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This is a guest post by Kat Sanders from the Pharm Tech Blog about pharmacist technician certification and other health and wellness information. She welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: katsanders25@gmail.com.
How often have you started a diet only to lose steam in a few days? How often have you despaired of sticking to the right foods because your cravings tend to overpower your weak willpower? A diet is one way to lose weight, but it is not the only way. Actually, the best way to reduce those extra pounds is to pursue a sensible combination of exercise and diet. But most of us find it hard to curtail our taste buds and retain control over hunger pangs, and this is why we tend to consume much more than our bodies need. And if we take in more calories than we burn off, we tend to put on weight.
So the key to losing weight is to consume a smaller amount of calories, and if you’re looking for easy ways to cut back, here’s what you need to do:
Cut back on the sugar: Sugar is laden with calories and does not add to your nutrition in any way. So if you’re used to putting in two spoons in your cup of coffee, cut back on one. If you have four or five cups a day, that amounts to a significant number of calories.
Reduce your portions: The worst part of a strict diet is that your cravings get ahead of you and drive you to lose control and binge on foods that are high in fat and sugar. Instead of restricting yourself, eat cake or ice cream when you want to; but cut back on the amount you eat. Share a dessert with a friend or stop with just a few bites of chocolate. This way, you get to eat what you want without putting on weight or feeling guilty for indulging yourself.
Eat fruits rather than juice: Fruits are healthier because they contain fiber and are of smaller calorific value than their juices. Also, you don’t feel tempted to add sugar or other additions to your juice if you just bite the fruit and eat it.
Cut back on your alcohol intake: It may give you a high, but alcohol is loaded with empty calories that do nothing for your figure and shape. So cut back on the drinking and see the difference that it makes.
Go easy on the dressings and dips: If you’re choosing a salad or a sandwich, try reducing the mayo and the dressings that come with them. Most of the fat content and calorific value in such foods is in the dressing.
So there you go, simple changes to make, but ones that have a marked effect on your weight loss process.
Any tips or suggestions you’d like to share? We’d love to hear about them in the comments section below.
