There's are many small changes that anyone can make that can help you lose weight without dieting. We can touch on some of the important ones.
Getting more sleep is very basic to the weight-loss process. What ever changes you make in your exercise or diet if your not getting enough sleep you will probably continue to fight your battle with weight.
One small trick that works for some people is to only allow yourself 20 minutes to eat. I understand that on paper this might seem like a good way to control portions. It's been used by the military in boot camps with big success for decades, so it can work, but you need the will power to resist food between meals, and only eat 3 meals a day. And don't forget the exercise. In these boot camps a person can burn more than 5000 calories a day. That's really the biggest problem overweight people have. They burn less then 2000 calories a day and they're eating too much food that their body can't process so if the body can't process your food it will be turned into fat.
Eat more veggies is the best way to eat more food that your body can process. It doesn't mean that you should become a vegetarian, but it does mean that we all eat too much meat and meat is one food that's hard to digest. It takes your body about 3 days to digest red meat, less time for poultry and only one day for fish. Fish may be the best way to get meat into your diet. A good example of a good diet that limits meat would be the Mediterranean diet. The diet of the Mediterranean people before they started to eat like Americans. You can read about their diet on the internet or on the Front page of this blog, check the diet page. Eating this way gives you more nutrition then the traditional American diet. You will lose body fat over time, but the real plus for this diet is that you will become a healthier person with more energy and be more productive. A good way to get more veggies is to eat more soup and more salads. This is a way to get more good vegetables like tomatoes, celery, okra, zucchini, cabbage plus beans and grains like barley, brown rice.
Grains are also a food that most of us don't get enough of. Today things are changing and good grains can be bought in our favorite foods. We can now find whole grains like oats, brown rice, barley and buckwheat in foods like waffles, pizza crusts, english muffins, breads and pasta. So we really have no excuse for not being able to find good nutritious foods. I know that some of us get sticker shock in the grocery stores but remember when you don't buy the snack food, bakery goods, candy and bottled drinks you will save more money then you might think. You can actually save money on groceries after you adjust to this new diet. And another plus with the Mediterranean diet is that your not limited to quantity of food and there's no calories to count. You just follow the food pyramid and get your exercise.
Foods to skip. A big part of losing weight is to stay away from certain foods. Processed foods top the list if you're trying to compile make your own list. One big problem is not enough people know which are processed foods. I'll boil it down to one sentence. If it's food that's made by man, it's processed. Bacon, lunch meat, most breads and bakery goods, pre-made food in the grocery store. Those whole roasted chickens you buy in the chain stores. The salads that they make in the chain stores. Any desserts you buy fresh or frozen. Except for frozen vegetables that are just vegetables without additives, there is nothing in the frozen food section that is not man-made. Another very important thing to skip is cooking oil. Be very careful when buying cooking oil. Olive oil and coconut oil are the best that I know. Coconut oil is better when cooking with high heat, but both are good choices. If your not cooking olive oil is the best. I even drizzle olive oil on my popcorn before I season it.
Another food group would be bottled drinks and snack foods. The only good snack food that I buy is unpopped popcorn, bulk nuts and seeds. Bottled drinks include soda, juices and alcoholic drinks I avoid. The only alcoholic drink that can be considered healthy would be wine, but it's full of added sugar. Beer is the only alcoholic drink that doesn't add sugar. Drinks and snacks add more calories to the average daily diet then food eaten during meals. The reason I include juices with sodas is because of the added sugar. Juices have in some cases more added sugar then soda. Any juice you drink and want to continue to drink should be done in small quantities. Forty or fifty years ago juice was always had juice on the breakfast table, but what I remember is that what ever the juice, it was served in a 3 oz. glass and breakfast was the only time anyone drank juice. We use to be more aware of the foods we ate, and somewhere through the years you lost that. If we are going to eat healthier we'll need to make our meals at home. We should only be eating food if we know what's in it.
More tips on losing weight might be to shrink your portions. When eating out with friends I usually eat a salad but sometimes I'll just order an appetizer. After your meal you want to get the taste of food out of your month. This avoids food cravings later on. Chew a strong mint gum or maybe strong black coffee or tea. Try to do more walking. It takes 20 minutes to walk one mile. By walking one extra mile everyday you'll loss about 10 pounds a year.
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