Tips and Hacks for Long-Term Weight Loss Success
Everyone wants a quick fix when it comes to losing weight, but the truth is that unless you plan for long-term success, you won’t enjoy the benefits of good health and a body that reflects all the work you did to stay slim and fit.
There are diets for everyone, no matter what your health or fitness situation. A person who only needs to lose ten pounds might choose a different type of diet plan than an obese person who needs to lose 50 pounds.
And it’s not just about choosing a diet plan. A well-thought-out lifestyle plan will get you farther in realizing your full weight loss and health potential. Losing weight fast isn’t a good option either.
It may feel good for a little while to starve yourself and the final results is several pounds down on the scales, but your body will soon begin to focus on getting its energy from muscle. The weight will not only pile back on, but you’ll have more of it.
Tips and Hacks for Long-Term Weight Loss Success is a guide to see you through choosing a plan, implementing the plan and a way to stay successful on a long-term basis.
Don’t Be Skinny – Be Healthy
Losing weight to become skinny isn’t the best way to promote or maintain your health because you might inadvertently miss out on some vitamins and nutrients you need. When you concentrate on developing a healthy lifestyle, you’ll begin to feel better and weight loss is bound to follow.
Eating healthy involves sticking to a diet plan that’s going to make you look forward to meals and have a variety of tastes, colors and textures so you never get bored. For example, if you know your calorie downfall is sweets, be sure you have substitutes that fulfill that craving – or be able to sneak a sweet in once in a while without upending your plan.
Sometimes just the thought of losing weight seems an impossible task. And, if you’ve tried numerous diets in the past, you faced repeated disappoints when they don’t work – at least for the long-term.
The reason is that most diets are unrealistic for your lifestyle. Diet experts agree that the reason most diets don’t work is because the diet and goals are unrealistic. You may lose weight in the beginning of the diet, but most people aren’t able to live on a restrictive diet for very long periods of time.
The result is that the weight piles back on – with added fat – and you become discouraged and lose your motivation to keep going. In fact, dieting may be one of the causes of today’s obesity epidemic.
That may sound strange, but it makes perfect sense when you consider that stopping and starting diets lead to weight gain. Most people understand that the only way to good health and normal weight is to change their lifestyles and eat healthier.
But, studies indicate that in spite of that knowledge, they don’t choose to improve their diets and exercise to build muscle. Bad behavior is one of the factors that lead to this turning away from a healthy lifestyle.
Dietary habits usually begin in childhood. You were likely taught to eat everything on the plate – three times a day. TV dinners were convenient and considered necessary by families on the go. They were processed nightmares for your health.
You probably didn’t know that the foods you ate weren’t nutritious and continued to opt for the quick and easy route for your daily meals. Now that you know better, you can do better by choosing from healthy and calorie-friendly food choices that will help you lose weight and keep your health.
But, habits are hard to break. Since you were taught that some food choices are quick and easy, you’ve built a foundation that may be difficult to change. You want to get skinny quickly, so you choose diet plans that promise quick and easy weight loss.
Your health may suffer and you’ll likely be disappointed in the results. Your health depends on the changes you make to your lifestyle by changing your eating habits. It may take a while, but good results will happen and you can lose weight and become healthy.
Now, the work comes in. You may want to change your eating habits, but are confused and overwhelmed by the conflicting information you find. There are so many (so-called) healthy diet plans touted as the perfect way to lose weight.
Microwave meals advertise low calories or carbs rather than high-fat and you choose them for that – and convenience. What you may not know is that these frozen and pre-packaged foods lack everything you need to stay healthy.
They’re processed for convenience and substances are added that ruin the value of the food by canceling out the vitamins, nutrients and minerals you could have gotten from fresh, non-processed foods.
It’s understandable that you could be confused, give up and continue with your old dietary habits. You may realize that you’re not following a healthy diet, but as long as there are no serious changes in your health change isn’t that important to you.
The desire to be skinny is always on your mind, and health takes a secondary position. So, the roller coaster of starving yourself with diets, gaining back the weight – plus more – and dealing with one disappointment after the other keeps happening.
Meanwhile, you may not notice the change in your health, but it’s also happening. Eventually, a health crisis is likely to burst the bubble of living with bad habits and bad choices for your health.
Besides the epidemic of obesity that’s razing the population, other serious health problems are on the horizon. Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, liver and kidney disease are devastating and overwhelming the medical system and more people are succumbing to living with the resulting disabilities.
If you’re serious about changing your first priority (get skinny) to getting healthy, make some gradual changes that will get you on track to lose weight and enjoy the health that will come from the changes.
For example, you can choose fresh foods rather than processed, limit your intake of red meat, choose fruits rather than desserts and low-fat dairy rather than those with high fat content.
Make one healthy change at a time and when you get used to that one, add another good habit. Don’t be impatient with the changes. A gradual change is the best action to take to prevent lack of motivation and becoming overwhelmed and bored.
When you begin to see visible results, you’ll feel less emotional and much healthier. The healthy results will show on your yearly exams and you’ll be even more fueled to make the best decisions for your long-term health.
Tips to Lose Weight and Get Healthy From Other Parts of the World
There are areas of our planet Earth considered by scientists and health expert to be the healthiest. We can learn so much from the habits of others that help keep them slim and healthy.
