Everybody know best when it comes to losing weight, right? Whether it's someone proclaiming we need to eat more like our ancestors (Paleo Diet), or another who thinks we just need to break the hunger-overeat-gain weight cycle (South Beach Diet) or a third, saying it's just a matter of more calories out than in (Weight Watchers). But these are the tips for losing weight I actually find useful, practical and manageable. It's a mix of YouTube and books and blogs and I swear by these simple solutions for changing your lifestyle.
Water
We all know it, but we don't always do it: drink enough water. I didn't, and with my eczema, that's even more stupid. We need to drink enough water to flush out toxins, keep our metabolism going, help our stomach to digest and to stay hydrated. Not only will drinking water sometimes curb your appetite (because your body thought it was hungry, but it really was thirsty), but it'll work wonders on your skin. Trust me!
But how to drink enough water during the day? What if you simply forget? Or get (mentally) sick of all the H2O? I found three tips, all from BubzBeauty, a funny and sincere YouTuber:
1. Drink right after you get up, and with every meal. My morning routine now is to get up, drink a glass of water, go to the toilet, drink a glass of water again. Make breakfast and drink my apple-juice with wheatgrass powder and flush that down with a glass of water. With breakfast I usually drink green tea. Just in the first hour of the day I drink at least 800 ml of water. During the rest of the day I drink water with every meal and with every snack. I stop drinking around 8 or 9 in the evening, else I'll be up all night.
2. Spice up your water with fruit or herbs. I like lemon slices (for detoxing), but sometimes I switch it up with frozen red fruit (raspberry, strawberry, you get the picture) or with herbs like lemongrass, mint leaves and rosemary. It flavours the water subtly and helps me forget that I'm just drinking the same drink over and over again. (Also, drinking water instead of fizzy drinks and juices saves a LOT of money!)
3. Forgetful? Make sure you have water at hand. I don't need this tip anymore, but for those of you who start to implement this healthy habit into their lives, it may be handy to have water at the ready, so you don't forget to drink it.
Small & slow
If I get the big pack of M&M's I will eat the whole pack. If I get the smaller sized pack, I will eat the whole pack. The same goes for everything. Once food is in your possession, you will eat however much is in front of you. So switch to smaller plates, and you'll trick your mind into thinking "I had a whole plate, so I'm not hungry anymore."
As it's expensive to buy smaller portions of something, I like to divide larger packs into smaller ones that can grab at any time, without the risk of eating more than I need to.
Also, what really helps me, is to use smaller cutlery. This forces me to take smaller bites, and slows down my eating. I like to scarf down my meal, but it's really bad for you and leaves you feeling unsatisfied. I'm still working on eating more slowly and stopping at the point where I feel even slightly full.
Easy Victory
Set the bar high, have high expectations of yourself (you CAN do this), but also: go for the easy victories. By this I mean: implement new healthy habits one by one (small victory with every new habit that sticks) and try to find habits that fit your current lifestyle allready. For me, with my irregular working hours, this means I won't be joining up with a scheduled work out class, because chances are pretty slim I'll be able to make it to them. I just work out whenever I happen to have time.
Know thyself
I'm not a runner: big boobs and a busted-up right knee. I love fruit. I'm an emotional eater. I don't like to eat meat and fish. I prefer organic food. I start enthusiastic and get discouraged easily. Cheese is my daily temptation. Apple pie my rare kryptonite. I'm nuts for nuts and seeds. I'm competative.
There's also some things about me that I'd rather rather not disclose right now (we barely know each other, give it time). Point is, looking at this list I know where my strenghts and weaknesses are. I know my easy victories and my challenges. When losing weight (challenge) I try to make the challenge as easy as possible without lowering my standard. So, instead of running, I go swimming, walking and cycling. I do ab-workouts, because I'm good at those. I don't follow diets that suggest to cut out the fruit completely, I just only eat fruit in the morning, so those sugars have an entire day to be used up. Also, I try to wean myself of cheese on a daily basis, but won't say no to a small slice of apple pie if the occasion is right. And I need something to keep me motivated over the long course, because I tend to give up quickly.
(In my next blog I'll show you what I've thought of to keep me motivated.)
Choice
Losing weight and keeping the weight at the desired level is all about changing your lifestyle. I believe you can use a diet to kickstart your weightloss, but you need to change your lifestyle, which isn't easy, but it can be done.
In a Dutch book I read (Het Geheim van Slanke Mensen - Mieke Kosters - 2011*), I found some stuff that really made me realise that it's more about changing your attitude, than following a certain diet. In the book the author focusses on the mental part of losing weight. She basically says that if you think of your healthy eating habits as a diet, you won't succeed.
You have to change your thinking from: "I can't eat this" to "I don't really want to eat this". Because eating something or not is a choice, even if sometimes it's a difficult one. The basic trick in the book is that skinny people are skinny, because they usually eat less. The author herself lost almost 15 kg, just by copying the healthy eating habits of her skinnier friends. Now, I personally think genes and other factors have something to do with your weight as well, but the point is that eating and overeating are choices really.
*As far as I know, there's no English version of this book, but I'll parafrase the most important lessons to English in a blog here soon. Promise!
Plan ahead
I don't know if this tip works for everyone, but it's a blessing for me. I plan all evening meals a week ahead, which saves me money (cut down 20% of my grocery money), and keeps me from ordering take out because I forgot to buy food, and only have to think about dinner once a week.
Also, going to the supermarket means temptation to buy (and eat) stuff I don't want to buy/eat, so I cut down my dangerous moment to once (or twice, if I need a lot of fresh vegetables) a week.
Hope this helps you, let me know what you think is the most helpful dieting tip you've ever heard/read!