Beginners Weight Loss Tips
Everyone wants to lose weight these days. If you have ever tried losing weight, however, you know how very difficult that can be. Losing weight does not happen overnight, or by some magic pill or surgery, but by incorporating the following three weight loss tools, you can be well on your way to better health.
1. Never bite off more than you can chew. I’m not talking strictly about food here. Drastically changing your diet or exercise habits over a very short period of times is a recipe for failure. Healthy, sustainable weight loss generally comes from making small changes that you can live with one at a time. Think of weight loss as building a brick wall: instead of quickly tossing a glob of cement onto a pile of bricks, you need to build that wall carefully and slowly. I still remember seeing my mom sign up for a new gym membership in the late 80s. She went to one or two high-energy, high-intensity aerobics classes before coming home and being so sore that she could barely stand up or sit down for a few days. She never went back to the gym. If you have been mostly inactive for awhile, start by taking long walks around your neighborhood. If you already have a gym membership, start slowly on the cardio equipment and work up to a pace that challenges you but still allows you to carry on a conversation. Most cardio equipment in a gym comes with a small chart somewhere on the console so you can see what your heart rate should be based on your age and weight. Ask your doctor if you’re not sure.
2. Eat off of smaller dishes. Most people eat too much. It’s hard not to when restaurants routinely serve up plates of food that could easily feed two people. And while most packaged food you would eat at home comes with nutritional information based on one serving, have you ever actually measured out that one serving and seen what it looks like? Take, for example, cereal. An average portion of cereal is about one cup, with about one-half of a cup of milk. My cereal bowls at home are nearly eight inches in diameter. If I put an average serving of cereal and milk in a bowl that big, it may not even fill up half the bowl, prompting me to pour in more cereal and more milk (and way more calories!). If, however, I take a “kid-sized” bowl and fill it up with the same portion of cereal and milk, suddenly it looks like “enough.” Unless you have the time and patience to measure out all of your food, eating off of smaller dishes is the easiest way to manage your portion sizes and, by extension, your caloric intake.
3. Eat a fruit or a vegetable at every meal. Mom was really on to something when she made you eat your vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are ridiculously low in calories and they are packed with all sorts of fiber, vitamins and minerals that are really good for you. Adding more fruits or vegetables to your diet is also much easier than you would think. Switch out an apple for your usual bag of chips with your lunchtime sandwich. Add some veggies to your morning egg scramble or some fresh berries to your bowl of cereal. At dinner, go ahead and eat that steak if you want, just make sure to have some asparagus or green beans with it, too.
Beginners Weight Loss Tips to Help Ensure That You Get the Proper Start on Your Journey - Weight Loss
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