For example, people in Poland save money (5% more than other countries) and they’re considered a healthy population because they don’t eat out as much as other populations.
Statistics show that people who tend to eat most of their meals away from home are less healthy and spend far more money on food (40% more than Poles). Cooking most meals at home will also help you lose weight and keep it off.
Restaurants and fast food drive-throughs are much less healthy than the fresh and whole foods you could prepare at home. People who live in the Netherlands stay slim and fit because they usually bicycle everywhere rather than drive a car or take public transportation.
They use them for going to work and back, shopping and appointments and pedal as much as 540 miles a year. Switzerland is fortunate to have invented the healthy food known as Muesli – a cereal containing nuts, fruit and oats – all super diet foods.
Over a hundred years ago a Swiss physician invented the concoction especially to provide hospital patients with nutrients and vitamins. The fiber in Muesli helps you feel full for longer periods of time and the Swiss eat it as a breakfast food or an evening meal that helps you feel content without overeating.
Consuming fiber is also a good way to maintain the health of your digestive system. From South Africa comes a tea that’s so naturally sweet that it doesn’t need sugar. Rooibos tea can help you break that costly and calorie-laden Cappuccino and break your dependency on sugary snacks.
It contains catechins, a compound that refreshes and hydrates your body. Norwegians use family free time to hike. It’s a habit that includes the entire family and may even include cross-country skiing during the winter.
When you forgo the feast and lounging around on Sundays watching football and get some fresh air, it can be a great health boost for the family and help burn calories. Learn how to power nap from the Japanese.
Taking time for a short, thirty minute nap can rejuvenate your brain and boost your leptin levels while lowering your ghrelin levels. Leptin is a hormone which helps to trigger the brain to stop eating when you’re full.
Ghrelin is a hormone that triggers hunger. Power-sleep is real and can help you lose weight and become healthy. You can learn from Mexico and Mexicans who traditionally eat more in the daylight hours than evening.
You’ll sleep better and your food will be digested properly. You’ll also wake up hungry and eat a hefty breakfast which in turn jumpstarts your metabolism for the day. Ah – the French.
We can learn many hacks for long term weight loss success from France. A leisurely family meal is the norm and you can find entire families gathered around the table nightly.
The French take time to make the leisurely rather than gulping it down like Americans so they can hurry somewhere else. Conversations at dinner slow the eating process because you don’t gulp large portions at once.
And, even if dining alone, the French set a desirable table with candles or flowers and their best china to make it a happy place to be. Small portions are also indicative of a French meal.
Although many Americans practice yoga in their daily lives, most don’t embrace its powers like Indians. India’s people are in the forefront of stress-reducing, mind-boosting and flexibility inducing lifestyles.
Indians and others who practice yoga faithfully have a much lower BMI (body mass index) than those who choose other forms of exercise. It’s suggested that yoga be performed on an empty stomach which can boost your metabolism and help you build muscle.
Mindfulness is another benefit of yoga practice. You’ll find that your mind is clearer and can help you realize when you’ve had enough to eat. Countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea such as Greece, Italy and France, enjoy a way of life that we can envy.
Being so close to the sea brings fresh seafood and a mild climate. Such foods as olives (for olive oil) and other fruits and vegetables grow in abundance and people who live on these shores tend to walk to market and to run errands.
Another trait that identifies the Mediterranean population is that they enjoy long and happy meals and red wine with family and friends. Diet, exercise, abundance of sun and healthy air quality has made this area one of the healthiest populations on Earth.
We can learn much from other parts of the world about how to keep ourselves healthy and fit. The Western world has many more options for food than most other countries – but that food includes fatty, fast food and packaged processed foods.
Sugary foods and drinks have also become popular and have contributed to the epidemic of obesity that we have today.
How Intermittent Fasting Can Keep Your Metabolism Purring and Your Weight Down
Intermittent fasting is an emerging and very promising method to safely lose weight and get healthy. Medical professionals agree that periodic fasting doesn’t cause eating disorders.
In fact, the health benefits of intermittent fasting are many – including weight loss. The name lets you know that it’s a plan that requires going without food for a period of time – up to 20 hours.
You can drink such low – or no-calorie liquids such as coffee, tea and water and munch on low- or calorie-free foods. During the hours you’re not fasting, you can eat a main meal.
Scientists and nutritionists have studied the research and now agree that intermittent fasting is a powerful technique for losing weight and keeping it off. If you’re dieting to change your lifestyle and get healthy – for example, using the Paleo or Mediterranean diet plan – intermittent fasting can be the hack you’re looking for to make it work and make it work fast.
This technique can easily be implemented into your diet plan. If you’re thinking about using intermittent fasting as a way to lose weight and get healthy, you should know how to do it right.
Although a calorie deficit is the result of the fasting technique, you don’t actually have to count calories to do it. Another perk is that you don’t have to be constantly thinking about food – what you’re going to shop for and cook for your next meal, weighing and being careful of portion size.
The intermittent diet plan of fasting is very simple. First, you must decide the period of time you’ll fast. You may begin with as many as 15 hours and progress to 20 hours. The longer you can fast, the better the results will be.
You should be busy while you’re fasting so you won’t have time to think about food. If you feel starved, eat or drink something that’s no-calorie or low-calorie. Think about a period of time to fast that won’t be a problem to you.
