How to Lose Weight Naturally
Have you ever wondered how to
lose weight naturally? Natural weight decrease is the most simple and effective
way for permanent weight loss. It’s not about dieting; it’s about making
gradual changes to your eating habits that will help you lose the weight for
good. See step 1 to get started!
Set Achievable Goals
Once you have made the decision to lose weight, set some
realistic and achievable goals that you can follow. Goal setting will help you
to take action, and by taking that action you will start to see some weight
loss results.
Don't get discouraged if you don't see
an immediate change. Healthy, natural weight-loss that won't come back takes
time, because it is about making new, healthier, habits
Exercise
People don't get enough exercise but it doesn’t mean that you
need to spend hours at the gym to have a healthy, exercise program. Even doing
things where you walk to the grocery store, or you take 15 minute breaks at
work and go for a walk, can help with your weight-loss and your health.
Exercise boosts your mood because it
releases mood-boosting chemicals, which help make you happier, healthier, and
more confident about yourself, which helps regulate your eating, keeping your
calorie intake under control, and helps you feel as though you are
accomplishing your goals.
Find exercise that you enjoy, that way
you'll be excited for it rather than dreading it. Practice yoga, take dance
lessons, go for a run in the prettiest neighborhood in your town or city. Don't
think of it as a punishment, try and think of how you are benefiting your body
and your health!
Get an exercise buddy. It is much more
fun and easier to stay on track with someone else to help you monitor yourself
and to talk to.
Get Enough Sleep
Not getting enough sleep worsens your
overall mental and physical health and makes it harder to
shed pounds and to keep them off. Most adults in this day and age do not get
enough sleep, so try and make sure that you get about 8 hours of sleep each
night if you're an adult (as a teenager you should get a bit more sleep).
Make sure to shut off all electronic
devices at least 30 minutes before bedtime. This means computer, iPod, cell
phone, etc. The light from that messes with your circadian system, slowing your
biological clock and making it harder to regulate your sleep appropriately.
The more sleep you get before midnight,
the better rested you will be in the morning. 10 o'clock at night is a good
time to go to bed.
Make Slow Changes
Trying to change
everything at once is going to completely overwhelm your system and make it
difficult to stick to the changes you're trying to make. That's why so many
crash diets don't particularly work, or rather the pounds you shed come back
when you're off them. Losing weight naturally and keeping that weight off means
making total lifestyle changes.
Start off with smaller changes. Add a
15 minute exercise routine to your day, and switch from using butter to olive
oil when you're cooking.
Start shifting how you think about
food, so that you stop using it as a comfort routine (like you eat when you're
sad, or bored, or upset, etc.). Start thinking about food as something you're
putting in your body to fuel you, which means you want the best fuel possible
and that means the healthier eating options.
Eat to satisfy your hunger. Don't eat when
you're not hungry and try and make different comforting habits (like drinking
tea instead of going immediately for the chocolate) or finding things to
substitute if you like junk food
Take an Honest Look at Your Eating
Habits
Chances are you don' realize just how
much you actually eat during each day. Making simple changes and taking control
of what you eat is crucial if you want to lose weight without dieting. Eating
sensibly and having a healthy, balanced diet is the healthy way to lose weight
naturally.
Safe natural weight loss shouldn't mean
starvation; depriving yourself of food can have an opposite effect and it's
terrible for your body.
Eat on a schedule
Instead of eating 3
large meals a day, opt to eat regularly throughout the day. Having 5 or 6
smaller (and healthy) meals can actually help you lose weight by boosting your
metabolism naturally and it is easier to stick to your weight-loss plan.
Always, always, always eat breakfast.
Skipping meals will not make you skinny, in fact it can have the opposite
effect. Skipping meals makes your body store more calories, because you're
going into "starvation mode." This also means that if you skip
breakfast, you tend to eat more at lunch and dinner and have less time to work
off the calories.
Start off your meal with soup or salad, as that way
you'll fill up more on lower calorie food before you start your main course,
and then you'll eat less of the main course.
Opt for Balance and Moderation
Don't start obsessing
about counting calories and punishing yourself by never eating any sweets or
fatty food again. Instead, opt to eat fewer of the less healthier things and
less frequently. This will help keep you from obsessing over the food you can't
eat.
