Top 10 Tips to Weigh Less, Live More
1. Feed your soul with primary food. Friends and family, physical activity, spirituality and a satisfying career feed us. Lack of primary food creates over-reliance on secondary, edible food.
2. Drink water. Most people are chronically dehydrated. We often mistake thirst for hunger. If you feel hungry between meals, drink a glass of water before giving into cravings. Limit liquid calories from soda and juice.
3. Eat a plant-based diet. Plant foods are typically lower in fat and calories and higher in filling fiber than meat, dairy and processed foods, while providing loads of essential nutrients.
4. Chew your food well. Digestion begins in the mouth. By thoroughly chewing your food, your body will better assimilate nutrients; you will also slow down your eating. It takes about 20 minutes for your brain to register that it is full. By slowing your eating, you’ll feel full and satisfied on less food.
5. Eat real food. Avoid products with high-fructose corn syrup or a long list of unpronounceable ingredients. They tend to be highly processed, lacking the nutrients your body needs, and are often loaded with empty calories.
6. Eat breakfast. Skipping meals causes your blood sugar levels to peak and dip, affecting your energy and moods. It can also cause overeating later on because you’re so hungry.
7. Eat mindfully. Turn off the TV. Get away from the computer. Sit down and savor the food you are eating with no distractions.
8. Get moving. Do any type of physical activity every day. Find movement or exercise you enjoy.
9. Sleep, rest and relax. When you are sleep-deprived or stressed, your body will crave energy, causing cravings for sugary snacks and caffeine as an energy boost.
10. Schedule fun time. Boredom and stress can lead to overeating. Make sure to take time to laugh, play and participate in activities that bring you joy.
Weigh Less, Live More
Safe ways to drop pounds and feel satisfied:
Find love. Primary food trumps secondary food. People often reach for food to fulfill other nourishment lacking from their lives.
Drink water. We often mistake dehydration for hunger. Drink a glass of water and wait a few minutes. Then reassess your hunger.
Eat lots of vegetables, fruits and dense, whole grains. These foods provide healthy fiber and usable energy to keep you feeling full and energized longer.
Eat good fats. Healthy fats keep you satisfied and have a host of digestive and health benefits.
Eat mindfully. Turn off the TV and other distractions, appreciate your food and pay attention to what you’re eating to feel full and satisfied after you eat.
Share meals with others. It makes mealtime more fun and meaningful.
Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. Skipping meals affects blood sugar levels, mood and lends to overeating when you become too hungry.
Use smaller dishware. People tend to eat more when their plate or bowl holds more food. It takes less food to create a plateful using a smaller dish.
Chew well. Put your fork down between bites, slow down. Chewing well aids digestion and slowing down gives your brain time to register you’re full before you overeat.
Cook more. Cooking at home saves money and allows you to control the quality of ingredients and the amounts of fat, salt and sugar used. Plus it will be made with love.
Add in to crowd out. Don’t deprive yourself by taking away foods you enjoy. Adding in new, healthier choices will naturally crowd out some of the less healthy foods.
Get moving. Any type of exercise will rev up your metabolism, aid digestion and reduce stress. Take the stairs, walk to a further train or bus stop, do something you enjoy.
Slow down. Being calm, taking time to sit down and eat more slowly, allows you to take in the tastes, smells and textures of your food, leaving you more satisfied.
Get a good night’s sleep. We often reach for quick energy foods like caffeine and sugar when we’re lacking energy from too little rest and relaxation.
Entertain yourself. Before eating out of sheer boredom, reach for a book, an art or home improvement project, or any activity that brings you pleasure.
Weight loss problems in America:
Lack of primary food. A lack of meaningful relationships and careers, spirituality and physical activity leaves us feeling “hungry.”
Processed foods. They are cheap, convenient and usually full of sodium, sugar, chemicals and empty calories.
Availability of fresh whole foods. In many communities, finding fresh produce and protein sources can be a challenge, where processed foods are in abundance.
Sedentary lifestyle. To maintain a healthy weight, one needs to burn as much fuel as one takes in. A sedentary lifestyle sets us up to eat more calories than we use.
Supersized portions. The larger the portion, the more we eat.
Supersized dishware. Dishware has become larger and larger over the years. It takes more food to make a large dish look full.
Advertising and marketing. As a general rule, the worse a food is for you, the more it is advertised. How many ads for quinoa or kale have you seen?
Misinformation and disinformation. We are bombarded with information about food, nutritional data, health benefits and risks; often by special interest groups. People are generally confused about what they are supposed to eat.
Cost of food. Processed, mass produced foods and subsidized the crops to make them are disproportionately less expensive than fresh produce and sustainably grown, whole foods.
Time management. Busy lifestyles promote fast food and eating on the run. Often people feel they just don’t have time to cook.
Stress. Prolonged stress increases a hormone that slows the metabolism, can affect blood sugar levels, fat storage, and increase cravings for fatty, salty and sugary foods.
Diets don’t work:
Not sustainable. Diets can be alienating, stressful, depressing and restrictive.
Not Bio individual. Diets don’t take lifestyle and individuality into consideration
High Cost. Special diets often require expensive specialty foods or prepared meals.
Closing:
We all know things we could do to take better care of ourselves, but often don’t do them.
The key to success is having support.
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