Healthy dieting and weight loss tips part 1

Healthy dieting and weight loss tip #1: Get moving

The amount exercise aids weight loss is open to debate, but the benefits go way beyond burning calories. Exercise can increase your metabolism and improve your outlook—and it’s something you can benefit from right now. Go for a walk, stretch, move around and you’ll have more energy and motivation to tackle the other steps in your weight loss program.

• Lack time for a long workout? Research shows that three 10-minute spurts of exercise per day are just as good as one 30-minute workout.
• Remember: anything is better than nothing. Start off slowly with small amounts of physical activity each day. Then, as you start to lose weight and have more energy, you’ll find it easier to become more physically active.
• Find exercise you enjoy. Try walking with a friend, dancing, hiking, cycling, playing Frisbee with a dog, enjoying a pickup game of basketball, or playing activity-based video games with your kids.

Healthy dieting and weight loss tip #2: Control emotional eating

We don’t always eat simply to satisfy hunger. All too often, we turn to food when we’re stressed or anxious, which can wreck any diet and pack on the pounds. Do you eat when you’re worried, bored, or lonely? Do you snack in front of the TV at the end of a stressful day? Recognizing your emotional eating triggers can make all the difference in your weight-loss efforts. If you eat when you’re:

• Stressed - find healthier ways to calm yourself. Try yoga, meditation, or soaking in a hot bath.
• Low on energy - find other mid-afternoon pick-me-ups. Try walking around the block, listening to energizing music, or taking a short nap.
• Lonely or bored - reach out to others instead of reaching for the refrigerator. Call a friend who makes you laugh, take your dog for a walk, or go to the library, mall, or park—anywhere there’s people.

Healthy dieting and weight loss tip #3: Stay motivated

Permanent weight loss requires making healthy changes to your lifestyle and food choices. These tips can help you to stay motivated:

• Find a cheering section. Social support means a lot. Programs like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers use group support to impact weight loss and lifelong healthy eating. Seek out support—whether in the form of family, friends, or a support group—to get the encouragement you need.
• Slow and steady wins the race.  Losing weight too fast can take a toll on your mind and body, making you feel sluggish, drained, and sick. Aim to lose one to two pounds a week so you’re losing fat rather than water and muscle.
• Set goals to keep you motivated. Short-term goals, like wanting to fit into a bikini for the summer, usually don’t work as well as wanting to feel more confident or become healthier for your children’s sakes. When temptation strikes, focus on the benefits you’ll reap from being healthier.
• Use tools to track your progress. Smartphone apps, fitness trackers, or simply keeping a journal can help you keep track of the food you eat, the calories you burn, and the weight you lose. Seeing the results in black and white can help you stay motivated.
• Get plenty of sleep. Lack of sleep stimulates your appetite so you want more food than normal; at the same time, it stops you feeling satisfied, making you want to keep eating. Sleep deprivation can also affect your motivation, so try to get about eight hours of quality sleep a night.

Healthy dieting and weight loss tip #4: Cut down on sugar and refined carbs

Whether or not you’re specifically aiming to cut carbs, most of us consume way more sugar and refined carbohydrates than is healthy. Eliminating candy and desserts is only part of the solution, though. Sugar is hidden in foods as diverse as bread, canned soups and vegetables, pasta sauce, margarine, and many foods labelled “low fat” or “no fat.” All this hidden sugar amounts to nothing but a lot of empty calories.

• Opt for low sugar products and use fresh or frozen ingredients instead of canned goods whenever possible.
• Soft drinks (including soda, energy drinks, shakes, and coffee drinks) are one of the biggest sources of hidden sugar. One can of soda or a medium shake can contain between 10-12 teaspoons of added sugar.
• Switching to diet soda isn’t the answer as it can trigger sugar cravings and contributes to weight gain. Instead, try switching to carbonated water with a splash of juice or unsweetened iced tea.
• By slowly reducing the sugar in your diet a little at a time, you’ll give your taste buds time to adjust and be able to wean yourself off the craving for sweets.
• To avoid unhealthy spikes in blood sugar, avoid refined carbs such as white bread, white rice or pasta, and opt for their whole-grain counterparts instead.

Less sugar can mean a slimmer waistline

A lot of belly fat surrounds the abdominal organs and liver, and is closely linked to insulin resistance and diabetes. Calories obtained from fructose (found in sugary beverages such as soda and processed foods like doughnuts, muffins, and candy) are more likely to add to this dangerous fat around your belly. Cutting back on sugary foods can mean a slimmer waistline as well as a lower risk of disease.

Healthy dieting and weight loss tip #5: Think good fat, not low fat

Walk down any grocery store aisle and you’ll be bombarded with low-fat or fat-free snacks, dairy, and packaged meals. But while our low-fat options have exploded, so have obesity rates. Clearly, low-fat foods aren’t delivering on their weight loss promises.

Part of the problem is that many of us have swapped dairy and animal fats for the empty calories of refined carbohydrates and sugar. Instead of eating whole-fat yoghurt, for example, we’re eating low- or no-fat versions that are packed with sugar to make up for the loss of taste.

Be smart about saturated fat

Prominent organizations such as the American Heart Association maintain that eating saturated fat from any source increases the risk of heart disease. However, there’s evidence to suggest that not all saturated fat is the same.

• Studies show that eating whole-milk dairy is actually linked to less body fat and lower levels of obesity. This may be because full-fat dairy keeps you feeling satisfied for longer, helping you to eat less overall.
• Adding a little tasty fat, such as butter, to a plate of vegetables, for example, can make it easier to eat healthy food and improve the overall quality of your diet.
• While some people would be wise to limit the amount of saturated fat they consume, others may find that enjoying healthy sources of saturated fat can help weight loss.
• Some nutritionists also warn against swapping butter or lard for industrially manufactured vegetable oils due to the damaging heat and solvents used in processing.

See More Tips HERE

Source