Why does losing weight feel so difficult? Most of you will reason that it feels painful to: eat foods you don't particularly like, stop eating foods you love and limit socialising and eating out, for the risk of getting off-track from your journey of losing weight.
What if our understanding about weight loss was incorrect, at the first place? And the best way to go about is by not feeling restricted at all. So many people believe the ‘no pain, no gain’ approach to weight-loss is the most effective. But let me put it this way, if being miserable was part and parcel of losing weight, how motivated would you feel, to carry on? Zero per cent!
For your diet to be long-term it has to be pleasant. Otherwise you will always be struggling to follow it. Never blame yourself if you fail to sustain a diet plan. It’s not you but the diet the fails. Here are five ways to ensure that weight-loss is pleasant and sustainable.
What if our understanding about weight loss was incorrect, at the first place? And the best way to go about is by not feeling restricted at all. So many people believe the ‘no pain, no gain’ approach to weight-loss is the most effective. But let me put it this way, if being miserable was part and parcel of losing weight, how motivated would you feel, to carry on? Zero per cent!
For your diet to be long-term it has to be pleasant. Otherwise you will always be struggling to follow it. Never blame yourself if you fail to sustain a diet plan. It’s not you but the diet the fails. Here are five ways to ensure that weight-loss is pleasant and sustainable.
1. Make tiny changes
A lot of weight loss advice comes from the ‘shock and awe’ school of thought. You throw out everything in your fridge and completely replace your existing diet with something radically different. But the more drastic and different your new eating plan will be, the less likely you are able to stick with it, especially when life gets busy. It's much easier to keep your eating plan relatively the same and then make small changes in the right direction. The best place to start is food portions. Reduction in food-portion by just 5 per cent is amazing. In case you feel no difference, cut back 5 per cent more. In other words, make changes slowly so that you don't notice them. Over time, lots of tiny changes add up to one big result.
2. Don't stop doing what you enjoy
Another popular diet strategy is to stop eating all the foods you love. But is that really sustainable? Of course not! Instead, prioritise. In place of eating both a cookie and a chocolate bar, decide which one you like more.
3. Remove temptation
I know a lot of people who keep food on their desk at work. These are often food items that they really love but also can't resist. If you keep candy on your desk, every time you see it you think ‘Should I have it?’ In case, you fall into a temptation, you are consuming calories that might easily have been avoided. By all means eat candy, but make it a deliberate decision.
4. Watch for the last third
Have you felt full after eating two-third of your meal? Did you stop eating? No, because of your mother’s childhood reminder to finish up everything on your plate, it’s a great habit, but we should only dish out moderate serving. In case you feel full earlier, then you can always store or freeze and eat it later. If you can train yourself to stop eating when you're full (or better yet, serve yourself less), it will help you to take in fewer calories, without any deprivations involved.
5. Avoid eating on obligation
This might not apply to everyone but still there are some people who over-eat due to obligation. Whether it's a pushy friend insisting you to have another glass of milkshake or a colleague making you eat another slice of the cake they baked, you must be prepared on passing on the offer. Most importantly, remember that you don't need to suffer to lose weight.
There are numerous ways to cut down on your calories consumption without feeling deprived, unsatisfied, and without losing out on quality life. Just always make a mental note about how you can possibly eat less, without compromising. You might even have fun, while you are at it.
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