Losing weight is a battle that many Americans find overwhelming to conquer, to the point that childhood obesity has been declared a threat to the nation’s security because the number of young adults who are physically fit to join the military is diminishing. Many people have tried all the sorts of diets and magic pills that do not work, or they actually lose weight but cannot maintain the weight loss. Changing a diet is a short term solution to a problem that most have to battle with for the rest of our lives. If we practice healthy eating habits while consuming normal food, we will be amazed at how much weight we can lose and keep off. Use the following tips to lose weight eating foods you normally eat.
Drink at least one glass of water before eating any meal
Drinking water before meals fills your stomach before the actual mealtime, so you can consume just enough food to keep you satisfied. This is the mechanism that most diet pills use to attain weight loss. Diet pills have many side effects like bloating and some of them are the leading causes of eating disorders like binge eating. Water on the other hand not only helps you minimize the amount of food consumed, it is needed for effective metabolism in the body. If you usually eat two bowls of rice you will realize a significant change in the quantity of food you normally eat.
Add some healthy foods to your normal food
One conscious step you take towards living a healthy lifestyle can lead to great changes. For example, if you normally eat 2 cheese burgers for lunch, try eating a fruit before your main meal. You will eat a smaller portion of the cheese burger afterwards because you will actually be considerably filled by the fruit which is also healthy for you. After some time you will realize that you are making more conscious decisions when choosing what to eat.
Prepare your own meals
Won’t it be awesome if you knew how to cook the meals you normally eat? Most of the food served at the restaurants would actually be healthier if you prepare them by yourself. When you prepare your own meals you can control how much of each ingredient you are adding, and you will serve yourself only what you need to eat. It is not easy to practice portion control at restaurants, where portions served are predetermined. Another advantage of cooking what you normally eat is that you have an opportunity to use healthier ingredients like olive oil instead of fat or margarine. If your excuse for not cooking your own meals is lack of time; then cook in bulk. It works for me; on Sundays when I have spare time I prepare meals to last me at least three days. This way I do not have an excuse to eat in a fast food restaurant when I have food in my fridge.
Eat small portions of what you normally eat throughout the day
The main cause of weight gain is that most of us wait to eat when we are already too hungry; hence leading to overeating. It is advised that we distribute our meals throughout the day; you can have as many as five small meals in one day. This way you are always full and you won’t be tempted to snack on unhealthy foods. Another advantage of distributing your meals throughout the day is that you will have a chance to incorporate healthy snacks like fruits and vegetables because you will not want to eat the same meal three times a day. You will actually be eating to lose weight.
Eat your last meal earlier in the day
Eating late night does not allow your body an opportunity to use up some of the energy produced during digestion, instead most of the synthesized ATP is stored as fat because it is excess. The body uses up less energy while at rest than when we are active. If you really have to eat late at night, then exercise for at least 45 minutes before you go to bed. I started using this technique when I realized that if I went to bed immediately after taking dinner I would wakeup constipated the following day.
Incorporate more movement in your normal daily activities
We burn more of the calories we consume through our daily activities. Try lifestyle changes, like walking to the library instead of driving, watching TV while riding an exercise bike or vacuuming your own floors instead of inviting cleaners to do it for you.
You will realize that it is much easier to lose weight eating the foods that you love than trying a crash diet which is a temporary fix. Enjoy consuming the same foods you normally eat and lose weight blissfully.
