Most often, people cannot lose weight, not because they are lazy, but because of a misconception about losing weight. It seems that it is so long and difficult, so nothing will work out. We share little tricks that will help you take the first steps.
Experts advise starting with small steps — this way you will have more chances to achieve pleasant results.
Change your attitude to weight loss
If you want to lose a dozen kilograms at once, or even more, then such a goal may seem unattainable. However, remember that even a relatively small weight loss will already improve your condition. One study showed that if you lose only 5-7% of your body weight (that’s about four kilograms), while you continue to train two hours a week and eat right, then the risk of developing diabetes will decrease several times. This is a good result, because type 2 diabetes causes heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure and many other health problems. So do not rush to lose weight quickly — small victories are also victories.
Make a competent nutrition plan
Any diet that limits calories will help you lose weight. The only question is how long. Extreme diets that reduce the amount of carbohydrates (for example, keto diets), as a rule, require the consumption of large amounts of saturated fats. In this case, the body does not receive potassium, fiber and phytonutrients to maintain the health of the heart, intestines and brain. Yes, on such diets you will lose weight dramatically, but the kilograms will quickly come back when you return to your usual diet.
Therefore, it is very important to make a nutrition program according to which you will live for a long time — without stress for the body and lack of nutrients. A nutritionist will help you make a program.
Don’t be fooled by the tricks of your brain
Your brain will actively resist — it does not like to leave the comfort zone. Therefore, thoughts will appear in your head: “what if you eat right from Monday to Friday, and eat a cake on the weekend?”. Don’t be fooled — if you “reward” yourself with sweets every weekend, there will be no effect from the diet.
However, if you realize that it is very uncomfortable for you to completely abandon treats, introduce them into your daily diet — but a little bit at a time! For example, a little dark chocolate for dessert or a glass of dry red wine at dinner.
Replace the harmful with the useful
Add more nutritious and healthy foods to your diet — fresh vegetables and fruits. If you focus on them, then gradually healthy snacks will replace high-calorie foods with low nutrient content, which can hinder weight loss. For example, snack on peanuts instead of sweets, eat baked sweet potatoes instead of French fries and increase the number of fried or stewed vegetables for dinner.
Plan your diet in advance
When switching to proper nutrition, it is very important to think in advance about what you will eat. Otherwise, you will get into a situation when you come home hungry and eat the first thing that catches your eye. At the same time, the preparation of healthy and delicious food should not be complicated and long, very simple recipes are also suitable:
Oatmeal with milk, sprinkled with fresh berries;
Tuna sandwich on wholegrain bread with lettuce leaves and tomatoes, young carrots and apple;
Chicken with broccoli side dish (frozen vegetables are often sold in packages, and are quickly cooked).
And for an appetizer, you can eat low-fat mozzarella, whole-grain crackers or boiled egg.
Do not eat at night
Studies show that not only the diet is important for weight loss, but also how much you eat. So, the results of one study showed that consuming most of the daily calories two hours before bedtime increases the risk of being overweight. That is, if you ate almost nothing during the day, but had a hearty dinner at home, and went to bed two hours later, then you will not lose weight this way. Therefore, you need to eat regularly throughout the day so that calories are evenly distributed.