Weight Loss Tips

When it comes to Weight Loss, we've been there, done that, now serving 109 tips in 17 categories ranging from Author Intro to Weight Loss Tips for Traveling.

How can I lose weight quickly?

Eliminate Sugar for Quick Weight Loss

One of the largest culprits in causing weight gain is sugar. Modern day diets are filled with sugar all the way from breakfast cereals and donuts to the coffee beverages you drink to beat the mid-day slump to the desserts after dinner. Even fruits and vegetables contain sugar, and though the sugar is occurs naturally and is not refined, it's still sugar. Your body is only able to process a certain amount of sugar at a time, and any excess sugar that is consumed will be turned into fat. When you stop adding fuel to the fire (your fat), your body will start burning the stored fat for its energy needs.

A quick way to jump start your weight loss is to cut out all added sugar in your diet and cut back on fruit, as well. Try eating no more than 15 grams of sugar a day for best results. Many people will notice that they lose a 2-3 pounds, or more, in the first week. Do note that this isn't easy! A banana has nearly 20 grams of sugar and a candy bar has upwards of 40 or more. Keep hydrated and snack on raw, low-calorie veggies like cucumbers and bell peppers to keep from giving into your cravings.

   
What are common emotional eating cues?

Emotional Eating Affects Your Healthy Weight Loss Diet Plan

Most women would probably agree that emotional eating is their biggest challenge in dealing with weight. When emotions fire up, even a healthy weight loss diet is put to the test. Being able to distinguish the difference between emotional eating and physical hunger is very important. Here are several emotional eating triggers that can cause you to overeat and subsequently gain weight. Be aware of these triggers and be ready to make positive behavior choices when you find yourself in these situations.

  • Anger—whether you are angry at a situation, yourself or someone else you use food to suppress your anger. It's better to deal with your anger instead of using food to make you feel better.
  • Boredom—typically you are alone, you have nothing to do, nowhere to go so you eat to occupy your time. Instead, try to be productive by doing house work, starting a new project or anything else to prevent emotional eating.
  • Despair—you may feel like nothing is going right, nothing matters, no one cares, so why care about your weight? Regain a positive attitude and get back on your healthy weight loss diet plan instead of packing on the pounds.
  • Loneliness—you may have accomplished something very special but have no one to share it with. You are tempted to treat yourself by overeating to mask the pain of loneliness. Instead of treating yourself with food, reward yourself with things that do not affect your health (shopping, seeing a movie, etc.).
Don't let emotions interfere with your weight loss diet program. You're on the right track to a healthier lifestyle! Stick with your weight loss diet program and you're on your way to a healthier lifestyle.

   
What are some ways to stay motivated?

How to Stay Motivated

As you are probably aware, motivation is one of the most difficult issues to contend with during weight loss. Most people are highly motivated in the beginning but have trouble maintaining motivation over the long term. The best way to stay motivated is to recognize all that you have accomplished so far. Think about the positive lifestyle changes you've made and give yourself credit for them. Try not to lose the momentum you have gained since you began your lifestyle makeover. It is also helpful to look at other benefits you've received besides weight loss. Do you feel better about yourself, have more energy, or maybe a decrease in blood pressure?

Another way of keep yourself motivated is to create visible signs of your progress. For instance, if you enjoy numbers you could post a weight graph or body measurements in areas around the house. Usually the bathroom mirror or the refrigerator door is the most popular locations for posting data. You can also record activity milestones by logging your exercise mileage towards a particular vacation spot. You might even consider taking an actual vacation to this location when you reach this exercise goal. By providing a visible record of your accomplishment not only helps you stay motivated but allows others to congratulate you for the progress you've made.

The final way to maintain motivation is to change up your eating and exercise routine.

  • Are you tired of eating the same foods? Why not try a new recipe or a food that you haven't eaten before.
  • Don't go to the gym and do the same workouts every day. Take a new class, get a personal trainer, or change up your strength training routine in some fashion.
  • Get involved in a friendly competition. Challenges could range from cooking a particular healthy dish to who can do the most push ups. You could even write a $5 check every week. If you lose weight, you keep the money. If you don't lose weight, then the money goes to charity.
It's amazing how much harder you will push yourself when you have an incentive.