For example, some people choose an evening time to begin (such as 7pm) because they’ll be asleep many of the fasting hours. If you choose 7pm as your time to begin fasting, you need to set a time to end the fast and eat a meal.
You won’t eat the next day until 3pm – giving you 20 hours of fasting time. Choose a schedule you’re comfortable with. You may want to begin intermittent fasting with only a 16 hour fast and then increase the time as you wish.
In the beginning, you don’t need to fast every day. Two or three timed fasts per week will work well until you’re comfortable with the plan. Be sure to get plenty of liquids when fasting.
Tea, coffee, water or other calorie free drinks keep you hydrated and keep cravings away. Caffeine in the morning and afternoon can give you a boost and will help curb your appetite.
You’ll be tempted to binge eat at your first meal after the fast, but be careful to avoid processed foods with carbohydrates and any food item containing sugar. You should eat some carbs, however – such as rice, bread and pasta.
Protein such as beef and fish and good carbs from fruit and vegetables and good fat found in almonds and avocados should be the bulk of your meals. When you become comfortable with the technique of intermittent fasting, you’ll notice a few changes in your body and the way you feel.
You’ll be losing excess body fat because you’re burning fat for energy rather than using food for energy. If you tend to store fat in the stomach area, you’ll notice that it’s shrinking and you’ll also feel healthier.
The human growth hormone (HGH) is an important component in using stored body fat for energy. Intermittent fasting increases this hormone and plays an important role in keeping insulin levels low.
When you’re eating a diet of mostly processed carbs and sugars, your insulin levels will spike and the result will be that you store even more excess body fat. Constant spikes in your insulin levels may also put your health on a downward spiral and you could develop such diseases as type 2 diabetes, become obese and develop even more serious health problems.
Intermittent fasting is the solution to this growing problem. If you aren’t already convinced that intermittent fasting can help you lose weight safely and quickly, consider the clinical studies indicating that when you follow an intermittent fasting diet for 15 days, your insulin levels become balanced and your body will continue to be in an excess-fat-burning stage that provides both energy and more fat loss. It’s truly a win-win diet plan.
Slow Down – Why Speed-Eating Makes You Eat More
You’re a speed eater if you gulp down your food like it’s going to disappear if you don’t eat it fast. There are times when most of us fall into that category. But, if you always finish eating first when you’re dining with a group of people or eat fast because you’re too busy to slow down – you’re a chronic speed eater.
Americans are especially guilty of eating fast – and as a result, taking in many more calories than they should – one more reason for the obesity epidemic. You may be eating so fast you don’t know when you’ve had enough.
The reason you keep eating is because if takes around twenty minutes of eating before your brain gets the message to send out a signal that you’re full. When you eat at a leisurely pace, your brain can better process what’s happening and to get the message you don’t need to eat anymore.
You may have already eaten twice the amount of food – and calories that you normally would if you ate slowly. Studies show that those who eat slowly were much more successful at losing and maintaining a normal weight.
Those who have digestive issues such as acid reflux and gastric bypass surgery are especially susceptible to problems from eating fast. Watching television or reading can also make you eat faster and more than you normally would if you were mindfully eating.
Mindful eating makes dining pleasurable and lets you concentrate on the pleasures of the meal – such as taste, texture and colors. You can also slow down your fast eating habit by taking small bites of food.
That may be difficult if you’re eating at a time when you’re famished and hurried. It’s best for your diet and your productivity if you schedule breaks during the day to get a nourishing snack and rest to recharge your body.
Then, you won’t be eating as fast during regular meals because you won’t be as hungry. Another way to slow down your eating is to push yourself away from the table before you have seconds.
If you still feel hungry, drink a glass of water and wait a while. Your body will soon adjust to the smaller amounts – and you’ll lose weight by not piling on the extra and unnecessary calories.
When all else fails to stop your rapid eating habit, technology steps in and offers help. Ask your dentist about a new device that can help you eat more slowly. It fits in the roof of your mouth like a retainer and forces you to eat smaller portions.
Next time you find yourself at a fast food diner or a food court at the mall, notice how others are eating their meals. Most are eating fast and drinking a soda between bites. And, fast food places usually ask if you want fries or chips with your burger – or a sweet drink – causing more consumption of calories.
Compare the fast food eaters in the food court to those you see at a fine-dining restaurant. Those diners will likely be engaged in conversation during the meal and discussing the merits of how the meal is cooked and presented.
Think about how your digestive tract handles speed-eating. When you’re eating fast, you’re not chewing the food as you should be. As a result, oversized food chunks are racing down the throat and through your esophagus.
Chugging your food down with a drink can make it even more difficult for the digestive tract to function properly. As a result, you may experience acid reflux and indigestion because the stomach is full to capacity.
Food poisoning is another result of fast eating. When you’re gulping your food down, you may not notice that it smells or tastes different until you’ve already eaten a large amount. You can get food poisoning when food tastes as usual, but it’s best to give yourself a chance to recognize that the food is contaminated.
There are a number of factors that will help you slow your fast eating behavior. One is to select your dining environment to include places where you can sit down and enjoy your meal without noise and distractions.
Choose soft music rather than the loud music of some dining establishments, bars and other places that offer food and excitement. When you dine in a relaxing place, you’ll tend to eat slower.
