16 tips to help you lose weight

16 tips to help you lose weight

 20 tips to help you lose weight

Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine found participants started gaining weight in October and continued seeing incremental gains in their weight through the New Year. The actual weight gain was minimal — about 1.3 pounds — but it took five months to lose. In other words, eating that pumpkin pie now could affect whether your spring wardrobe fits.

Here, five surprising reasons it’s hard to avoid extra calories during the holidays and strategies for staying on track:

1. Trying intermittent fasting:

Intermittent fasting (IF) is a pattern of eating that involves regular short-term fasts and consuming meals within a shorter time period during the day.

Several studiesTrusted Source have indicated that short-term intermittent fasting, which is up to 24 weeks in duration, leads to weight loss in overweight individuals.

The most common intermittent fasting methods include the following:

• Alternate day fastingTrusted Source (ADF): Fast every other day and eat normally on non-fasting days. The modified versionTrusted Source involves eating just 25–30 percent of the body’s energy needs on fasting days.
• The 5:2 Diet: Fast on 2 out of every 7 days. On fasting days eat 500–600 calories.
• The 16/8 method: Fast for 16 hours and eat only during an 8-hour window. For most people, the 8-hour window would be around noon to 8 p.m. A study on this method found that eating during a restricted period resulted in the participants consuming fewer calories and losing weight.

2. Tracking your diet and exercise:

If someone wants to lose weight, they should be aware of everything that they eat and drink each day. The most effective way to do this is to log every item that they consume, in either a journal or an online food tracker.

Researchers estimated in 2017 that there would be 3.7 billion health app downloads by the end of the year. Of these, apps for diet, physical activity, and weight loss were among the most popular. This is not without reason, as tracking physical activity and weight loss progress on-the-go can be an effective way of managing weightTrusted Source.

One studyTrusted Source found that consistent tracking of physical activity helped with weight loss. Meanwhile, a review studyTrusted Source found a positive correlation between weight loss and the frequency of monitoring food intake and exercise. Even a device as simple as a pedometer can be a useful weight-loss tool

Studies show it’s common to consume more than 3,000 calories during a typical holiday meal, but deciding to stick to a strict diet from Thanksgiving to the New Year is a mistake. “Any time you focus on a food by calling it out as something to avoid, you are making it seem more desirable,” Palinski-Wade says. “You give more thought to the off-limit foods that you would have otherwise, which can lead to feelings of deprivation — [and that can] lead to binge eating.”

The fix: You might actually benefit from taking a break from counting calories, according to a 2018 study that found taking a diet break helped dieters lose more weight. Go ahead and celebrate the season but exercise moderation. As Moore explains, “Having a choice to eat what you want whenever you’d like without cheat days or restriction fosters a healthier relationship with food with less guilt and fewer triggers to overeating.”

3. Eating mindfully:

Mindful eating is a practice where people pay attention to how and where they eat food. This practice can enable people to enjoy the food they eat and maintain a healthy weightTrusted Source.

As most people lead busy lives, they often tend to eat quickly on the run, in the car, working at their desks, and watching TV. As a result, many people are barely aware of the food they are eating.

Techniques for mindful eating include:

• Sitting down to eat, preferably at a table: Pay attention to the food and enjoy the experience.
• Avoiding distractions while eating: Do not turn on the TV, or a laptop or phone.
• Eating slowly: Take time to chew and savor the food. This technique helps with weight loss, as it gives a person’s brain enough time to recognize the signals that they are full, which can help to prevent over-eating.
• Making considered food choices: Choose foods that are full of nourishing nutrients and those that will satisfy for hours rather than minutes.

Eating at regular times during the day helps burn calories at a faster rate. It also reduces the temptation to snack on foods high in fat and sugar.

Find out more about eating heathily

Fruit and veg are low in calories and fat, and high in fibre – 3 essential ingredients for successful weight loss. They also contain plenty of vitamins and minerals.

Read up on getting your 5 A Day

4. Eating protein for breakfast:

Protein can regulate appetite hormones to help people feel full. This is mostly due to a decrease in the hunger hormone ghrelin and a rise in the satiety hormones peptide YY, GLP-1, and cholecystokininTrusted Source.

ResearchTrusted Source on young adults has also demonstrated that the hormonal effects of eating a high-protein breakfast can last for several hours.

Good choices for a high-protein breakfast include eggs, oats, nut and seed butters, quinoa porridge, sardines, and chia seed pudding.

Skipping breakfast will not help you lose weight. You could miss out on essential nutrients and you may end up snacking more throughout the day because you feel hungry.

5. Eating plenty of fiber:

Dietary fiber describes plant-based carbohydrates that it is not possible to digest in the small intestine, unlike sugar and starch. Including plenty of fiber in the diet can increase the feeling of fullness, potentially leading to weight loss.

Fiber-rich foods include:

• whole-grain breakfast cereals, whole-wheat pasta, whole-grain bread, oats, barley, and rye
• fruit and vegetables
• peas, beans, and pulses
• nuts and seeds

6. Get more active:

Being active is key to losing weight and keeping it off. As well as providing lots of health benefits, exercise can help burn off the excess calories you cannot lose through diet alone.

