Weight Loss Tips

 Are you looking for a way to loose weight permanently? Have diets just made your weight jump up and down like a yo-yo? Diets and pills really are our worst enemies because they make us think we can continue with our same unhealthy habits by just taking a pill to fix it. These pills often wear out our adrenal system and make us more susceptible to weight gain. Try these tips as you are looking for a way to stay at a healthy weight for you.

 

1. My skinny friends all told me—it is all in what you eat.  If you eat more calories than you expend—you will gain weight.  That is painful but true.  One of the greatest things to do for yourself is take your favorite junk foods and using the calorie counts for them, figure out how long you will need to do your favorite exercise to burn that many calories.  Put reminders about the time you figured out around the house where you will see them.  This helps in making choices.

 

1. Set a realistic goal for a short period of time—say three weeks—and visualize how much better you will feel when you reach this goal.  Each action you take will either move you closer to your goal or farther away from the goal.  So when you decide what to eat, ask yourself if you are moving closer to or farther away from the goal?

 

1. The idea of a “diet” sets you up for failure.  Don’t go on a diet ever again.  Look for lifestyle changes that you can make.  The first day is the hardest but anything that you can do for three weeks will become a habit.  

 

1. Looking at the new Michigan University “wellness food pyramid” you will discover that the recommendation is 6 – 13 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.  If you just try to get that many servings in per day, you will find you have lots less room for unhealthy foods.

 

1. Find an exercise that you enjoy and then do it every day.  If you can’t get an hour all at once, break up the day by doing 10 or 15 minutes throughout the day so that you get your hour in somewhere.  I discovered the latest research says that walking slowly even burns more fat than running.  Go out and enjoy an evening stroll each morning and evening and soon your tight pants will feel lots better.

 

1. Something rather motivational is to take a “before” picture so you can track your results.  Unless you look in the mirror, you visualize yourself at least two sizes smaller in your memory.  The picture is very important in helping you see yourself as others see you.

 

1. Learn to read labels and avoid trans fats and high fructose corn syrup.  High fructose corn syrup is causing a plague of diabetes in our nation and trans fats are plugging up our arteries so we don’t need these in our diet anyway.  You will be amazed at how many foods contain these two deadly ingredients. 

 

1. Try a three-day vegetable juice or raw food fast.  This will greatly increase your will-power and you feel great at the end of three days.  This decreases your craving for sugar and puts you on the path to success.

 

1. Eliminate fast foods completely from your diet.  They are your worst enemy—high in fats and sugars.  When you shop try to buy only from the perimeter of the store.  That means—fruits and vegetables, dairy, meats and whole grain breads and cereals.  All the packaged food is not really food—just filler and empty carbs.

 

1.  Make a goal of one pound a week.  If you don’t lose one pound a week then you probably need to push the exercise more.   If you aim for more than a pound a week, it probably isn’t a lifestyle change but a “diet” that you won’t stay on.    

 

1. Find a buddy to exercise with and who will hold you accountable if you are not losing at least one pound a week.

 

1. Keep a food journal for three weeks so you can see where you are sabotaging yourself.   Keep in mind that carbohydrates turn to sugar in our system and our body stores these sugars as fat to be used later when the body needs it.  Dieting sends signals to the body that food is scarce and needs to be stored up for “hard times.”

 

1. Make up healthy snacks and keep them handy in the refrigerator so when you get a craving to eat, you won’t be tempted to eat the sugary junk food just because it is the easiest thing to grab.   Suggestions might be:  10-12 almonds, celery sticks with cheese or peanut butter, apple slices with peanut butter or almond butter, half a grapefruit, etc.  The goal is to use raw food together with a healthy fat that will slow the sugar entering the system. 

 

1. Eating five small meals is better than three large meals.  This helps to keep from over eating.  If you get too hungry then there is a tendency to “binge” or over eat.  Eating some small protein item before starting to cook will help to curb the appetite.  Eating while cooking often results in calories equal to two meals.

 

1. Fat-free diets do not work and are not good for you.  Your body and your brain need fats to survive.  We need essential fatty acids—Omega 3, 6, and 9.  Olive oil, flax seed oil, and cold water fish oil are good sources for these oils.  These oils, however, should not be for cooking as heat destroys the omega properties.  Add these oils to your food after cooking or to salad dressings.  Avoid fried foods.