It’s difficult to avoid the television for all of our meals, but try not to eat during stressful programs such as the news or other high-energy shows. Don’t let yourself be famished when sitting down to a meal.
Eat a snack or drink water between meals so you won’t be hungry when you eat a full meal. Wait to order dessert. Give yourself a few minutes before eating a dessert to allow time for the brain to get a signal that you’re full.
If you decide you’d like something else, choose a small dessert or split it with someone. Put down your fork or spoon between bites. You’ll chew your food better and enjoy the dining experience more.
It takes lots of practice to break this fast-eating habit, but choose your meals and your environment wisely and you can begin to slow down.
Foods That Weight Loss Experts Avoid
There are foods we know not to eat when trying to lose weight. The consequences of eating donuts, ice cream, cream sauces and other fat cell producers are well known among nutritionists and those attempting to lose weight.
But, there are just as many foods that you might think of as healthy and low-calorie that can also sabotage your weight loss efforts. Some are healthy and can be eaten in moderation, but if you eat too much it becomes unhealthy.
It’s known as – eating too much of a good thing. Scientific research has changed over the years and now you can enjoy such fats as seeds, olive oil, nuts and avocado without guilt.
You need some fats in your diet plan, but overeating those and other healthy foods such as whole grains add the fat calories quickly. Pay close attention to portion size when eating those foods and remember that even though some fats are considered healthy, they can add the calories on much quicker than non-starchy vegetables.
Thinking that you can load up on large portions of these healthy foods can be a detriment to your weight loss plan. That healthy smoothie that you loaded up with fresh fruits, protein powder and almond milk may taste great and the items you put into it are healthy on their own – but that healthy smoothie can sabotage your weight loss efforts with calories.
In a normal fruit smoothie, you can get approximately 400 calories. Studies show that Americans get over 20% of calories per day from drinks. You may have a couple (or more) glasses of wine or mixed drinks in the evening – mornings find you stopping by Starbucks for a latte’ and you’ve just got to have that mocha-coffee every afternoon to wake you up.
That adds up to a huge amount of calories that you may not consider because it’s a drink rather than high-calorie foods. Water is the best drink choice for health and weight loss, but if you get bored, try a small glass of vegetable juice – no sugar added.
You may feel good about yourself for having a salad at lunch, but if you added sunflower seeds, ranch dressing, croutons, cheese and other salad bar options to your salad, it becomes a choice that’s higher than the calories you might get from a cheeseburger.
Add mixed greens to your meals rather than focusing on lettuce for your salads. Kale, spinach and cabbage have entirely different sets of vitamins and nutrients. So it’s the weekend and now you’re looking forward to a pizza, fried chicken, eggs benedict for brunch and partying with snacks and alcohol.
This is a recipe to cancel out all the dieting you’ve suffered through all week. Besides sabotaging your weight loss, consuming fatty and unhealthy foods over the weekend can block leptin, a hormone that helps regulate your energy and hunger cues.
Your leptin levels can fall dramatically during a weekend of unlimited saturated fats. An interesting fact about leptin is that it comes from the Greek vocabulary and means ‘thin.’ If you think that choosing fried veggies as an option – it isn’t. And, sweet potato fries aren’t any healthier than regular fries when you fry them in oil and raise the calorie and fat levels.
Eating a plain, baked sweet potato can provide you with many vitamins and minerals such as folic acid, fiber, potassium and beta-carotene – and will only add a hundred calories to your diet.
Weight loss experts know that even though olive oil and avocados are healthy foods that can lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol, they’re also packed with calories and fat. You should keep these foods in your diet, but be sure to consume them in moderation.
Snacking is one of the biggest weight-loss sabotages of all. Even if you’re eating healthy and low-calorie meals, the foods you snack on can undo all of your good work. It can come in the form of an energy or protein bar, a bag of nuts or adding cream and sugar to your afternoon coffee drink.
It’s difficult to make good choices about food, when they tout their healthy attributes and their unhealthy ingredients are hidden. So many packaged foods at the supermarket contain hidden calories, salt and chemicals for processing.
Be sure to read the nutritional labels when shopping to be sure you’re not getting a grenade that will do damage to your body and pack on the calories. Here are some other foods that you’ll want to avoid when losing weight:
* Whole Wheat Pasta and Multi-Grain Breads
Both sound healthy, but may contain calories that can sabotage your weight loss efforts or make you miss out on many nutrients you need in your diet. Try substituting spaghetti squash for pasta.
Multi-grain breads are often over-processed and can be lacking fiber and other nutrients. Substitute whole grain bread and you’ll get a more nutritious and filling bread for sandwiches.
* Sugar-Free Food
Many of these food items that claim to be sugar-free can contain artificial sugar which raises your insulin level. Sugar-free drinks also use fake sugar and should be avoided.
* Frozen and Pre-packaged dinners
They look healthy and seem to have low sugar and fat content, but you could be consuming up to 1,000 calories. Even though they’re convenient, they aren’t healthy at all.
* Fruit
There could be many hidden calories in fruit – especially the tropical variety. Pineapple and mangos should be consumed in moderation and instead you should opt for fruits high in fiber such as apples.
Losing weight can be sabotaged easily with these hidden sugar and calorie-laden foods. Get used to reading the labels on foods you purchase and be on the lookout for ingredients such as corn syrup, cane juice and nectar – or any additive that ends with ‘ose’ such as fructose and lactose.
