Weight Loss Do's & Don'ts

As I continue on my journey, I've learnt a few things about weight loss, and am in the process of learning even more. Believe me, there are so many opinions out there, so many options, a lot of research into weight loss and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The trick (I think) is weeding out the gold from the gunk.While I offer these few guidelines, I wish to emphasize that one womans/mans meat is anothers poison. SO what has worked for me may not work for you and vice versa. So please take all of this with a 'spoon' of salt. Take out time and be committed to finding what works for YOU. You are the most important living person in YOUR WORLD; so you are worth it!

But remember that these are things that I am working into my life, becasuse I am 100% committed to Dropping It For Life.

Here we go...

Do’s	Don’ts
Weigh yourself often it helps keep your target in perspective. Try to step on your scale (I hear digital scales are more accurate) at least once a week. And please keep track of your weight loss ie write it down. I actually created a graph on excel that I just love to see slope downwards.	Don’t skip meals. You really cannot make up for the extra you had at lunch by missing dinner. It doesn’t work that way. Why shouldn’t you skip a meal? Because: you could get dehydrated and loose energy which could nix your work out efforts. Also the hunger-monster could ambush you and make you end up eating the wrong things -take it from me, I learnt this ‘the HARD WAY’. So NEVER skip meals, especially breakfast. My best breakfast recommendation is oatmeal with dried fruits and sugar free soy milk.
Do curb eating saturated fats. Nutritionists say that less than 10% of your calorie intake should come from saturated fats. In layman’s terms, change your butter with almond butter, your vegetable or palm oil with olive oil. Remember, it’s the little things that count	Don’t stay away from vegetables. You can eat as much veggies as you want and still lose weight. But please prepare them in a sensible and healthy fashion i.e. grill, steam, raw… and do avoid them heavy sauces and creams that we all think make them taste better. They actually don’t, it’s just that we have conditioned our taste buds to think they taste better. We can also re-teach our taste buds to enjoy plainer fare.
Drink water before your meals – at least 20 minutes ahead. This wee tip could help you curb the amount of food you end up eating, coz it ideally should increase your feeling of fullness when you go on to eat. That plus the fact that water helps flush out toxins from your kidneys, some even say it helps rev your metabolism. If these ideas don’t rock your boat, think of the benefits of water to your skin…ageless beauty. J	Don’t give up sleep. We were told that if we sleep “a lot” we would pile on the pounds/kilos. But researches have told us that not getting enough sleep will actually hinder your weight loss journey. Sleep deprivation actually could increase the intensity of hunger! So not sleeping enough (ie at least 7 hours each night) could be working against you.
Practice eating slowly, it takes about 20 minutes from when you eat for your brain to actually register and signal you that you are full. If you are not aware of this, you could keep eating and end up gorging yourself. I am still practicing eating slowly… I have a lifetime habit of fast eating to break. So, sit at a table, savor your meal, and make it last; all the while listening/waiting for the signal to stop. Trust your body to tell you when it’s had enough.
Plan in advance what you will have to eat. Why? Because if you don’t plan, you could end up eating what is available and not good for you as opposed to what is nutritious and wholesome. Planning could be the difference between the salad you planned and prepared for lunch, and the chicken and fries you had at your desk (personal experience speaking). I’ve learnt that spontaneity is not the way for me if I am going to DROPIT4LIFE… (I’m still trying to get a handle on this…so we are learning together)
Avoid the carbs in processed foods. Some natural foods have carbs like sweet potatoes, not I wouldn’t nix that, coz it also provides the fiber I need. But then, think about store bought mashed potatoes… yeah! That’s the culprit – carbs in processed foods.

 

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