   
What are some strategies to deal with stress?

Diet Information For Healthy Weight Loss

While much of mainstream weight loss diet information targets women, you may wonder, “Do men and women lose weight differently?” Probably not, but it has been suggested that the triggers for eating are different for men and women.

For men, stress seems to be the one emotion most often associated with overeating. Many overweight men can trace their weight problems back to stress. There are many ways men can control stress in their lives, and it starts with implementing a successful weight loss and diet plan. Identify the stress and change your response it. In other words, replace overeating with a more positive behavior. There are many alternatives to choose from such as going for a walk, reading, listening to your favorite music, or calling a friend. Develop some constructive behaviors and have them ready to go when stress triggers the desire to overeat or eat something you shouldn't. Another method of controlling stress is by actively practicing stress management techniques. Examples of stress management techniques can be found below.

  • Relaxation techniques
  • Imagery
  • Meditation
  • Yoga
  • Tai chi
  • Progressive muscle relaxation
  • Exercise
  • Being fit and healthy also increases your ability to deal with stress as it arises
  • Organization skills
  • A neater physical environment at the office and at home decrease clutter and reduces stress
  • Time Management Skills- learning to prioritize tasks and avoid over-commitment reduces stress
Stress reduction will not only decrease your urge to overeat but also positively affect other aspects of your life. Ultimately, how you handle stress is up to you. Learning to deal with stress will improve the long-term success of your weight loss program.

   
How can I avoid overeating?

Techniques to Avoid Overeating

There are many strategies you can employ to take control of your eating behaviors. Below you'll find a list of tips that may be beneficial to you. If one strategy doesn't work that is fine just move on the next one. The more techniques you have at your disposal the greater your chances of success.

  • Plan meals and snacks in advance. Having an eating schedule prevents impulsive eating.
  • Focus on your food by eliminating all other activities while eating. Don't read, watch T.V., or talk on the phone.
  • Eat slowly. Savor every bite of food. Notice the flavor and texture—really taste you food.
  • Eat in one place in your home. This area of the house, such as your dining table, should only be used for eating. The idea is that you associate this location with eating and nothing else.
  • Don't clean your plate. Don't feel obligated to clean your plate when dining. Eat until you're almost full because it takes 20 minutes for your stomach to send signals to your brain that you're full.
  • Eat on smaller plates with smaller utensils. Downsizing your potions by using a smaller plates and utensils gives an illusion of eating more food.

   
How does alcohol affect my weight?

Alcohol in Moderation = Weight Loss For Men

One important weight loss diet plan tip for men is to limit alcohol consumption. Men drink alcohol for a variety of reasons with work-related stress being at the top of the list. Alcohol is not all bad. In fact, research suggests that drinking in moderation may actually decrease the risk of coronary heart disease. For men, drinking in moderation is defined as one or two drinks per day. The problem for weight conscious males is that alcoholic beverages have calories but provide little nutrition. A can of light beer has about 100 calories while a regular beer contains 150 calories; this is similar to the calories found in a can of regular soda. Wines tend to be lower in calories but mixed drinks can have a surprisingly high calorie count based on its ingredients. Alcohol affects weight because when men drink there is a tendency to have a few beers not just one or two. This combined with the fact that alcohol influences our food choices and is usually consumed at times when we are very inactive. Some men could probably lose significant amounts of weight by eliminating or drastically cutting back on alcohol. Limiting alcohol intake should be part of any man's healthy weight loss diet plan.

   
How do I avoid food triggers?

Control You Environment

One way to avoid food triggers is by controlling your environment. This means making an effort to minimize your contact with food at home, work, and in the car. The more time you are exposed to food the greater your chances are of binging or snacking when you may not be hungry in the first place. Limiting the number of high risk situations will make it easier for you to lose weight. Here are several ideas to help decrease your exposure to food.