It may seem like a daunting task to read the labels and research food items in your diet plan, but it will pay off when you step on the scales and see weight loss that will lead you to becoming healthy.
Create a Vision Board with Short- and Long-Term Weight Loss Goals
How would you look and feel if you lost excess weight? It may be difficult to visualize in your mind, but a vision board especially created for your weight loss goals can help. A vision board is a tool that can help you achieve goals by representing what you want to be or to accomplish in your life.
But, it has to be done correctly to be of use. You should be proud of it when you’re finished and inspired when you look at it every day. A vision board can help you focus on the goals for weight loss – and other areas of your life.
For your weight loss goals, don’t randomly select images and words because they’re “cool” or pretty. The goal of a vision board is to inspire you to eat healthy, exercise and take care of yourself so you can eventually become the best you can be.
Healthy images and pictures of healthy meals (including words) are visions that will inspire you rather than making you feel exasperated and incapable can become the motivation your mind needs to meet your goals.
When you look for images that will motivate you, pay attention to the emotions you feel and be sure the photos and other images trigger emotions that you can count on to make you take action.
Also be specific about how much weight you want to lose – and by a date you choose that isn’t achievable. For example, wanting to lose 20 pounds in two weeks is over the realm of possibility unless you put your health in jeopardy.
Choose reachable goals and break them down to numbers and times that can be met – and let the images on your vision board reflect those intermittent goals. Your vision board doesn’t have to look like a professional layout or have the perfect images and motivators.
Use what you have at the moment and realize you can’t make a mistake in this endeavor. There are no right or wrong ways to create a vision board. It just has to work for you.
It’s best to include some healthy images on your vision board rather than just those images of super skinny models or workout gurus to motivate you. The goal to weight loss should include become healthy also, because if your body isn’t functioning on a healthy level, the weight (plus more) will return.
Find some mantras (motivational words and affirmations) that remind you of how and why you want to lose weight and paste them on your vision board. Repeat them in your mind or aloud when you look at your vision board each day.
This will help reaffirm and remind you of the importance that weight loss and health is to you and your self-image. The best thing about a vision board is that it’s easy to create and fun to maintain.
Begin by purchasing or gathering supplies you’ll need to create the vision board. You’ll likely need a board (corkboard, hardboard or a dry erase board), construction paper, scissors, printer, pins, markers, pencils and pens and tape or glue.
Most everything can be found in any craft store. When choosing a board, be sure to get one to fit the size of the area you plan to hang it. Now you’re ready to begin the fun part – bringing your visualizations to life so they will become beacons of inspiration and help you meet your weight loss goals.
Here are some tips for how to decide what to put on your vision board:
* Choose images of types of clothes you’ll be able to wear and the types of activities you can perform.
* Get inspiration and ideas from others by choosing from online ideas (blogs and websites) that have worked for others who created vision boards for weight loss.
* Let your mind wander in daydreams about your weight goal. What will your life be like and how will you feel? Shoot for the moon and let anything be possible.
* What are your worst food temptations? Include them (and the calorie counts) on the board along with healthier choices and their calorie counts.
* Choose images that will inspire you most. People you admire, mantras that inspire and post photos of those you desire to emulate when you’ve reached your weight loss goal.
* Choose images that you might look like as you go through the weight loss process. If you only have images of the person you want to look like after you’ve lost all the excess weight, you may think you’ll never get there.
* Exercise is an integral part of any weight loss plan, so include some exercise routines and reminders about what you want to accomplish. Think about what you can do in the beginning and what you aspire to at the end. For example, you may begin by doing pushups and end by entering a marathon race.
* Include a way of recording your progress on your vision board. Record how your eating and exercise habits have changed and update it on a regular basis. If possible, use photos of yourself as you progress.
* If it’s more convenient, create a digital file of your vision board to take along on your cell phone or laptop.
* When you have an inspirational thought about your weight loss progress, key it into a word cloud, print and tack on the board.
Weight loss is a journey. Record your own personal journey by creating a vision board that you can look back on when you feel discouraged and feel proud of when you meet all your goals and record that final message of success.
Exercise – The Ugly 8-Letter Word
Resistance to get up off the couch and exercise – or do anything other than exercise – might be as simple as giving in to instant gratification rather than looking at the long term benefits.
It may also involve habit. If you’re not in the habit of exercising, it’s difficult to begin. You procrastinate. Exercise then becomes the ugly 8-letter word. Procrastination is when you deliberately delay an action.
You should always avoid procrastination about something that’s good for your health and well-being, but telling someone not to procrastinate, is a bit like telling your dog to avoid treats.
Students sometimes choose to procrastinate studying for an exam until the night before and some people procrastinate going to the doctor until symptoms of a serious illness must be diagnosed.
Procrastinating exercise may work until your body and health begin to suffer. You know that exercise will benefit your weight loss journey, but you can always find something else to do.
Exercise takes time and energy you could be spending on something you do enjoy – like watching television or shopping. Procrastination is always accompanied by its friend, instant gratification.
You’re getting instant gratification when you’re watching a favorite television program, going through Facebook posts, eating a dessert or playing with your pet. Instant gratification and procrastination are the enemies of using the sensible and rational part of your brain to make life-changing decisions to benefit your future health.
