Dec 29 2007
Three Easy Weight Loss Tips for a Thinner New Year
Unfortunately, many New Year’s weight loss resolutions don’t last through January, because we get discouraged by a lack of progress. It’s hard to stick with any diet if you feel like you’re giving up all the fun foods you love, but not really losing much weight.
To make it easier, try these three easy weight loss tips to remove some of those unwanted pounds.
To lose weight quickly without using any expensive (and possibly dangerous) diet pills, you can simply set aside one day a week to fast, drinking only water (no coffee or caffeinated beverages). Many people claim they’d never be able to go a whole day without eating, but it actually isn’t as hard as you would think. Most of us eat our three square meals a day even when we aren’t really hungry.
Since we almost never experience hunger, we think we’ll keel over if we don’t eat our regular meals. Of course, some people really do need to eat every meal because they’re diabetic or taking certain medications, but most people will do just fine when they fast for a day. Check with your doctor first, of course, just to make sure.
You’ll receive several benefits from short fasts that will help you thin down:
1. You’ll lose 2 to three pounds, which gives you a great motivational boost.
2. You experience what it’s really like to go for a short time without food - and discover that it isn’t as bad as you probably thought. In fact, most people don’t really feel much of anything if they only fast for one day.
3. It helps you break the habit of eating when you aren’t hungry. Overeating really is a habit. Having a full stomach feels good, so we get into the habit of keeping it full, almost all of the time. If you can break that habit by proving to yourself that an empty stomach really isn’t all that bad, it’s easier to control your portions and appetite the rest of the week.
My second easy weight loss tip is about your diet. Since many health problems, including obesity, are connected with eating too many animal products, (which are high in fat and cholesterol), it makes sense to cut back or eliminate the meat, chicken and milk products in your diet. If that sounds too drastic, try dedicating at least one day a week to a purely vegan menu, just to try it out.
To make this change more fun, go to the library for a cookbook with luscious pictures of vegetarian meals, and try out the ones that look most appealing. Have a meatless chili, perhaps, or a whole-meal salad with a good variety of veggies.
Many people think of beans as “poor peoples’ food” and forget that beans are one of the most nutritious foods we have. They’re high in proteins and micro-nutrients, and they help people lose weight. And they’re incredibly versatile - you’re sure to find some recipes that everyone in the family will enjoy.
Speaking of health, the other dietary item that causes weight gain and poor health is simple carbohydrates like sugar and white flour. Even vegetarians can make themselves fat by eating too much pasta and sweets, so my third weight loss tip is to cut back on these foods.
To really help your New Year’s weight loss resolution, try dedicating at least one day a week to meals containing complex carbs instead of processed and refined carbs. Try using brown rice or barley in a casserole, perhaps. Find a local store that sells whole wheat or brown rice pasta. Eat a baked potato instead of noodles (yes, potatoes are good for you, if you don’t smother them in butter or gravy).
In fact, most high-carbohydrate foods are actually good for you, as long as they’re not over-processed and refined. That simply means eating an apple instead of a fried apple pie from MacDonald’s; eating a fruit salad with fresh melons instead of ice cream; and boiled potatoes instead of potato chips. Once you find out how good unprocessed, whole foods taste, it will be easy to give up the sugar and white flour completely.
With these three simple changes, you should see the numbers on your scale start to go down by a pound or two a week, and that success will help you stick to your resolution.
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