Find an activity you enjoy and are able to fit into your routine.

7. Drink plenty of water:

People sometimes confuse thirst with hunger. You can end up consuming extra calories when a glass of water is really what you need.

Read more about drinking water as part of a heathly diet

8. Eat high fibre foods:

Foods containing lots of fibre can help keep you feeling full, which is perfect for losing weight. Fibre is only found in food from plants, such as fruit and veg, oats, wholegrain bread, brown rice and pasta, and beans, peas and lentils.

9. Cutting back on sugar and refined carbohydrates:

The Western diet is increasingly high in added sugars, and this has definite links to obesityTrusted Source, even when the sugar occurs in beveragesTrusted Source rather than food.

Refined carbohydrates are heavily processed foods that no longer contain fiber and other nutrients. These include white rice, bread, and pasta.

These foods are quick to digest, and they convert to glucose rapidly.

Excess glucose enters the blood and provokes the hormone insulin, which promotes fat storage in the adipose tissue. This contributes to weight gain.

Where possible, people should swap processed and sugary foods for more healthful options. Good food swaps include:

• whole-grain rice, bread, and pasta instead of the white versions
• fruit, nuts, and seeds instead of high-sugar snacks
• herb teas and fruit-infused water instead of high-sugar sodas
• smoothies with water or milk instead of fruit juice

10. Balancing gut bacteria:

One emerging area of research is focusing on the role of bacteria in the gut on weight management.

The human gut hosts a vast number and variety of microorganisms, including around 37 trillion bacteriaTrusted Source.

Every individual has different varieties and amounts of bacteria in their gut. Some types can increase the amount of energy that the person harvests from food, leading to fat deposition and weight gain.

Some foods can increase the number of good bacteria in the gut, including:

• A wide variety of plants: Increasing the number of fruits, vegetables, and grains in the diet will result in an increased fiber uptake and a more diverse set of gut bacteria. People should try to ensure that vegetables and other plant-based foods comprise 75 percent of their meal.
• Fermented foods: These enhance the function of good bacteria while inhibiting the growth of bad bacteria. Sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, yogurt, tempeh, and miso all contain good amounts of probiotics, which help to increase good bacteria. Researchers have studied kimchi widely, and study results suggest that it has anti-obesity effects. Similarly, studies have shown that kefir may help to promote weight loss in overweight women.
• Prebiotic foods: These stimulate the growth and activity of some of the good bacteria that aid weight control. Prebiotic fiber occurs in many fruits and vegetables, especially chicory root, artichoke, onion, garlic, asparagus, leeks, banana, and avocado. It is also in grains, such as oats and barley.

11. Do not ban foods:

Do not ban any foods from your weight loss plan, especially the ones you like. Banning foods will only make you crave them more. There's no reason you cannot enjoy the occasional treat as long as you stay within your daily calorie allowance.

12. Do not stock junk food:

To avoid temptation, do not stock junk food – such as chocolate, biscuits, crisps and sweet fizzy drinks – at home. Instead, opt for healthy snacks, such as fruit, unsalted rice cakes, oat cakes, unsalted or unsweetened popcorn, and fruit juice.

13. Getting a good night’s sleep:

Numerous studies have shown that getting less than 5–6 hours of sleep per night is associated with increased incidence of obesityTrusted Source. There are several reasons behind this.

Research suggestsTrusted Source that insufficient or poor-quality sleep slows down the process in which the body converts calories to energy, called metabolism. When metabolism is less effective, the body may store unused energy as fat. In addition, poor sleep can increase the production of insulin and cortisolTrusted Source, which also prompt fat storage.

How long someone sleeps also affects the regulation of the appetite-controlling hormones leptin and ghrelin. Leptin sends signals of fullness to the brain.

14. Managing your stress levels:

Stress triggers the release of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which initially decrease the appetite as part of the body’s fight or flight response.

However, when people are under constant stress, cortisol can remain in the bloodstream for longer, which will increase their appetiteTrusted Source and potentially lead to them eating more.

Cortisol signals the need to replenish the body’s nutritional stores from the preferred source of fuel, which is carbohydrate.

Insulin then transports the sugar from carbohydrates from the blood to the muscles and brain. If the individual does not use this sugar in fight or flight, the body will store it as fat.

Researchers foundTrusted Source that implementing an 8-week stress-management intervention program resulted in significant reduction in the body mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents who are overweight or have obesity.

Some methods of managing stress include:

• yoga, meditation, or tai chi
• breathing and relaxation techniques
• spending some time outdoors, for example walking or gardening

15. Cut down on alcohol:

A standard glass of wine can contain as many calories as a piece of chocolate. Over time, drinking too much can easily contribute to weight gain.

Find out more about the calories in alcohol

16. Plan your meals:

Try to plan your breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for the week, making sure you stick to your calorie allowance. You may find it helpful to make a weekly shopping list.