The rational part of your brain can be overwhelmed by instant gratification, so you become lackadaisical to the part of you that says to exercise if you want to look and feel better.
After years of listening to procrastination messages from the brain, it has become a habit. A habit is burned into your psyche and it’s difficult to turn around because you don’t know how to fight it.
So you remain in the cycle that gives you instant gratification but doesn’t do a thing for your health and body image. If you’re a procrastinator about exercise and are ready to turn around the instant gratification habit, you should know why you procrastinate.
Then, you can begin to apply strategies to overcome it. Most procrastination evolves from negative emotions such as not having time for exercise, not being in the mood for exercise or wanting to do something else that will give you pleasure.
Here are some strategies you may want to try to overcome the procrastination loop:
* Take control of your negative self-talk.
When the conversation in your mind turns to thoughts of things you can – and want – to do rather than exercise, learn how to shift the thoughts to something positive. Think about how you’re going to look and feel after a good workout. Push out the negative thinking.
* Plan ahead.
By scheduling your exercise at a certain time on particular days, you are removing obstacles that could distract and cause you to lose focus. Make an appointment with yourself – and keep it.
* Begin small.
Rather than getting into intensity training at first, choose an exercise or series of exercises that you can easily complete. Yoga stretches or 10 minutes on the treadmill are doable and the smaller tasks will help you move on to the more intimidating exercises.
* Be specific about what you’re going to accomplish.
Rather than telling yourself that you’re going to exercise next week, set a day and a time to exercise. When the day and time finally comes, you may feel emotional and want to do something else, but don’t give in to your emotions. Take that first step.
Exercise may be an ugly four-letter word to you, but procrastinating about it can bring about feelings of failure and cause negative thoughts about losing weight and becoming fit.
After you meet that first goal of keeping that exercise appointment, you’ll feel more motivated and proud of yourself. You’ll find that the above strategies also work on other projects or goals you may have.
If you have a simple goal of organizing your closet but never seem to get around to it, you can use the same techniques to turn around the negative thoughts to positive ones and make an appointment to dive in and get the job done.
Make daily lists and include a specific time on certain days that you allot to exercise. The mistake most procrastinators make is to take on too much — too soon. That simple mistake could sabotage your efforts and any progress you may have made.
When you begin an exercise program after being inactive for a long period of time and indulging in more gratifying pursuits, you’ve got to establish a routine to make it work again.
It won’t take long for the new habit of meeting your exercise goals to replace the old habit of putting it off. Periodically reward yourself for meeting your exercise goals. Each victory of accomplishment helps to add new receptors in the area of the brain responsible for motivation.
These receptors also increase the production of the hormone, testosterone – the hormone that helps you feel confident and encouraged. Soon, you’ll see and feel the results of that ugly 8-letter word – exercise – and that should motivate you more than anything.
Weight loss and exercise go together like coffee and cream and can turn that bad habit of procrastination into an accomplishment you can be proud of.
Sugar Is In Food Items You’d Never Suspect
If you want to lose weight and get healthy – stay away from sugar. Simple sugars are carbs that our bodies absorb quickly to give you energy. When you eat sugar your blood sugar level is increased and your arteries suffer, destroying your inner beauty – so your outer beauty is also damaged.
Simple sugars are natural in some foods you eat on a daily basis and are found in fruit and dairy products that are considered healthy. The problem with sugar occurs when foods are processed and chemically produced such as crackers, salad dressing and white sugar used to bake sweets.
Some of these processed foods may sound healthy, but they contain very little nutritional value and increase your chance for chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
You may not know you’re getting sugar when you eat certain foods labeled as healthy or low calorie, but the sugar is there and can be deadly. High amounts of sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup sugars are included in the obvious unhealthy foods such as cake, candy and sugary drinks, but there are many foods where sugar is abundant that you wouldn’t suspect.
These sneaky sugars are touted as low-calorie and low-fat health foods and can cause you to pack on the pounds and become more susceptible to diseases. Sugar contributes to medical problems such as stroke, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, kidney failure, impotence, tooth decay, high-blood pressure and dementia and can also cause ruin your skin with acne and wrinkles.
Dangerous inflammation may also occur which could lead to arthritis. High blood-sugar levels may also age your skin by interfering with the collagen and elastin proteins’ abilities to sustain the skin’s smooth complexion.
This blood-sugar level problem causes the skin to become susceptible to all the invasions that hit us from outside such as pollution and ultra-violet rays. Too much sugar can also cause various inflammatory skin conditions such as acne and rosacea.
With these chronic conditions the skin to becomes red and inflamed and itching and extreme dryness may occur. Here are some sneaky, sugar foods to watch out for that can sabotage your weight gain efforts and cause horrific medical conditions:
* Energy Bars – May contain up to 50 grams of sugar.
* Sports Drinks – May contain as much as 55 grams of sugar.
* Fat-Free Salad Dressing – Two tablespoons can carry up to 6 grams of sugar.
* Fruit Juices – One cup may have up to 36 grams of sugar
* Instant Oatmeal – Sugar content varies from brand to brand.
* Gatorade – Sounds healthy, but has more sugar than two or more candy bars.
Medical and nutritional experts say that you shouldn’t consume over 4 grams of sugars during each hour of the day. You may think you’re well within the limits of this recommendation, but there are sneaky, sugar products on the shelves and in the frozen sections of your supermarket that you’d never suspect.
