There are so many weight loss programs out there these days that it’s easy to become overwhelmed and not know which weight loss program is right for you. Some high protein, low carbohydrate weight loss programs have unpleasant side effects such as excessive flatulence, and the lack of carbohydrates can make you cranky while further increasing your cravings for sugary, sweet foods. Other weight loss programs require you to keep track of points. I don’t know about you, but anything that involves math tells me it’s already too complicated for me to follow! And then there’s exercise. Everybody knows that exercise is good for you. If you’re like most people, you don’t have time to spend hours working out in a gym. You most likely barely have time to complete your daily duties as it is. So how does one go about losing weight in our fast-paced society?
The key to permanent weight loss is good old fashioned diet and exercise. But of course, you already know that. The problem is finding the time to eat healthy and work out without it disrupting your current lifestyle too much. You will quickly exhaust yourself if you suddenly begin eating healthy and working out every day if you are not already doing these things. It’s too much of a shock to the system all at once and you’re setting yourself up to fail. To start, just incorporate a few small changes into your lifestyle and give yourself time to get used to the changes before adding more. Eventually, eating healthy and exercising will become a permanent lifestyle change and you won’t spend much time thinking about your weight anymore.
Before diving right into a brand new eating plan, try to make some minor modifications to your current eating habits. If you enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning, try replacing the heavy cream with light cream, and replace the sugar with an artificial sweetener such as Splenda. There are many artificial sweeteners on the market these days. Splenda is one of the only ones derived from sugar itself, so when it’s mixed with food, it tastes just like sugar. It doesn’t have any kind of aftertaste that some artificial sweeteners have. It can also be used in baked goods as well.
Another way to slash your caloric intake is to use garlic powder on your foods instead of butter or margarine. Of course, garlic powder won’t taste so good on your blueberry muffin, so try using a low calorie butter spray such as “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter.” Or, if a dish you are making calls for butter, try adding Butter Buds instead.
Salad dressings can do severe damage to your efforts to reduce calories. A single serving of ranch dressing can add up to 240 calories to your healthy greens. Substitute full-bodied dressings for ones that are low fat or low calorie. If the taste of low fat or low calorie dressing is more than you can stomach, try a simple dressing of olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette instead.
If you eat a lot of ground beef, try substituting ground turkey in your meals. It is lower in fat and still provides a lot of flavor. Do the same for bacon. Switch out your bacon for turkey bacon.
Remove soda from your diet and drink water in its place. If you find that bottled water is too plain for your liking, there are numerous alternatives out there. Try fruit flavored water. Or drink tea (just don’t add sugar). Crystal Light makes little to-go packages (Crystal Light on the Go) that are designed to be mixed with a single bottle of water. It might take a little adjustment to get used to drinking water instead of soda, but the benefits outweigh any misgivings you might have. Once your body is used to being adequately hydrated, you will lose inches and pounds of water weight that you probably didn’t even know you were lugging around.
Incorporate your eating changes for six days a week. One the seventh day, eat and drink whatever you’ve had a craving for during the week.
Once you’ve given yourself a few weeks to get used to your eating changes, the next step is to slowly begin adding exercise to your daily routine. It doesn’t have to be much. No need to run out and purchase a gym membership. Simply commit to exercising no more than twenty minutes a day. This can be in the form of taking a walk around the block, or playing ball with your kids. Take the stairs at the office instead of the elevator. Walk around the office parking lot a few times on your lunch break. Park in the far parking lot. Use the treadmill or exercise bike for twenty minutes. Just about everyone has a spare twenty minutes a day. If you have time to watch a half hour television show, you have time to exercise for twenty minutes a day.
Exercise for twenty minutes, six days a week. On the seventh day, congratulate yourself for a job well done. Skip your exercising and eat and drink whatever you want. Have a full-bodied cup of coffee. Eat bacon slathered in butter. Drink a liter of soda. Eat and drink whatever you’ve been craving all week. You’ve earned it and it won’t wreck all the progress you’ve made.
You didn’t gain all your weight overnight, so don’t expect to lose it overnight. By following these simple tips, you will lose weight. And you’ll barely notice the minor changes you’ve made to your daily schedule. Since you’ve lost the weight by making a lifestyle change, you will find that your weight loss is more likely to be permanent.
