Strong is the new skinny as far as the buzz word marketing hype flooding facebook feeds everywhere, and, well, skinny has moved over to become merely just a perception. As a body transformation specialist, I’ve seen 200lb clients dancing around in their skinny jeans because they feel so light and free after losing 50lbs through mindful eating. But it’s not all plain sailing and let’s face it, watching the scale stand still can be downright frustrating for even the most diligent of dieters. Eating too much usually comes from unconsciously chomping down foods that we don’t even think about – aka ‘mindless eating’. It takes 20 minutes for the fullness feeling to register with your brain. Try to eat slowly and enjoy your meals!
Here are my top healthy diet tips for quick weight loss which will see you booting you out of your ready-to-quit jeans and back on track to finding your #happysize!
If You Bite It, Write It
Journal everything you drink or eat throughout your day. Use a calorie tracking app such as (mynetdiary.com) to avoid mindful eating and unnecessary nibbling habits. Accountability is a very effective way to stick to your weight loss plans. Be accountable to yourself by writing a food journal, and get real about how much you really are putting into your body.
Take The Time You Need
Set a reasonable and realistic weight loss plan. Your happy size won’t just happen over night. Set short, medium and big goals that you want to achieve, and break them down into smaller chunks that are achievable. You will feel cherished when you will start to achieve small goals – as it will lead to bigger goals! “Don’t expect to see huge results overnight; take the time to change your lifestyle and you’ll change your weight” says Dr. Phil, that famous psychology guy. Benjamin Franklin said: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Preparation is the key to any successful dietary change. Make sure to prepare so that everything for your quick meals and snacks is always on hand!
Don’t Starve Yourself
Oh I know, you’ve heard it a million times before: eat regularly throughout the day. But it’s true. Starving yourself through skipping a meal usually sends your blood sugar levels crashing down to hunger valley pretty quickly, which in turn leads to overeating on foods that aren’t going to help your waistline. Research reviews, in which data of 13,998 children and adolescents were studied, showed that increase in meal frequency, almost 3 to 5 times a day, results in more weight loss. In other words, you don’t need to deprive yourself in order to lose weight! Enjoy a small bowl of dessert or French Fries at weekends as a treat for yourself – just try to keep your treats within 10% of your total daily or weekly intake. For example, if you normally eat 1500 calories per day, have 150 calories per day of low nutritionally dense foods – biscotti with your espresso, or nutella on your toast.
Simple little ‘treat foods’ will boost confidence to stick to the weight loss plan as you’ll feel like you’re not missing out on the good things in life with mindful eating. These are the healthy diet tips for quick weight loss that we all need to be reminded about sometimes! For some people, symptoms of withdrawal from foods like breads, desserts, milk, processed and sweetened fast foods can be most challenging in the first few days. Withdrawal symptoms can include changes in sleep patterns, headaches, fatigue and gastrointestinal symptoms. These usually don’t last more than a few days.
Reward Yourself
Treat yourself well with small rewards whenever you’ve done something to be proud of. Try to steer the reward system away from food treats, instead focus on a relaxation massage, or perhaps hiring a baby-sitter for the afternoon so that you can enjoy a long walk in the forest. Rewards play a vital role in positive reinforcement and helping you to achieve that happy size. They are best done when you help yourself! Praise yourself, and if other people praise you also, let that be a bonus – not an expectation.
By Cat Smiley – catsmiley.com
