How To Reach Your Healthy Weight With No Calorie Counting
Fortunately, you have the power to normalize eating — and none of these strategies involve counting calories. To lose weight, keep it off, I use these nine effective strategies with my clients:
Reaching and maintaining a healthy weight is important for overall health and can help you prevent and control many diseases and conditions. If you are overweight or obese, you are at higher risk of developing serious health problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, gallstones, breathing problems, and certain cancers. That is why maintaining a healthy weight is so important: It helps you lower your risk for developing these problems, helps you feel good about yourself, and gives you more energy to enjoy life. – National Heart Lung and Blood Institute
Ways to Maintain a Healthy Weight
1.Eat real food. Yes so simple, but so effective in halting over-eating and weight gain. Real, whole, unprocessed foods in your diet mean switching to vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, olive oil, organic, range, or grass-fed animal products (poultry, lamb, beef, pork, eggs), and wild, smaller fish such as salmon.
2. Eat until you are 80% full. This is a fantastic strategy & works well.
3. Intermittent Fasting. Ideally eating in an 8 hour window & fasting (water, herbal teas & coffee are allowed with no milk or sugar) for 16 hours. It’s easiest for many delaying breakfast until brunch. If you’re working this can be a smoothie you’ve pre-prepared & morning tea time. For instance 11am (first meal), 2-3pm snack & 6pm dinner. Sensational at allowing your body to clean house, lose weight & give your pancreas a rest!
4. Drink first, eat second. Are you really hungry or is it just thirst? It can so easily get confused. So keep up the water intake, herbal tea and green smoothies to quell the appetite.
5. Eat mindfully. Your gut’s nervous system needs to be relaxed to work properly. If you’re stressed, you don’t digest food properly and your stress hormones slow metabolism. When you eat quickly, you also overeat, since it takes your brain 20 minutes after you start eating to know it’s full.
6. Food diary. Writing down everything — what you eat and how you feel after you eat — an excellent way to break mindless eating and other bad habits. A diet of words and self-exploration often results in weight loss. You metabolize your life and calories better.
7. Get enough sleep. Aim for a minimum of eight hours of quality, uninterrupted sleep every night. You will reduce cravings and normalize fat-regulating hormones. One study found even a partial night’s sleep deprivation contributes to insulin resistance, paving the way for obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
8. Laugh more stress less. Chronic stress causes overeating and poor food choices. Make time to actively relax with meditation, yoga, deep breathing or just having fun.
9. Exercise. Exercise will help you lose weight, maintain weight loss, and control your appetite. Aim for at least 30 minutes each day and include 3 strengthening workouts a week – pilates, strong yoga, circuit, abs/arm/butt workout, weights. Turn on the fun factor for a bit of variety: dance, jump on a trampoline.
Remember you don’t have to do it all at once. Pick one or a few strategies and start there. Aim for consistency.
Love to know if it helps – email me at juliesmethurst.info@gmail.com
And if you liked my blog – share it.