If you eat a meal that's high in fat or
sugar (like you go out for dinner, or go to a fast food place) simply
compensate for that by eating meals that are low-fat and low in sugar for the
next few days.
Don't make food "off-limits"
because you will start craving those foods more. Instead, just limit your
consumption of those foods. So instead of eating two slices of cake, just stick
with one.
Eat Mindfully
People who are
distracted while they eat (they're watching t.v. or reading a book, or surfing
the internet) report being less full than people who pay attention to what
they're eating. Make sure that when you eat, you're really focusing on what's
in front of you.
Make sure that you chew your food all
the way and that you swallow before shoving more food in your mouth. Eat
deliberately and slowly. It's not a race to get to the end of your meal before
everyone else.
Pay attention to the food you're
putting in your mouth: What is the temperature? The texture? Is it salty?
Sweet? Spicy?
When you're full, stop eating.
Overeating is not going to do you any favors in terms of losing weight.
Eat the Right Foods
You need to get more protein, lots and
lots of veggies and fruits, the right amount of carbohydrates, and get the
appropriate. You also want to limit the foods that aren't so good for you, like
highly processed foods with lots of sugar and fat. Eating the right foods will
go a long way towards helping you lose weight and keep it off.
Protein is incredibly important to
maintain the right diet. You'll need to focus on the leaner meats to build your
immune system and assist with weight loss. Go for fish, meat, poultry, eggs,
cheese, as well as different kinds of seeds and nuts.
Try for at least 5 servings of veggies
and fruits. These will provide you with all the nutrients you need for fewer
calories. Some of the really top greens and fruits are: watermelon, avocado,
raspberries, broccoli, onion, blueberries, Kale, mustard greens, sweet
potatoes.
There are lots of good carbs, and
you'll want to get about 45% of your calories from the right carbs. Right carbs
include ones that are nutrient rich like: whole grains (such as brown rice,
whole wheat, millet, quinoa, etc), fruits, vegetables, and legumes (like
peanuts). Don't get them from things like pastries, candy, chips, cookies, and
things made with refined white flour.
Foods that are high in salt and sugar
are things like canned soup, ketchup, pasta sauce, fast food, frozen dinners,
and fruit juices (among the obvious like pastries and cakes, etc.). Look for
sugar hiding under these names beyond the usual (honey, maple syrup, cane
sugar, brown sugar): corn sweetener or corn syrup, maltodextrin or dextrin, or
dextrose, fructose, glucose, maltose, or sucrose
Incorporate weight-loss "superfoods" into your diet
While
there is no food that can magically bust that weight, there are foods that can
help keep it off and help you lose that weight.
Ø Green tea has lots of great health benefits, and a study
found that people who drank green tea lost more weight than those who didn't.
Ø Soups that are broth or tomato based can also help with
weight-loss. People who eat a 300-calorie serving of soup before their meals,
eat less and therefore consume fewer calories, while still feeling full.
Ø Grapefruits have also been shown to help you lose weight,
as well as reduce your risk of developing type-2 diabetes. It may, also reduce
blood sugar and insulin levels.
Make Specific Meal Plans
When you're trying to change your diet
and eat more healthily and with an eye towards losing weight, you're going to
want to plan out your meals, so that you aren't tempted to grab a quick bite at
a fast food drive through, or so you don't find yourself somewhere where you
don't have those healthy options.
So for breakfast you might have 1/2
grapefruit, a bowl of oatmeal with a little honey, or you could do 1/2
grapefruit with two pieces of whole wheat toast covered with peanut butter.
For lunch you could have a large salad
with lettuce, spinach, beets, carrots, a handful of walnuts, 1/2 avocado, and
beans (black or garbanzo). Pour a little balsamic vinegar over the top.
You'll need 2 snacks, 1 between
breakfast and lunch and 1 between lunch and dinner. Go for heavy protein and
some sort of pick-me-up like a hard-boiled egg and an apple for the first and a
goat yogurt with blueberries and ground flax seed for the second.
For dinner you might go for grilled
salmon (with a little dill and lemon), a serving of brown rice, and grilled
zucchini.
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