My best tip is to change your mindset about weight loss and food. Food is not an enemy. With the exception of processed foods, how you prepare your food, how much you eat, and WHY you eat is where the problem of weight gain rests. While there are many ways to cut the weight, most are temporary. Remember, you can diet, eat high protein, low carbs, no whites, or eat completely healthy foods, etc.. and none of these will fix the problem of being overweight if you don't work on your mindset and lifestyle. This is why people gain the weight back and feel discouraged down the road. Diets and fast weight loss solutions are also hard on the body when used long term, especially high protein diets. They can take a toll on the kidneys since they aren't meant to be used for more than a few days to a couple of weeks max. Not to mention that whenever you manipulate the body into dropping weight, you mess up your metabolism. The goal is to work with your body, not against it. I have lost 64 lbs now and eat everything. BUT!!! I have cut back drastically on portion sizes and how often I eat certain foods. I still eat chips on occasion, fast food on occasion, and sweets. However, I do not keep them in the house; with the exception if white sugar. I eat them when we go out to eat or I purchase a small pack that we share as a family in one sitting. It is a treat and not a daily snack. We have added A LOT of veggies and fruit to our days. They are great fillers, healthy, and full of fiber. I still cook a lot of the same meals as before, but smaller portions and I try to use less fats in my cooking. We have also added a lot of new meals that are heart healthy. The list goes on as to the changes that have been made. The best thing I did for myself was stop focusing on the food and put that focus into other areas of my life. I now walk and jog in the mornings, not just to cut the weight but it is also very cleansing on the mind. Getting out that extra mental junk will also aid in changing your eating habits. Sweating is great for detoxifying the body and makes you thirsty for WATER! Walking is great to do as a family and you can add more time to the walk as your body adjusts to the changes. But again, you have to decide that getting healthy mentally and physically is what you desire. As you make lifestyle changes, you will find that how you eat will also change because the way you view who you are as a person will change and everything else follows. I think this is what my nutritionist/doctor meant when he talked about finding balance in my life. (...and he wan't talking about new age ideas either.)
I never count calories, eat lots of carbohydrates, and eat when I am hungy but am careful of what I eat. I am not overweight and may not be the best person to give advice but just about everyone can gain weight if they are not careful. I think of food as good calories and dead calories. Dead calories are those foods that don't really give my body any nurishment as in chocolate, cakes, fatty foods, etc. Those foods I try to limit. The good calorie foods I eat whenever. Try to eat more smaller meals. I find that if I eat only when I am really hungry, I eat a lot more. I eat about seven times a day. Drinking lots of water helps. Don't get discouraged if you have a bad day. Think about all those days you were good with your eating. Exercising does not mean torture. Going for a brisk 15 minute walk is better than nothing. Going for a 30 minute walk, brisk walk, six days a week should make a difference. Just be sure not to increase your calories because you are hungry from exercising. This is something I have to watch. Having caffeine will reduce my hunger.
1) Eat 3 meals a day (or 6 small ones)... I'm learning this myself. I'm not a big eater and I never have been but by skipping a meal here or there, you actually gain weight instead of lose it 2) I had read in a book that if you drink milk before you go to bed at night, it helps speed up your metabolism while you sleep (I have yet to try it though) 3) Daily exercise (like we don't already know that right). You don't have to run a marathon... even 20 minutes a day is better than a kick in the pants 4) Lots and lots of water. I believe the recommendation is 8 cups of water a day... the more the merrier (as long as you aren't retaining it) Green Tea (blah) is a natural diuretic if you tend to retain fluid and I do know some people who have lost some weight drinking it 5) Stress reduction (sounds foolish I'm sure, but you actually retain and gain weight when you're over stressed... hmmm, maybe that's why I don't lose weight so easily) 6) At least 7-8 hours of sleep every night to give your body time to rest, hormone levels to adjust and all that good stuff 7) Set small, realistic attainable goals. Your ultimate goal might be to lose 20 pounds... work for a couple pounds at a time then you feel a sense of accomplishment when you've reached that goal and can move to your next step. Nothing worth working for ever comes easy. Don't step on the scale daily... it can be discouraging. Try to wear the same clothes each time you weigh in (for comparison to the last time). Your morning weight will likely be a little higher than if you weigh yourself later in the day
Another idea. After my youngest was born I had 10 pounds to lose. I was not able to exercise due to some health issues. Unfortunately my appetite was almost the same as when I was pregnant. I kept snacking even without thought. What broke me of that was when I started writing down every little thing I ate. When I took that little itsy bitsy tiny piece of a cookie or one peanut, I wrote it down. It caused me to think twice before the bite.
