I feel that too often weight-loss is made out to be way more complicated than it should be. Keep it simple – write a shopping list to shop from, plan your meals in advance, and pack snacks and lunch for work. Having the healthy options in front of you makes unhealthy eating a lot less convenient.
2. Eat consciously
How often do you stare into the fridge “trying to find what you feel like”, buy popcorn & coke at the movies despite just having eaten, or search for something sweet directly after a meal despite feeling satisfied? Learn to eat when you are hungry. Turn off the TV and put away your cell phone and IPad, eat slowly and teach yourself to actually taste your food.
3. Pair the healthy eating with exercise
I am pretty sure that if weight-loss made it onto your resolutions list, so did exercise. Weight-loss is about 70% diet and 30% exercise. Never-the-less exercise is important for more than just getting skinny – do it for the endorphins, health and relaxation.
4. Deprivation leads to disaster
How many times have you cut something out of your life completely as an attempt to “be healthy”, and how many times has that resulting in you gorging yourself with that forbidden food? Enjoying the “less healthy” foods in moderation and the correct portions will not stop weight-loss in its tracks and will help to make the healthy eating more manageable and sustainable.
5. Write it down
Although it may seem like a laborious task – writing down every piece of food and drink that enters your mouth can be quite an education. Challenge yourself to doing it for just one week even and soon it will become quite clear where your weaknesses lie and which areas you need to start focussing on.