Home

  • Have family members avoid eating problem foods in front of you.
  • Serve meals from on the stove. Placing serving dishes on the table can be too tempting to take a second or third helping. At least you will have to consciously think before going after seconds.
  • Remove all problem foods from the house. If you must keep these foods around either store them in container you can't see through or a designated cabinet so you'll know that this area is off limits.
  • Prepare and eat one portion of food at a time. Cooking too much food may prompt you to overeat.
  • After you finish your last bite don't go back for seconds for five minutes.
  • After meals, clean up promptly and have another family member put up the dirty dishes.
  • Store leftovers immediately after each meal.
  • Leave the table when you are done eating

Work

  • Avoid break rooms where co-workers have left high calorie foods.
  • Keep healthy snack options at your desk.
  • Bring your lunch each day to keep from going out.
  • If you do go out to lunch with co-workers eat an extra side order of vegetables instead of higher calorie food items. (i.e. salad and vegetable medley instead of mashed potatoes with gravy and macaroni and cheese)

   
Is there a relationship between eating breakfast and being overweight?

Breakfast: A Healthy Eating Strategy

You've heard it before: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Well, it's true. The goal of eating in the morning is to "break" your overnight "fast." The longer you fast the greater the chance of impulsive snacking and overeating later in the day. This type of snacking and overeating does not make up the necessities of a healthy eating lifestyle.

Are you curious about the amount of breakfast that is needed to prevent binging at later meals? The good news is that it's less than you might think. On average breakfast should consist of about 20-25 percent of your total calorie needs for the day. Breakfast doesn't have to be a buffet of food. Half of a bagel with peanut butter, some fruit, cheese toast, or a quick bowl of cereal or oatmeal are all good choices. For those who do not eat breakfast something is better than nothing.

Eating breakfast is a learned behavior so set some realistic breakfast goals for yourself and work toward them. You may want to start by trying to eat breakfast two or three times per week, increasing until you are eating breakfast on a daily basis. The same strategy should be used to improve the amount eaten as well. Begin with just a few bites and work your way up to eating a healthy nutritious breakfast. And finally, for those of you who are rushed in the morning, grab a piece of fruit or toast to be eaten on your way to work. Eating a small amount of healthy food in the morning really sets you up for healthy eating throughout the day.

   
How do I set realistic goals?

Setting Realistic Goals

You probably start losing weight with some predetermined goal weight in mind. Whether you intend to lose 20, 40, or even 50 pounds you must determine if your goal is even realistic. Goals are important because they give us direction and a way to measure progress. Most people, however, set their goals way too high so when they do make progress it seems almost insignificant. Realize that your goals must be attainable. Don't set yourself up for failure by establishing unrealistic goals.

As part of the goal setting process you should develop long and short term objectives. Long term objectives can be achieved by reaching your short term goals. For example, let's say you have been very inactive and set a goal of exercising five times per week. Going from being totally inactive to five days of exercise is unrealistic. To successfully accomplish your objective, first set an initial, more realistic, short term goal of walking two days per week. Once you feel comfortable with this level of exercise progress to three or four days per week. It may take several weeks or months to get to your target exercise level so be patient. Using this goal setting technique increases your odds of achieving success.

   
Why is record keeping important?

Record Keeping is Important

Record keeping is an essential ingredient for weight loss success. You can learn a lot of things from your records. The more detailed your records are the better. Keep track of what you eat, how much activity you get each day, and weekly weight. It may seem tedious and time consuming but record keeping does facilitate weight loss. Most successful weight losers cite self-monitoring as one major reason for their success. Self-monitoring will help you in several ways.

Increased awareness of current habits

  • Keeping records increases awareness of your eating and exercise patterns. Once patterns become clear you can work on changing these habits. For instance, you believe you are eating 1,500 calories per day only to find that after self-monitoring it turns out you are actually consumed 2,200. Based on this information you can work on controlling calories. Another poor eating behavior caught through record keeping is inappropriate meal timing. Maybe you eat most of your calories in the evening. Recording when you eat your meals will make this pattern more noticeable.
Improved Adherence

  • You are more likely to make positive behavior choices because you are accountable to your records. This is one reason many don't keep records; they would rather forget how much they've eaten and how little they are exercising. Just knowing that you are writing everything down helps avoid overeating or skipping workouts.
Track progress

  • Self-monitoring is an important way to track progress towards your eating and exercise goals. It allows you to see how far you have come especially during a lapse. You can look back at your records and stay positive.
Problem solving

  • Self-monitoring can provide insightful information to help overcome issues related to eating and exercise. Your records can be used to break through a plateau or assist you in avoiding high risk situations.

   
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Jerry Mayo
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