A Diet May Be A Four Letter Word, But It’s A Good One
If permanent weight loss is your goal, your key to success is not a diet. Instead, you need to focus on several little things that you can easily do every day. The following tips focus on the two cardinal rules of weight loss: eat fewer calories and burn more calories. Follow them, and your weight will go down.
Make raw foods, especially raw vegetables, a cornerstone of any weight-loss diet. Cooking typically leaches vital nutrients and vitamins out of food. These losses are most evident with vegetables. Beyond the technical, nutritional benefits, a dieter will likely find that raw, fresh foods taste better than their canned, preserved or cooked, counterparts.
Splurge on a great tasting meal made of low calorie foods every once in a while. Some foods that fall under this category include lobster, shrimp, and salmon. You will be rewarding yourself with a delicious meal while still sticking to low calorie intake. Looking forward to these meals can help you stick to your goals.
The key to weight loss is taking everything in moderation. The goal is to stop excessive overindulgence. A small amount of saturated fat and carbohydrates is acceptable. Do not try to completely remove enjoyable foods from the diet. Instead, choose smaller portions and moderate the intake of unhealthy items that are not beneficial.
To enhance your weight loss efforts, you should try keeping a diary. By maintaining a journal, you can pinpoint triggers for emotional eating and overeating. To keep a weight loss diary, simply record what you eat and what you are thinking or feeling at the time, for example, whether you are feeling stressed or tired.
All fats are not bad. You need fat to survive. there are good and bad fats though and knowing which ones to eat and to avoid can help with making better diet choices. Try to avoid or minimize intake of saturated and trans fats. Try to eat more good fats like monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
Eat at earlier times of the day, finishing supper while it is still early in the evening. The earlier you eat, the better your metabolism works it off. Studies show that your metabolism slows considerably during the night time as your body is preparing for rest. If you finish your dinner while it is still early, you will burn it off much quicker.
Not all fat is ‘bad’. In fact, our bodies need fat to aid nutrient absorption. It’s just a case of choosing the ‘good’ fat. Replace saturated fats and trans fats with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. You will find these good fats in nuts, olive oil, tuna, salmon, peanut butter and soybeans.
Stress can not only cause your motivation to decrease when losing weight, but it can also cause your body to put on more fat around your midsection. Stress can also lead you to make poor choices when emotional eating hits. Try to cope with stress through exercise, meditation, or deep breathing exercises.
As you can see, these tips are all simple little changes that you can easily fit into your daily life. Although they are only small things, they can make a big difference over time. By making a commitment to trying each of these suggestions, gradually you will see your weight decrease and your energy increase.