Stopping Yo-Yo Dieting and Creating a Healthy Lifestyle

dietPart of the reason why diets are so ineffective is because they focus on short-term gains rather than long-term gains.  We’ve gotten the idea that it’s okay to starve, punish and harm our bodies for a little while, as long as we can fit into our sexy new swimsuit by summer.  Not surprisingly, not many of us end up sticking to a strict diet like that; it’s just too hard and definitely too unpleasant.

Instead of embarking on another “diet” perhaps it’s time to change our thinking and focus on creating a healthy lifestyle that will also result in weight loss.

Here are three key ways to start:

- Banish the Diets

We all know that diets don’t really work long-term.  Yes, it’s possible to shed a few pounds by dramatically reducing our caloric intake or cutting out whole food groups – but for the long-term it’s just not feasible.  Even if you manage to lose a substantial amount of weight, you know it’s just going to come right back when you stop the diet (and you will stop it; no one can stay on a strict diet like that forever).

Instead, take a look at ways you can adjust your eating habits to be lower in calories, sugar and unhealthy fat.  Eat more fruit and vegetables and limit your intake of processed, refined foods.  Just doing that alone could help you drop a substantial amount of weight and keep it off for good.

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Weight Loss Habits: Setting Yourself Up for Success

Weight Loss HabitsWhen it comes to weight loss, habits can make or break us. By nature, humans are creatures of habit. Habits help us to conserve energy by not having to think so intently about every little thing we do – if it’s a habit, we hardly have to focus on it at all. That makes our daily lives move along much more smoothly, since much of what we do are everyday tasks.

But when it comes to weight loss and other lifestyle improvements, habits can cause big problems for us. Like when we try to cut back on junk food but still find ourselves reaching for it a dozen times a day. Or when we try to force ourselves to stick to a new fitness plan and keep “forgetting” to lace up our running shoes and get to the gym.

The reason why forming new habits is usually hard is because we are trying to jar our brains out of a “rut”. We are thinking in a new way, and trying to act in a new way, and we feel out of sorts because of it.

As difficult as it may be, you can break unhealthy habits and form new ones more easily if you keep these three things in mind:

#1 – Awareness is vital

The very first crucial part of breaking a bad habit or forming a new, healthier one is to stay aware of what you are doing. That means noticing when you start reaching for a cookie when you’ve decided previously to cut down on sugar and fat. That means having the presence of mind to say “no thank you” to the super sized mocha caramel latte with double cream that your co-worker offers to buy you during lunch – even if you’ve said yes a thousand times before.

It does take a little practice, but developing awareness gets easier every day. Before long, you won’t be able to NOT notice when you’re tempted to go off-track. It jumps up like a big red flag and gets your attention.

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Why Patience Can Make You Lose Weight Faster

lose weightYou’ve heard it before, patience is a virtue – but did you know that it can also help make your weight loss faster and easier?

Here’s how:

- Reduced Stress

First, by trying to hurry your weight loss, you will inevitably stress yourself out. And you know what happens when you’re stressed out, right? You hinder your body’s fat burning processes. The more stressed out and impatient you get, the slower your progress is going to be.

- Impatience Breeds Cravings

When you’re stressed out and impatient and making slow progress, you’re going to experience more cravings for fattening foods. It’s an emotional thing – almost all overweight people eat in response to emotional cues. By trying to rush your weight loss, you immediately start triggering unpleasant feelings that will in turn breed cravings for the very foods you know you should be avoiding. Read the rest of this entry

Low Calorie Snack Foods for Weight Loss

Low Calorie Snack FoodsOne of the most challenging aspects of weight loss is hunger. Since most diets require reducing your caloric intake, you may end up feeling hungry and dissatisfied for at least part of the day. What’s the solution?

Low calorie snack foods that taste great but won’t hold back your weight loss.

Here are some great choices:

- Fruit

Fruit is a great snack option because it can help satisfy a sweet tooth, but also contains fiber and antioxidants. Some of the lowest calorie fruits are: grapefruit, watermelon, peaches, berries like strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, apples, honeydew melon, and canteloupe.

If you don’t want to eat fruit “as is” you can spruce it up in a number of ways, like making a dip out of lowfat cottage cheese, or whipping it into a smoothie with some yogurt. You could even bake apples in the oven and sprinkle them with cinnamon, nutmeg, and top with a few chopped nuts.

- Raw vegetables

Vegetables are very filling because of their high fiber content, but also low in calories. Eating vegetables raw provides a satisfying “crunch” that can easily replace fattening snacks like potato chips.

Try snacking on raw peppers (sweet or spicy), grape tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, cucumbers, radishes, and carrots. If you don’t want to eat the vegetables plain, salsa makes a great low calorie dip, as well as hommus (ground chickpeas), or a ready made low calorie dip from the supermarket.

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How to Boost Your Metabolism

how to boost your metabolismHow to boost your metabolism? When most people talk about metabolism, they mean the metabolism of fat. The problem is that many dieters are doing things that actually slow down their metabolism rather than speeding it up, so their weight loss is often slow and frustrating.

Believe it or not, boosting your metabolism isn’t as hard as you may think. Here are a few tips on how to boost your metabolism to get you moving toward faster, easier weight loss:

How to Boost Your Metabolism Tips #1 – Green tea

Do you drink a lot of coffee? If so, you may want to consider swapping a few of those daily cups for green tea instead. Green tea has long been believed to stimulate your metabolism and help you burn more fat. Beyond weight loss, green tea also contains a lot of antioxidants, which help you prevent many illnesses.

How to Boost Your Metabolism Tips #2 – Eating frequently

One sure way to bog down your metaoblism is to skip meals and reduce your caloric intake too far. When you do this, your body immediately kicks into survival mode and slows down the fat burning process. It thinks you’re at risk of starving to death and tries to conserve energy and resources as much as possible!

Instead, if you eat something every 2-3 hours, your metabolism will speed up because it needs to keep moving to process the foods you eat. Since you’re eating regularly, you can easily reduce the portion sizes so you’re not overdoing it on calories. Also helpful is to include lots of lean protein, and moderate amounts of healthy fats because they keep you feeling satisfied for much longer than carbohydrates do. Read the rest of this entry

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