Don't use your troubled upbringing as a crutch or an excuse for your bad choices and anti-social behavior.
Find out what renews your mental energy — and what doesn’t
Boredom, late nights and watching TV:
What’s stopping you from losing weight?
IF YOU can’t drop the pounds despite watching what you eat, it could be your lifestyle that’s to blame.
Tweaking your daily routine can work wonders for weight loss.
You may have banished bread, ditched the wine and stopped snacking between meals but no matter what you try the pounds just won’t shift.
According to the experts your lifestyle could be the problem.
By making simple changes to your day-to-day routine you could lose weight effortlessly and without cutting out your favourite foods.
EAT SLOWLY
According
to the Journal of the American Dietetic Association people who eat
slowly have on average a BMI 11 per cent lower than those who eat
quickly.
“Foods when eaten quickly lead to high
food intake and low satiating effects,” says Claudia Louch, of the
Harley Street Skin And Nutrition Clinic.
“Scoffing your food only provides brief periods of sensory exposure which give the body insufficient cues for satiation.”
“Scoffing your food only provides brief periods of sensory exposure which give the body insufficient cues for satiation.”
It takes some
time for receptors in our stomach lining to signal to our brain that we
are full. Eating slowly facilitates this process and makes us eat less
as a result.
DITCH DIET DRINKS
“When drinking diet sodas people allow themselves to binge on other foods,” says Claudia.
The
body is tricked into getting ready to absorb nutrients and when it only
receives chemicals from a diet drink the brain conveys the message that
we need to eat something in order to make up for the lack of vitamins
and minerals.
“When we drink diet soda it provides a sweet flavour but no real sugar,” adds Claudia.
“This
triggers the body into craving real sugar as our blood sugar levels
have become unstable. This brings on food and sugar cravings in
particular.”
She advises drinking water instead, as any drink that isn’t H2O triggers the body’s gastric juices that make you feel hungry.
GET AN EARLY NIGHT
Recurrent
sleep deprivation increases our desire for high-calorie foods because
when you are tired fatty foods send reward signals to your brain.
“Lack of sleep can affect the hormones that regulate your appetite and this can lead to obesity,” says Claudia.
“Sleeping
for less than five hours a night appears to increase the likelihood of
weight gain. In Western societies chronic sleep restriction is common
and food widely available.”
Avoid reaching for the wrong foods by making sure you get your recommended seven hours of shut-eye a night.
WALKING TO WEIGHT LOSS
“Walking
is always a good thing and not just for aiding weight loss,” says
Claudia.
“However if you are on a diet it may help you to lose weight a little faster.” Driving everywhere certainly won’t help you drop those unwanted pounds.
Walking for an hour a day can burn up to 250 calories and over a year that could help you lose 4 pounds.
“However if you are on a diet it may help you to lose weight a little faster.” Driving everywhere certainly won’t help you drop those unwanted pounds.
Walking for an hour a day can burn up to 250 calories and over a year that could help you lose 4 pounds.
If an hour a day seems a stretch too far start small and walk to the end of the road and back. Even walking to the bus stop is enough to get your heart rate up.
Studies have shown that regular public transport users are up to 13 per cent less likely to become obese.
DON’T BE A PEOPLE PLEASER
Putting
the needs of others before your own increases your risk of overeating.
You may accept food when you don’t want or need it because you feel pressured to do so.
You may accept food when you don’t want or need it because you feel pressured to do so.
It’s important to get the balance right and to feel comfortable to refuse politely if you don’t wish to eat something.
“Forming
friendships with people who will be supportive is terribly important as
it can be difficult to keep up morale alone,” says Gillian.
TURN OFF THE TELLY
Settling
down to a TV dinner might be your ideal night in but if your mind is
preoccupied you are more likely to eat without realising it.
Even the adverts remind you of food and trick you into thinking you are hungry.
“It is the quality of the food you eat in front of the TV that is a problem,” warns Claudia.
“If
you were to eat only low energy foods such as cucumber it wouldn’t
matter as much.”
Create a distinct place and time for eating proper meals such as at the kitchen table.
Create a distinct place and time for eating proper meals such as at the kitchen table.
Train yourself into not engaging with foods outside those set places.
If you have ever thought to yourself, “This is the last time I’m going to have a takeaway and then I’ll stop” this thought process is known as permissive thought.
“We all have them,” says Gillian Todd, senior lecturer at Norwich Medical School. “You just need to be aware of them and try not to accept them.”
Ask yourself instead how much better you will feel if you resist eating it. She also advises keeping a detailed record of everything you eat before you consume it.
“If you have to acknowledge that you’ve had a biscuit by writing it in a diary it may just be enough time to reconsider.”
We all have setbacks in life and weight loss is no different.
“It is important to learn from your setbacks rather than beating yourself up about them and feeling down,” says Gillian.
If you have a lot of weight to lose it can seem overwhelming.
“To help you stay motivated try to think about why you want to lose weight in the first place,” says Gillian.
On the inside of your fridge keep a list of questions such as: “How would you like to look?” and refer to them when feeling disillusioned.
“Rather than looking at long-term goals think about what you want to achieve by next week,” she says.
Give yourself short-term goals with non-food related rewards.
FIND A HOBBY
The busier you are the less time you’ll have to think about food. Being content also makes choosing healthy foods easier.
“One of the key elements to weight loss and weight maintenance is to keep active,” says Gillian.
Surce: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/diets/472771/Boredom-late-nights-and-watching-TV-What-s-stopping-you-from-losing-weight
