose what to eat depending
on your body's dosha, which is a certain energy believed to move through your
body, affect your digestion, and govern physiological activity. Ayurveda
is sometimes referred to as a science of life, so it's about much more
than what you eat. It's also about balancing your mood, sleep, and general
attitude.
There are three different doshas — Kapha, Pitta,
and Vata — and although all three are present in all humans, there is one that
is your dominant. Once you figure out which one that is, you subsequently
follow the diet suggestions that come along with it. An Ayurvedic diet can
certainly help you lose weight, but it's not about counting calories or
macronutrients. It's about eating whole foods and coming back to an
equilibrium, which will help you reach your body's optimal weight.
Here are the most common mental obstacles to losing weight
— and how you can keep them from getting in the way of your goals.
5 Weight-Loss Traps That Set You Up to Fail
1. You don’t have a clear strategy.
“I want to lose weight” is a pretty vague goal. If you
don’t have a plan in place for how you’re going to accomplish that goal, it’s
going to be impossible to gauge whether you’re on the right track. (Because,
you know, there’s no track.) So you end up winging it, and we all know how that
goes:
·You vow to cut back on calories — but
you’re not tracking your meals or eating
mindfully, so you’re likely consuming more than you realize.
·You want to eat healthier — but
without a meal plan in
place, you end up mindlessly grabbing junk food or ordering takeout as soon as
a craving strikes.
·You conveniently “forget” to count
liquid calories from beer or soda.
·You hit the gym without a game plan
and end up jogging on the treadmill or doing a few halfhearted reps on the
weight machines.
·You don’t schedule your workouts, so
they get postponed when life is hectic… which is always.
When you kick off a weight-loss journey, planning
ahead will boost your chances of
success. It’s not enough to have a goal — you also need to know in advance what
steps you’ll take day-to-day to achieve it.
We all know how to lose
weight. Eat healthier foods, watch your portion sizes, and exercise
more often. It’s a simple formula — so in theory, we should all have no problem
getting to our goal weights and staying there.
But obviously it’s not that easy, or we’d all be at our
ideal weights right now. So if we’re all following the same basic rulebook, why
are some people successful and others need help losing weight?
The difference is mental toughness. Resilience,
determination, willpower — whatever you want to call it, your mindset is what
will ultimately make or break your weight-loss success.
We’re not saying you can simply think yourself thin. The
rules still apply: You need to fine-tune your nutrition and break a sweat regularly. But if you
want to be successful — if you want this time to be different — you need to
have your head in the game. Because your healthiest intentions will be
tested. You’ll have stressful times and comfort-food cravings and days when you
just can’t get motivated to work
out. And that’s when your brain needs to step up to the plate and keep
you on track.
Experts
are pushing the protein when it comes to weight loss, and for good reason,
because it regulates your appetite and satiates hunger. But if loading up on
tons of protein is your main focus at mealtimes, you might be getting more than
you need.
Certified dietitian Leslie
Langevin, MS, RD, CD, of Whole
Health Nutrition says to aim for "no more than 20 to 30 grams of
protein at each meal." This is in line with the CDC's recommendation for
women ages 19 to 70 to get an average of 46 grams of protein per day. But
since everyone's weight and activity level matter, this handy chart should help
you determine exactly how much protein you need in a day.
So why only 20 to 30 grams at each meal?
If you've heard that eating more protein is better for weight loss, it's true,
but Leslie says, "The body can only absorb 20 to 30 grams at one time.
Eating this amount of protein is a good target per meal because that will help
with satiety and be the max your body can absorb at the meal for muscle
repair." This leaves room for the other nutrients your body needs. For the
perfect weight-loss meal, you always want to combine your protein with carbs
for sustained energy and both fibre and healthy fats to keep you feeling fuller
longer.
So there's no need to eat
scrambled eggs with your morning protein smoothie. And Leslie says you
definitely don't want to focus on just animal protein. Plant-based protein like
legumes, leafy greens, whole grains, nuts, and soy products offer fibre and are
necessary for everyone to "help reduce heart disease, cancer, and can help
with weight control."
A ketogenic diet is a low-carb,
high-fat, adequate protein diet that was initially developed in the ’20s to help people with neurological diseases such as epilepsy. On a ketogenic diet, you’re attempting to get your body into ketosis,
which is a metabolic state where you begin to use fat as your primary source of
fuel.
What Is Ketosis?
Usually, our bodies rely on carbs as
the first source of energy. Carbs are broken down into sugar when you eat them,
leading to the production of insulin, a hormone that tells your cells to use
the sugar for energy now or store it for use later.
“When you only eat a very limited
amount of carbs, your body breaks down fatty acids from fat stores and forms
ketones, which are released into the bloodstream by the liver,” says Alissa Rumsey M.S., R.D., C.S.C.S., and spokesperson for the Academy of
Nutrition and Dietetics. “Ketosis occurs when blood ketones are higher than
normal.”
This may seem like a silly question, but it's one
we've all pondered at least a few times along our weight-loss journeys.
Where does the fat go when we lose weight? Do the fat cells burst and flush
out? Do we expel it during bathroom breaks? Do little fairies fly in at
night and swipe away all that unwanted jiggle? Let's get into the science,
dispel some myths, and answer some (fat-)burning questions.
First of all, there is a difference between weight
loss and fat loss. Weight loss is an overall decrease in the number on the
scale. This could be from water loss, muscle loss, fat loss, or even getting a
drastic haircut (and no, we're not referencing your fringe in school). Fat
loss, however, is the amount of body fat we lose, and this is done when the
body burns off more calories than it consumes in a given day.
One of the more popular methods people use to lose
weight these days is counting macronutrients, a method that tracks the
amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fat you eat every day. Rather than
counting calories, counting macros is said to be a healthier, more effective
way of tracking the food you're eating and how that contributes to your weight loss
because it looks more at nutrients.
Although there's certainly nothing wrong with
counting macros — it can offer useful insight into your overall diet — it
may not be the best, most sustainable way to get your health on track. Julieanna
Hever, MS, RD, CPT, certified plant-based dietitian and health and fitness expert,
explained why you might want to take a step away from your macro calculator and
instead develop a more holistic relationship with your food.