I’ve been on a health kick and I’ve been reading up a lot on nutrition. I’m going to give the ten most worthwhile tips that will hopefully stop people from falling into pit holes and improve the nutrition!
Here are my ten top tips!
#1 – Think “lifestyle changes” not “diets”
To start off, have a think about what is most likely to make people gain weight after diets. They go back to eating what they ate before. This is why any change that only lasts for a specified duration will not work. If you go on a two or four-week diet, you’ll only achieve temporary success because if you finish a diet and go back to eating the way you did before, then, of course, the weight will go back on! You’ll be eating more calories and eating in the same way that led to you going on a diet! That’s why instead of going on a temporary diet, you need to make permanent lifestyle changes ad take it in slow steps if necessary to achieve your goals.
#2 – Set Goals
To keep yourself on the track you need to set yourself some goals. Firstly, decide how much you want to lose. Write down how many pounds you want to lose and your target weight. Based on how many pounds you want to lose, estimate a number of weeks it will take you to reach your goal. On average, a pound a week is considered a steady and healthy amount to lose. However, a sudden change in diet could result in a much more aggressive lost in the first few weeks.
Now for a bit more maths and numbers, google “bmr calculator” and work out your basal metabolic rate. This is the minimum number of calories your body needs to function while resting. You should never go below this number while dieting. Most websites will also describe the harris benedict formula where you multiply your bmr by a number between 1 and 2 to get an idea of how many calories you need to fuel your lifestyle. The number varies depending on how much exercise you do. This will give you an ideal calorie range to stick to.
#3 – Never go grocery shopping hungry
This one is a bit more self-explanatory. If you go grocery shopping hungry you’ll be more likely to pick up treats you don’t need and which are not part of your new lifestyle. Eat a small meal or snack just before you go shopping and it will be easier to stay focused and just buy what you need.
#4 – Allow yourself a treat a day
Weight loss is difficult and it is very hard to cut out your favorite treats. Allow yourself one treat a day up to 100 or 150 calories out of your allowance and it will help keep you sane and make your weight loss easier. Everyone has a favorite food they can’t do without and it’s possible to enjoy treats as part of a healthy lifestyle. Put a calorie limit on it and continue to enjoy it in small amounts as part of your new lifestyle.
#5 – Experiment with food
Weight loss will be easier if you enjoy the food you’re eating. For the first week or two experiment with vegetables, fruit and dairy and find the healthy variants you like the most. Once you find some fruit and veg you like, incorporate it into your new diet. It will be much easier to eat than food you don’t like but simply bought because it’s healthy.
#6 – Find healthy alternatives
Pick out your favorite meals and snacks, especially the more unhealthy ones, and try to come up with healthy alternatives. If you love pizza you could try making your own with a thin wholemeal base and lots of veggies, if you have a sweet tooth you could eat sweet fruits like grapes, melon or strawberries. The web is your oyster for this tip. There are tonnes of websites that will offer healthy recipes for your favorite foods, go hunt them out and find a way to enjoy some of your favorite foods.
#7 – Swap white grains for whole grains
The title says it all really. Whole grains products have more fibre and vitamins and is better than white bread which has all the goodness removed and is just empty calories. Try swapping white for wholegrain when buying bread, pasta, and rice.
#8 – Never weigh yourself more than once a week
Weight can fluctuate a lot throughout the day and from one day to the next. Don’t weight yourself every day because you might find yourself a bit higher or lower than normal without explanation. Pick a day of the week and stick to it. Also, try to do at the same time each day. Your weight will fluctuate as the day goes on, you are more likely to weight less in the morning because the weight of your day’s worth of food isn’t being taken into account. This doesn’t mean that you’re actually losing and gaining this much weight on a day to day basis after you eat, the food will take a while to be broken down so the weight of the food inside you will add to the number on the scales. It will not, however, all be stored as body fat. You should, therefore, try to weigh yourself at roughly the same time of day each week.
#9 – Keep a food diary and calorie count
A lot of people probably don’t know how many calories are in the food they’re eating so it’s a good idea to keep a log for a few weeks and keep track. This will greatly help you see how the food you should be eaten and what adjustments you need to make. You can get nutritional information off food packets or online for restaurants and takeaways.
#10 – If you fall off the bandwagon, get back on!
Don’t let a failure put you off for good! Weight loss is hard! And it will take some trial and error to find the right balance for your needs and goals. If you find yourself binging, just try to move forward and continue on in a healthy fashion for your next meal. One slip up, even if it’s a big one won’t ruin everything you’ve done so far.
Contributed byhttp://dietless.org/
