The vital need to lose weight has become the new norm. Having a healthy weight is one of the very first steps we take to stay healthy and away from the many cardiovascular diseases such as stroke, heart attacks, and hypertension.
Researchers have discovered so many easy ways to lose weight over time, here are some of the most underrated weight loss tricks;
- Keep up with your regular meals.
- Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables.
- Exercising often.
- Reading food labels.
- Drinking enough water.
- The small plate theory.
- Eating more high-fiber foods.
- Alcohol.
- Meal Planning.
1. Keeping up with your regular meals
Most of us would often think that because we want to cut down some weight, we’ll need to cut off one or two meals. It may work in a few circumstances, but not always why? Eating at normal meal times gives your body time to burn calories.
Moreover, it denies you a chance to recklessly snack. Snacking only introduces so much saturated fat, added sugars, and salts that are what we should always avoid for faster weight loss. This is why regular meal times are encouraged.
2. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables.
This should never have to be over-emphasized. Fruits are a very good source of vitamins and minerals.
They are also very low in calories and fat yet very high in dietary fiber. The dietary fiber slows down digestion, giving a feeling of satiety, hence eventually helping you control portion sizes.
For us who want to lose a few pounds, we should choose foods that are;
low in calories, low in fat, and very high in dietary fiber
This is why nutritionists have encouraged half of your plate to be vegetables to boost vegetable intake.
3. Exercising Often
Exercise and diet go hand in hand. As easy as this may sound, it’s often disregarded. The need for exercise is to burn the calories, and fat, from the foods that you eat.
This only tells how important exercise is. You cannot lose the weight you want through exercise alone, as exercise and diet work together.
4. Reading Food labels
Reading food labels is actually a requirement. The nutrition information section of a food package can put you up to speed on what amount of which ingredient is in that particular food.
That’s in addition to pointing out any allergies. Food labels simply help us to make healthier options. Low fat, low carb, and low cholesterol are just some additional information you may get in that nutrition information section.
5. Drinking enough water
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To drink or not to drink water is not even a topic of discussion. water plays so many functions in the body including;
- Getting rid of wastes through urine.
- Improving your digestion and bowel movements.
- keeping a normal body temperature, and so on.
As much as your body needs water during hot climates, during and after exercise, and when you are sick with a fever, diarrhea, and vomiting, water plays a major role in weight loss as well.
As most people may confuse thirst for hunger and end up grabbing unhealthy snacks instead of a glass of water.
Increasing your intake of water every day can help you control your portion sizes. Drinking a glass of water before a meal has also shown evidence of help with portion control.
Water helps prevent dehydration.
6. The small plate theory
This narrows down to using your eyes for portion control. The bigger the plate, the more food you will serve.
However, when you get used to a smaller plate, you will also slowly start to get used to smaller portions of food. Which is a good thing, especially for weight loss.
There is also the aspect of learning to read your internal cues, and this can only be achieved when you take your time to chew food slowly before swallowing.
This allows you to know when you are full enough and then stop eating.
7. Eating more high-fiber foods
Just like fruits and vegetables, whole grains and legumes will also give you substantial amounts of dietary fiber.
Dietary Fiber helps slow down digestion and gives you a feeling of satiety, which means you will be able to avoid occasionally binging on unhealthy snacks.
Most snacks already contain lots of added sugars, salts, and unsaturated fats which are the top three things you should avoid right from the beginning of your weight loss journey. The three culprits;
Added sugars, added salts, saturated fats
8. Alcohol
For one, alcohol causes disorientation. That means you may not be able to make informed decisions when drunk.
Alcohol has too many calories that eventually lead to weight gain But then contains very little nutritional value.
Because of the too many calories in alcohol, your body is forced to start burning the calories in alcohol first and leaves the fat untouched, which is not a good thing.
- Alcohol disorients you and reduces your interest to exercise and dieting.
- Alcohol is high in calories.
- Alcohol is an empty calorie.
- Alcohol interferes with your body’s metabolism.
9. Meal planning
Exhausting? You may feel, but through meal planning, you can easily remove foods that are not really good for you. Meal planning also prevents the consumption of junk foods which we are really looking forward to cutting off. Meal planning ensures;
- The foods are in adequate amounts.
- Meals are balanced.
- Variety.
- Moderation.
- Nourishment.
Meal planning is a very crucial part of healthy living and taking into consideration which foods, and how much they cost can put you up to speed on exactly how much money you often spend on food, and therefore you will be able to plan for the future.
Meal planning can be a real hassle but it’s very important to make this a routine, and I have found this very helpful myself, sit down on one of your free days, or the weekend and plan for the coming week’s meals.
Important is to involve the whole family in the process of meal planning to ensure the needs of all family members have been catered for.
