As a personal trainer and a fitness instructor, I am constantly asked, “What are the secrets to weight loss?” So it’s time to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
While there are a lot of great weight loss tips on our homepage, these are some extra tips you can use to make reducing body fat for the long-term a very real possibility.
To Control Weight for a Lifetime:
• Don’t eat more calories than you burn. To lose weight, eat fewer calories than you burn.
• Think about what you eat. Is it going to make you look or feel the way you want? Will it bring you closer to your goal? Or will it make you feel miserable, run down and take you farther from what you want? Yeah, I know, when I was younger I could eat blah, blah too and not gain weight.
But guess what? We don’t move enough now to get away with it. You want it? Move more. You cannot or don’t want to move more? Then don’t eat it!
• The saying “You are what you eat” is true. Before eating a food, ask yourself “Do I want to BE that?!?”
• Eat smaller portion sizes. Most restaurants give you way too much food to be eaten at one sitting. If we were served a reasonable amounts of food at a restaurant, we would be appalled and never go back, muttering “rip off” the whole time.
At home, most of us still load our plates with the mindset of when we were younger and more active. This is one of the most difficult adjustments for a lot of people. You absolutely cannot eat the amount of food you would like, sorry. Seconds? Doubtful.
• Eat slowly. This will give your body the opportunity to sense the food coming in and register fullness. When you are full, bad foods lose much of their appeal.
• Dessert is a habit, not a physiological need for survival. Habits can be broken. Just get out of the habit.
• Just because you feel the desire to eat does not mean you are in need of food. It is important that we understand the difference between hunger and appetite.
Hunger is the true physiological need for nutrition. Appetite is a desire to eat and has nothing to do with need. Most people consume food based upon appetite – environmental and learned eating behaviors. Heard this one before?
After eating a large meal, you utter the words, “I need something sweet.” This is a conditioned response, possibly going back to the days of “clean your plate, and you can have dessert”. We are creatures of habit and if you are used to eating dessert after dinner, it will take awhile to break the habit.
• Do not buy junk food. If it is there, it is too easy to eat it. You cannot eat what you do not have; if you have a craving for junk and it is not there, then no harm done.
• If you must order pizza, get thin crust (no cheese in the middle or other stuff like that), ask for “easy on the cheese,” steer clear of the pepperoni and sausage (try chicken, Canadian bacon or ham), but feel free to pile on the veggies. And by the way, no you do not need the cheesy bread.
• Instead of ordering pizza, make one using the pre-made crusts available at stores. Use the thin crust, low fat or non fat cheeses, low fat ham or turkey pepperoni and your other favorite toppings.
• When eating pizza, don’t eat the whole thing!
• Know when you are going to eat. If you know that you will be eating every four hours, stick to that plan. Do not eat before or after, even if someone is trying to get you to or if food is available.
• Sweets, cookies, cakes, pies, doughnuts and ice cream are foolish food choices, and there is really no justification for eating them on a regular basis. The previous items in low fat or no fat versions are still foolish food choices, and now you are kidding yourself and trying to justify eating poorly.
• Yes, you can eat fast food. Repeat after me:”Grilled chicken sandwich.” If you get cheese, no mayo. You want mayo? No cheese. Fries? No.
This is by no means an all inclusive list, but I think you get the point. There is no secret to weight loss and control or best foods to take. In today’s society, it takes diligence and restraint. High calorie, palatable food is everywhere.
The big problem is that few people move much during the day. This lowers the caloric requirements for maintenance. If fat loss is the goal, then calories must be below maintenance. This leaves little room for error or extravagance. Ultimately, it comes down to the dreaded “L” word: Lifestyle.
You do not have to eat perfect every day or even exercise every day, but you need to make it a regular part of your lifestyle if you want to rapidly lose weight and then keep it off.