Learn to read the labels of everything to determine that you’re not overloading your body with foods that sound healthy, but bombard your body with sugar. So, how do you combat the amount of sugar in almost everything you eat?
Try swapping the high sugar content foods by replacing energy bars with fresh fruit and berries and fruit yogurt (containing sugar) to the plan, nonfat, Greek yogurt. Use extra-virgin olive oil for cooking or for making your own salad dressing.
Simply add some balsamic vinegar and herbs and spices. Rather than making a smoothie with sugary powder, opt to make your own smoothies from whole fruit. You’ll get a healthy drink which has dietary fiber that isn’t present in bottled fruit juices.
The fiber will help your digestive tract use the sugars more slowly. The reason why there are products on the market that sound healthy, but are actually bad for you is that manufacturers sneak the sugar into food items they can call healthy.
The sugar is addictive and you want more because it tastes good and gives you a temporary boost of energy. The only way you’ll know how much sugar you’re consuming is to read food labels and avoid the sneaky sugar sources. Learn what foods you can swap to get much less sugar and a much healthier product.
How to Plan Your Kitchen to Help You Lose Weight
When you’re trying to lose weight, the refrigerator and pantry don’t have to be your enemies. But, the way you shop for and arrange the food items has a lot to do with whether or not your kitchen is weight-loss-friendly.
You may not have thought of the kitchen as a friendly place to your weight loss goals. It holds tempting and succulent food that draws you into it and can either help or hurt you when you’re trying to lose weight.
You’ve probably opened and stared at the innards of the refrigerator when you aren’t even hungry, but just scrounging for a snack. That can be dangerous to your weight loss goal – and it’s such an easy thing to fix.
If decadent desserts and snacks are placed where it’s the first things you see when you open the door it may be too tempting to pass up. A complete overhaul of the kitchen isn’t necessary, but in just a few minutes, you can re-do the refrigerator and pantry to be diet-friendly and still cater to other members of your family who may not be dieting.
Choose a shelf (in refrigerator and pantry) especially designated for your low-calorie and portion controlled food items. If you don’t have an entire shelf to devote to your diet, put the friendly foods up front and the high-calorie foods toward the back.
They’ll be the first thing you’ll see when you’re looking for a snack. Be sure you ask other family members to stay away from your healthy area so you’ll always be able to choose healthy food to munch on.
It’s a simple hack that can work wonders for your weight loss mindset. Some other ideas for setting up an effective kitchen for weight loss include:
* Prepare beautiful servings of salad.
There are so many tips online for great ideas about serving salads. For example, you can layer veggies in a Mason jar and keep it front and center in your refrigerator. Include some seeds or nuts, top it with a low-calorie vinaigrette and make it a delicious temptation.
* Customize snack packs.
Cut out the temptation of eating an entire bag of chips or crackers. Instead, customize your snacks by putting some of your favorite healthy snacks into a baggie. Use such low-cal snacks as popcorn, cubes of cheese, nuts and fruit to make up a bag that equals 100- or 150- calories per snack. Keep them in your pantry or fridge to grab for a quick snack.
* Get rid of unhealthy food.
If you have a family, solicit their cooperation to get rid of high calorie and unhealthy snacks such as soda, ice cream, candy and chips. If it isn’t there, you won’t be tempted.
* Freeze veggies and fruits for smoothies.
Prepare smoothies ahead of time by packing the contents in a freezer bag. Then, you can simply put them in a blender to get a quick, easy and very healthy breakfast or snack.
* Measure your wine.
If you drink wine with your meal or when you’re preparing dinner, be sure to give yourself a single serving (5 ounces) rather than filling the wine glass to the top. It’s easy to drink more wine than you intend when you’re focused on something else.
* Wash, cut and stock fruits and veggies.
It may take a bit of time to do this, but it’s so easy to grab a container of healthy items when you’re in a hurry if you prepare ahead of time. Celery, carrots, melon, grapes and strawberries can be easily stored in reusable containers.
* Use small plates and bowls.
Keep a smaller size of plates and bowls handy and use them to fill your plate with food. It’s a great hack to eat less and save calories.
* Make room for a digital scale on your kitchen counter.
Portion sizes are necessary when you’re counting calories and measuring portions. Unless you measure your food, you won’t get a correct reading of exactly how much you’re consuming at each meal.
* Keep measuring cups and spoons handy.
Rather than having to dig through drawers to find the correct measurement tool, keep them on the counter or another designated place.
* Use mushrooms as filler.
If you eat a lot of ground beef, turkey or chicken, try using finely chopped mushrooms as half of the meat content you would normally use. For example, if you are cooking hamburger meat to use in a spaghetti sauce or other recipe, use half the beef and add mushrooms for the other half. You’ll get lots of flavor and moisture with very little calories.
* De-Clutter your kitchen.
Studies show that your environment determines your mood and the way you eat. If you have a messy kitchen you may not feel like using your weight loss mindset to eat healthy. So, put away your dishes, pots and pans when finished so that your kitchen remains warm and inviting.
All of the above kitchen hacks are great ideas to boost your chances of succeeding at your weight loss goals. They’re quick and easy and can save you money as you’re slimming down.
You don’t have to completely renovate your kitchen to make changes that will help rather than hinder your ability to lose weight. A few, mindful hacks can help you remake your kitchen into a healthy place to prepare and consume food.
