Juicing, keto, plant-based, intermittent fasting… There are dozens of various diets out there fighting for your attention. However, we are here to prove that you CAN see the number on the scale fall without a word like “diet”.
As a rule, the most famous diets that help you lose weight fast make you feel hungry and depressed. But what sense does it make to lose weight just to have it come back later again? Getting rid of extra pounds slowly but surely sounds much better to your health. Qualified experts claim this can be done without any specific diet. Instead, the main thing is to make simple changes to your daily habits.
- Don’t Skip Your Breakfast
The latest study confirms the well-known idea: people who eat breakfast in the morning stay slimmer and save themselves from belly fat compared to those who eat nothing at all at the beginning of the day. In 2018, a Mayo Clinic study found that people who skipped breakfast gained around 5-8 pounds more in one year than others who do eat in the morning.
The explanation for this trend may appear to be simpler than you could think: in general, people who eat breakfast in the morning are more health-conscious. Nutrition experts point out that there is no one-size-fits-all healthy eating recipe. So, your breakfast doesn’t have to be big, but it’s probably a good idea to eat something during the first few hours of your day, to help avoid impulse binges of fatty or sugary food.
The explanation for this trend may appear to be simpler than you could think: in general, people who eat breakfast in the morning are more health-conscious. Nutrition experts point out that there is no one-size-fits-all healthy eating recipe. So, your breakfast doesn’t have to be big, but it’s probably a good idea to eat something during the first few hours of your day, to help avoid impulse binges of fatty or sugary food.
- Cook at home
If you could make your meals at home then you definitely could manage your weight. Here’s an interesting fact: researchers are now linking weight gain and obesity to poor cooking skills. Plus, when you cook at home, use natural fats such as ghee, coconut oil, avocado oil, olive oil, so our body can recognize them and build healthy, strong cell membranes. Only then can our bodies function properly. A big part of cells working well is a result of the fats we eat. Unfortunately, most takeout foods, and certainly all fast foods, are cooked in refined vegetable oils (soybean oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, canola oil). Research indicates that these fats cause epidemic levels of heart disease and obesity.
- Try Mindful Eating
Conscious eating is a great tool for weight management. It decreases cravings and improves portion control. Those people who have a harmful habit of eating and watching YouTube, texting someone, or playing games at the same time tend to eat much more than they need just because they are not paying much attention to the process of eating. This, in turn, can cause overeating. If you want to practice mindful eating, then you should forget about all the distractions, such as turning on the TV, bringing your laptop to the kitchen table, or reading something in-between. It is best to eat at a table and concentrate on how the food tastes. Please don’t forget about the signs of satiation and remember that chewing your food properly will help you to digest it.
- Fiber Is a Key to Success
Fiber-rich foods bring satiation, so you don’t get hungry again for a longer period of time. Research also shows that viscous fiber is especially beneficial in case you want to lose weight. It increases fullness and reduces your daily food intake. Viscous fiber has a special characteristic. It turns into gel when it comes in contact with water. This gel improves the time of absorption of nutrients and slows down the emptying of your stomach. This kind of fiber is only found in plant foods. Here are a few examples of foods with this type of fiber: oranges, old-fashioned oats, asparagus, beans, Brussels sprouts, beets, and flax seeds.
- Increase Probiotic Intake
You must have heard about probiotics at least once in your lifetime. These are beneficial bacteria that play a crucial role in digestion and affect your weight and fat mass and even mood. Humans’ bodies host these bacteria and supply them with food, including fiber. In turn, gut bacteria aid the intestine and improve overall human health. Any diet that involves much sugar and fat can alter the balance of bacteria by decreasing the number of good bacteria. In nature, probiotics are found in various fermented foods, such as tempeh, kimchi, plain Greek yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, miso, and kombucha. Also, you could ask your primary care doctor about supplements that could help you in normalizing gut flora. Healthy microbiome is the key to an overall health.
- Give Preference to Fruits, Vegetables, and Whole Grains
Eating low-calorie fruits (prunes, berries, melons, apples) and veggies is a basis for healthy eating in the first place. Try eating five kinds of vegetables and three kinds of fruits daily because these foods are rich in phytonutrients, antioxidants, vitamins, fiber, and minerals. You should also incorporate whole grain food (whole brown rice, buckwheat, quinoa or barley) into your diet. These foods provide essential fiber which keeps you full for a longer time, so that you can burn your belly fat.
- Be Careful with Liquid Calories
Sweet drinks increase the number of calories but do not reduce the feeling of hunger when compared to solid food. Drink plain water, carbonated mineral water or kombucha instead. Try a bit of nutritious and low-calorie vegetable juice to help yourself if you no longer feel full during the day. Beware of calories that come with alcohol; they add up quickly. If you enjoy drinking champagne or something stronger quite often, decreasing the amount of alcohol that gets in your body will definitely help you lose weight. Plus, if you are a coffee drinker, then invest your money in a good coffee-machine instead of drinking pure quality products from coffee-shops and drive-throughs, and don’t add any additional sugar or sweet flavored syrups to your freshly brewed cup of coffee or tea.
- Relax and Chill
You might be surprised but stress isn’t bad for your body. It energizes you and can push you to achieve your peak performance. However, if you are constantly stressed and never take your time to relax, then it can cause a lot of problems. Constant stress may even throw your hormones off balance and cause faster fat gains. Check your AppStore for stress relief apps and use breathing or meditation techniques to bring your cortisol levels down.
- Restful Sleep
When it comes to weight loss, the crucial role of sleep cannot be ignored or underestimated. When you fall asleep, your body starts healing any damage caused by wear and tear. The digestive system diligently processes food, absorbs carbohydrates and breaks down fats. Any lack of sleep leads to changes in hormonal balance, especially when it comes to such hormones as cortisol or insulin. Cortisol regulates the level of proteins, sugar, minerals, fats, and water. Insulin is responsible for normal blood sugar levels and fat accumulation. Lack of sleep triggers higher levels of cortisol and leads to increased insulin, which makes burning calories a much more challenging undertaking. So, a good night’s sleep can help in weight loss.
- Work Out
When you work out regularly, you burn lots of calories. For instance, a 30-year-old woman, 55 kg and 1.65 cm tall can lose around 500 calories per hour of running at a speed of 6 min per km. Generally, the exact amount of fat you can potentially lose depends on your age, gender, height, and weight. If you do it faster, obviously, the total number of calories you lose will rise. Also, exercise strengthens your muscles. Someone with more muscles will burn more calories, even when not working out. Another great way to track your physical activity is fitness trackers. It is a small investment but it allows you to track your steps per day exactly (aim to have at least 8,000) and your heart rate during the workouts.