There are many healthy habits and lifestyle changes you can make for weight loss. Losing weight is not just about dieting, it is about lifestyle and about undertaking important steps to help you lost weight and keep that weight off. Adopting healthy habits are necessary to sustain weight loss rather than backsliding into being overweight.
Losing weight is basically about cutting back on what you eat and increasing the amount of exercise you do. Christine Gerbstadt, MD, RD, of Sarasota, Fla., spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association says "The simplest equation in the world, calories in and calories out, determines your weight loss." However, if that is all you do, then you might find yourself regaining the weight you desperately wanted to lose. This is because weight loss is not only about what goes in, it is about lifestyle and about learning healthy habits.
It is important to adopt healthy habits for the long term. The following are some tips to help you to create a healthy lifestyle that will ultimately help you to improve your chances at losing weight.
- Portion control is important when trying to lose that extra weight. Only fill your plate with what you think you will eat. Piling food onto your plate can make you feel like you need to finish it all. It is a good idea to start with small portions as you can always go back for a little more should you still find you are hungry.
- As you are learning to control your portions, your stomach may grumble a bit until it shrinks to adapt to the new meal portions.
- Eat Slowly. This is very important as it will take your brain a little while to catch up to your stomach. In other words, your body will take a while to realize that you have eaten before it will stop sending signals of hunger. If you savour your food and slow down, you will achieve a sense of satiety.
- Drink plenty of water.
- Don't skip meals.