You Are the Problem and the Solution to Your Weight Loss Goals
When you think back on all your attempts to lose weight – what do you blame? You may blame yourself for not being strong or dedicated enough to stick to the diet. Or, you might think of something else to blame such as the environment, the holiday season, being too busy to eat healthy and a host of other excuses.
The truth is that you are the problem when trying to lose weight – but you can also be the solution with a few mind and motivation hacks. They say that every failure is a lesson learned and you can use those failures to achieve success next time you try.
If you kept a journal of your previous weight loss attempts, look back and see where you were sabotaged and what caused you to derail. It’s a window that lets you look at the past so you can do better in the future.
Always keep a journal of your weight loss efforts to catch behavior patterns you need to change. To lose the weight and keep it off, you’ll need to recognize your past mistakes and find ways to turn them around.
If you keep making the same mistakes you’ll likely never reach your weight loss goals – or any other life-changing goals. Your diet may have been too strict, causing you to fall temptation to unhealthy snacks, processed foods, sugary drinks and desserts.
Look at ways you can remedy that problem such as going a bit slower on your diet plan, substituting healthy foods for unhealthy and allowing yourself a treat once in a while so you won’t be tempted as much.
Choose a diet lifestyle that you can live with, not one that you look forward to the end so you can go back to your old, unhealthy habits. A healthy lifestyle can make you feel better and perform better.
Eating healthy can also keep your body from succumbing to dread diseases such as cardiovascular, stroke, obesity and more. It’s essential to keep up a healthy lifestyle after reaching your weight loss goals. If you lose weight on a strict diet, you may never be able to keep up for the long run.
You then become the major problem in the quest to reach your goals. There are some strategic solutions – or hacks — you can use to increase the odds that the weight stays off for good.
Some of these solutions include:
* Track your progress.
The National Weight Control Registry states that those who weigh themselves on a weekly basis are more successful in maintaining their weight loss.
* Don’t try fad diets.
Fad diets are there to help you lose weight fast, but your weight is likely to come back with fury, bringing more fat to your body and possibly ruining your health. Choose a lifestyle plan like the Mediterranean diet, where you can lose weight, keep it off and still enjoy healthy and tasty foods.
* Move!
Keep moving if you want to get the weight off and keep it off. There are so many health benefits from exercise, including the reduction of high blood pressure, lowering cholesterol levels, mood lifter and heart strengthener. If you don’t like exercise programs – walk.
* Cut out one unhealthy food per week.
You won’t feel so deprived if you take it easy on your diet plan and only cut out one unhealthy food per week. Replace the food with some good choices. For example, replace your morning latte’ with a fruit smoothie that you make at home. If you cut out only one unhealthy food per week, you won’t feel so deprived.
* Journal.
Studies show that those who track their weight loss by keeping a journal are much more likely to keep it off for good. It’s also a proven fact that those who kept a food diary during a diet plan lost more weight than those who didn’t.
* Choose an exercise routine you can live with.
Some people jump right in to an exercise routine that they’re not ready for. Begin slowly if you haven’t exercised for a while and choose something you can live with. For example, if you love dancing and music, try an aerobic dancing class.
* Switch it up.
Try something new once in a while. For example, periodically change your exercise routine from running on the treadmill to swimming. When dieting, try new recipes that are healthy and delicious. The object here is to keep it new and stimulating. Doing the same thing day after day gets boring.
Keep in mind that weight loss is a journey, not an immediate fix. Rather than sticking to a certain exercise routine or diet plan, try different exercises and select a diet plan that will give you enough choices and freedom that you won’t get bored.
Choosing an exercise or diet plan that will bore you and make you feel deprived will cause you to give up. But, if you shake it up and try different exercises and treat yourself to a favorite food once in a while, you’ll have a better chance to reach your weight loss and fitness goals.
Be wary of magazines and books (plus television and online sites) that offer fad diet and exercise programs. These exercise routines and diet plans are usually overwhelming and increases your chances of giving up because they’re not designed to work on a long-term basis.
Fad diets may help you lose weight initially, but can harm your body in the long run. If you choose a diet that you know you can’t sustain for the long term, it could sabotage your health and your weight loss goals.
Keep yourself motivated to exercise and lose weight. So many people start out great and eventually lose motivation and enthusiasm to keep it up. Take a minute to think about why you want to give up.
You could be hard on yourself, especially if you have a day (or more) of indulgence and are discouraged. Or, you may not have been realistic when you set your weight loss goals. Setting difficult goals will make you want to quit before you even get started.
A goal of losing 20 pounds sounds impossible, but if you break down the goals to 5 pounds per month, you know you’ll have 4 months to complete the goal. It’s easier to stick to smaller goals.
Building food and exercise habits that will last a lifetime will give you a much better result than your efforts during a certain period of time. You may not see or feel the changes immediately, but a lifestyle change of bad eating and exercise habits can ensure that you achieve your goals of health and weight loss.
When you reach a milestone in your health and weight loss quest, challenge yourself to another round. The more you accomplish, the better the results will be. And, don’t forget to reward yourself for all your efforts.
Keep in mind that losing weight is all about improving your life so you look and feel better. It’s not about restricting the foods you love. Embracing a new lifestyle is a choice – choose wisely and become the solution rather than the problem.