Many people out there are trying to stick to a diet to no avail. Try as they might, they just do not have the will power to go through the motions of changing their lifestyle. Some of this is because they may be a little too set in their ways, but a lot of it has to do with the fact that they’re not experiencing results.
If you want to lose weight, try cutting sugar from your diet. Sugar adds a lot of unneeded calories to your diet. Sugar will often give you an energy boost, but it doesn’t last nearly as long as healthy foods and can leave you feeling drained afterwards. If you cut out sugar, you’ll cut out a lot of junk food. The less junk food you eat, the less calories you’ll take in.
Weight yourself once a week to check your progress. Try to do your weekly weight check-in on the same day around the same time of day each week. This gives you an accurate picture of your weight loss progress and helps you track how much weight you are losing.
When dieting for weight loss make sure you eat a variety of foods. Eating the same foods daily is boring and you will eventually end up eating unhealthy foods instead. Planning meals with a variety of healthy foods helps you stay on your diet and makes your taste buds happy.
Since you spend most of your day at work, use any extra time that you have to add a little exercise to your day. Choosing to use the stairs and visiting with a co-worker instead of calling them can both help you lose weight; every little bit of physical activity adds up and helps you reach your goals.
Drinking tea can be a great way to lose weight and become healthier overall. You don’t need to go all-out with fancy china and small cakes and sandwiches. In fact, that would make it quite a bit less nutritious! Just brew tea and drink it when you’d usually drink water. Sweeten it if you like, but sparingly.
If you have decided to go to the gym to lose weight, make sure that you stretch all of your muscles for at least ten minutes before you run or lift. Stretching is important, as it will help to extend your workout as long as possible, increasing the pounds that you lose.
Pre-package your favorite healthy snack into appropriate portions. By doing this you can easily grab a healthy snack at all times. It will also help because it will be pre-portioned out for your and you will be less likely to over indulge on your favorite snack. A little pre-packaging will help your weight loss right along.
Avoid excessive ketchup and mustard use on your burgers and hot dogs. Many condiments have lots of sugar and adds extra calories to your meal. If you find you cannot resist the temptation, only use a small amount of the condiment on your food.
If you are used to snacking throughout the day, try to limit your amount. You should aim for having two snacks each day. If you feel the need to snack, try to get into the habit of reaching for water instead of your snack. Drinking water can help your overall health and also help you lose weight.
One of the easiest and most effective ways to hold yourself accountable to a healthy eating regimen is to keep a daily log of everything you eat or drink over the course of the day. You have a number of options here: Keep a small notebook or pad of paper with you or log onto any of the dozen or so online food intake trackers offered free of charge. If you have an iPhone or other Smartphone, there are also a variety of easy to use apps that serve the same purpose, many of which are free or less than one dollar.
If you are eating out and you feel like you want to have a dessert, you should stick to those that contain raw fresh fruit. Having a fruit salad or a tart is much more healthy than having something chocolate, or something that is filled with some type of cream.
If you are going to order a salad while eating out at a restaurant, you should ask them to put the salad dressing on the side. Most restaurants use twice as much as they should so this will give you the chance to control how much of it you actually consume.
When ordering food at restaurants or fast food places, buy smaller portions. If you usually buy a foot long sandwich, buy a 6 inch instead. When at a movie theater buy a small popcorn. If you are going through a a drive-through, order a small hamburger and small fries instead of “super sizing it.” You will eat less calories per meal.
If you overeat, you are likely consuming more food than you need to eat because you eat too quickly or because you just enjoy the comfort it brings. There are other factors too – it’s complex. whatever the reason, overeating can make you feel bloated, tired, and guilty. To avoid overeating, you should eat until you do not feel hungry, and to recognize when this is, you must slow down.
Remember, the key to staying motivated and on track with any weight-loss program is to see and feel the results. Once you realize you can lose the weight, you will lose the weight. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and when you can produce some results, you will develop a stronger will to achieve.