You have probably heard about the Atkins diet and the South Beach diet, and if you haven’t, then it’s time you should have. There are numerous fad diets that promise to help you lose weight fast, but none of them hold up long to scientific scrutiny.
That’s not to say that there aren’t tips and advice for weight loss that can help you shed the pounds. Here are four pieces of advice that have stood the test of time and may just help you to lose a few pounds.
Eat What You Want
One of the primary keys to weight loss is to ensure that you are consuming fewer calories than you burn. When you eat foods that are high in calories, such as candy, cake, or ice cream, you’re setting yourself up for weight gain. So it’s essential that you eat clean, healthy food – ideally the food that you crave. If you want to lose weight, then you should be looking to cut back on the foods that you think are causing you to gain weight, such as biscuits, chocolate, potato chips, and ice cream.
If cutting back on the foods you crave doesn’t feel easy, then perhaps it’s time to look into other options. It’s well known that some people experience benefits from taking supplements, such as vitamin C or garcinia cambogia, so if these foods are helping you to lose weight then why not give them a try? Talk to your doctor or nutritionist about what might be causing you to put on weight and they can advise you on the best diet for your body type, activity level, and lifestyle.
Reduce Your Stress
A major component of weight gain is due to chronic stress. When you’re constantly in a state of stress, your body releases chemicals that act in the same way as sugar – causing you to store fat. The best way to reduce your stress levels is to take a step back, breathe, and try to relax. You may find that having a vacation or a night out with friends is enough to reduce the stress that you’re feeling. If you think that staying indoors with TV movies is making you anxious, then get out and go for a walk, play a game, or meet an old friend for coffee.
Reducing your stress levels will help you to lose weight. Think of all the anxiety that you’re experiencing as unwanted calories that you’re storing. You’ll be glad that you decided to take a vacation after all!
Eat More Fruit
When you eat lots of fruit, you’re automatically giving your body the raw materials it needs to function normally. This includes the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that your body needs to stay healthy. This also means that fruit is an ideal food for weight loss. When you eat a piece of fruit, you’re satiating your hunger pangs and preventing calories from being stored as fat. Furthermore, fruit is high in fiber, which helps to keep your digestive system working efficiently. If you want to lose weight, then eat more fruit.
Fruit not only helps to keep you healthy, but it can also be used to cook various dishes. Many people enjoy experimenting with different foods and flavors, so having kitchen staples like apples, pears, and peaches on hand provides great flexibility when it comes to making meals. Even a simple salad can be transformed into a unique tasting fruit feast. As the seasons change, so does the flavor profile of fruit. Depending on what’s available where you live, you may want to adjust your diet to include more of what’s locally grown and in-season.
Add More Vegetables
You should be making a conscious effort to include more vegetables in your diet. When you do this, you’re assisting your body in being healthier, which in turn helps you to lose weight. You may be used to eating meat and potatoes, but adding more vegetables to your diet will help to improve the quality of your food and assist you in shedding those extra pounds. You should be looking to add more and more vegetables to your diet, ultimately leading to a complete plant-based diet. This may be difficult to achieve if you’re not used to cooking vegetables, so learning how to prepare them is a good place to start. You may also want to try different recipes, as you’ll have plenty of ingredients to work with. Even a humble cabbage can be transformed into a vibrant, colorful salad if you add the right ingredients.
Getting used to eating more vegetables may be difficult, as you’ll have to take out the foods that you’re used to eating regularly. This means that you may have to make some adjustments to your schedule, as you’ll have to limit your consumption of certain foods that contain carbohydrates. This is why it’s important to focus on adding more vegetables to your diet and not removing any, as removing food groups from your diet, no matter what diet plan you’re following, will never lead to weight loss.
Watch What You Drink
If you’re regularly consuming alcohol, then this is a no-no in terms of weight loss. Alcohol is a drink that contains calories and doesn’t provide your body with nutrients that it needs. If you want to lose weight, then cut back on the alcoholic drinks that you’re drinking or avoid them completely. There are various non-alcoholic drinks that you could try that are lower in calories, so if you’re looking for a drink then choose something else.
Certain drinks, such as red wine, contain components that assist in digestion. Some people enjoy drinking alcohol, as it improves their sense of taste and enhances their social experience. If you’re looking to cut down on your drinking, then opt for a sparkling water or avoid alcohol altogether.
There are numerous ways in which you can lose weight. You don’t necessarily have to be restricted to following a fad diet in order to achieve your weight loss goals. Instead, try incorporating the above tips and advice and you may just find that losing weight is, indeed, as easy as eating what you want and minimizing your stress.