There is a lot of bad weight loss information on the internet. Much of what is recommended is questionable at best, and not
based on any actual science. However, there are several natural methods that have actually
been proven to work.
1.
Add Protein to Your Diet
When it comes to weight loss, protein is
the king of nutrients.
Your body burns calories when digesting and
metabolizing the protein you eat, so a high-protein diet can boost metabolism
by up to 80-100 calories
per day.
A high-protein diet can also make you feel
more full and reduce your appetite. In fact, some studies show that people
eat over 400 fewer calories per day on a high-protein diet.
Even something as simple as eating a
high-protein breakfast (like eggs) can have a powerful effect.
2.
Eat Whole, Single-Ingredient Foods
One of the best things you can do to become
healthier is to base your diet on whole, single-ingredient foods.
By doing this, you eliminate the vast
majority of added sugar, added fat and processed food.
Most whole foods are naturally very filling,
making it a lot easier to keep within healthy calorie limits.
Furthermore, eating whole foods also
provides your body with the many essential nutrients that it needs to function
properly.
Weight loss often follows as a natural
"side effect" of eating whole foods.
3.
Avoid Processed Foods
Processed foods are
usually high in added sugars, added fats and calories.
What's more, processed foods are engineered
to make you eat as much as possible. They are much more likely to cause addictive-like eating
than unprocessed foods.
4.
Stock Up on Healthy Foods and Snacks
Studies have shown that the food you keep
at home greatly affects weight and eating behavior.
By always having healthy food available,
you reduce the chances of you or other family members eating unhealthy.
There are also many healthy and natural
snacks that are easy to prepare and take with you on the go.
These include yogurt,
whole fruit,
nuts, carrots and
hard-boiled eggs.
5.
Limit Your Intake of Added Sugar
Eating a lot of added sugar is
linked with some of the world's leading diseases, including heart disease, type
2 diabetes and cancer.
On average, Americans eat about 15
teaspoons of added sugar each day. This amount is usually hidden in
various processed foods, so you may be consuming a lot of sugar without
even realizing it.
Since sugar goes by many names in
ingredient lists, it can be very difficult to figure out how much sugar a
product actually contains.
Minimizing your intake of added sugar is a
great way to improve your diet.
6.
Drink Water
There is actually truth to the claim
that drinking water can
help with weight loss.
Drinking 0.5 liters (17 oz) of water may
increase the calories you burn by 24–30% for an hour afterward.
Drinking water before meals may also lead
to reduced calorie intake,
especially for middle-aged and older people.
Water is particularly good for weight loss
when it replaces other beverages that are high in calories and sugar.
7.
Drink (Unsweetened) Coffee
Fortunately, people are realizing
that coffee is
a healthy beverage that is loaded with
antioxidants and other beneficial compounds.
Coffee drinking may support weight loss by
increasing energy levels and the amount of calories you burn.
Caffeinated
coffee may boost your metabolism by 3–11% and reduce your risk of
developing type 2 diabetes by a whopping 23–50%.
Furthermore, black coffee is very weight
loss friendly, since it can make you feel full but contains almost no calories.
8.
Supplement With Glucomannan
Glucomannan is
one of several weight loss
pills that has been proven to work.
This water-soluble, natural dietary fiber
comes from the roots of the konjac plant, also known as the elephant yam.
Glucomannan is low in calories, takes up
space in the stomach and delays stomach emptying. It also reduces the
absorption of protein and fat, and feeds the beneficial gut bacteria.
Its exceptional ability to absorb water is
believed to be what makes it so effective for weight loss. One capsule is able
to turn an entire glass of water into gel.
9.
Avoid Liquid Calories
Liquid calories come from beverages
like sugary soft
drinks, fruit juices,
chocolate milk and energy drinks.
These drinks are bad for health in several
ways, including an increased risk of obesity. One study showed a drastic 60%
increase in the risk of obesity among children, for each daily serving of a
sugar-sweetened beverage.
It's also important to note that your brain
does not register liquid calories the same way it does solid calories, so you
end up adding these calories on top of everything else that
you eat.
10.
Limit Your Intake of Refined Carbs
Refined carbs are
carbs that have had most of their beneficial nutrients and fiber removed.
The refining process leaves nothing but
easily digested carbs, which can increase the risk of overeating and disease.
The main dietary sources of refined carbs
are white flour, white bread,
white rice,
sodas, pastries, snacks, sweets, pasta, breakfast
cereals and added sugar.
11.
Fast Intermittently
Intermittent
fasting is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of
fasting and eating.
There are a few different
ways to do intermittent fasting, including the 5:2 diet,
the 16:8 method and the eat-stop-eat method.
Generally, these methods make you eat fewer
calories overall, without having to consciously restrict calories during the
eating periods. This should lead to weight loss, as well as numerous
other health benefits.
12.
Drink (Unsweetened) Green Tea
Green tea is
a natural beverage that is loaded with antioxidants.
Drinking green tea is linked with many
benefits, such as increased fat burning and
weight loss.
Green tea may increase energy expenditure
by 4% and increase selective fat burning by up to 17%, especially harmful belly
fat.
Matcha green tea is
a variety of powdered green tea that may have even more powerful health
benefits than regular green tea.
13.
Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and
vegetables are extremely healthy, weight-loss-friendly
foods.
In addition to being high in water,
nutrients and fiber, they usually have very low energy density. This makes it
possible to eat large servings without consuming too many calories.
Numerous studies have shown that people who
eat more fruits and vegetables tend to weigh less.
14.
Count Calories Once in a While
Being aware of what you're eating is very
helpful when trying to lose weight.
There are several effective ways to do
this, including counting calories, keeping a food diary or taking pictures of
what you eat .
Using an app or
another electronic tool may be even more beneficial than writing in a food
diary .
15.
Use Smaller Plates
Some studies have shown that using smaller
plates helps you eat less, because it changes how you see portion sizes .
People seem to fill their plates the same,
regardless of plate size, so they end up putting more food on larger plates
than smaller ones .
Using smaller plates reduces how much food
you eat, while giving you the perception of having eaten more.
16.
Try a Low-Carb Diet
Many studies have
shown that low-carb diets are very effective for weight loss.
Limiting carbs and
eating more fat and protein reduces your appetite and helps you eat fewer
calories.
This can result in weight loss that is up
to 3 times greater than that from a standard low-fat diet.
A low-carb diet can also improve many
risk factors for disease.
If you eat too fast, you may eat way too
many calories before your body even realizes that you are full.
Faster eaters are much more likely to
become obese, compared to those who eat more slowly.
Chewing more slowly may help you eat fewer
calories and increase the production of hormones that are linked to weight
loss.
18.
Replace Some Fat with Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is
high in fats called medium-chain triglycerides, which are metabolized
differently than other fats.
Studies show that they can boost your
metabolism slightly, while helping you eat fewer calories.
Coconut oil may be especially
helpful in reducing the harmful belly fat.
Note that this does not mean that you
should add this fat to your diet, but simply replace some of
your other fat sources with coconut oil.
19.
Add Eggs to Your Diet
Eggs are the ultimate weight
loss food. They are cheap, low in calories, high in protein and loaded with all
sorts of nutrients.
High-protein
foods have been shown to reduce appetite and increase fullness,
compared to foods that contain less protein.
Furthermore, eating eggs for
breakfast may cause up to 65% greater weight loss over 8 weeks, compared to
eating bagels for breakfast. It may also help you eat fewer calories throughout
the rest of the day.
20.
Spice Up Your Meals
Chili peppers and
jalapenos contain a compound called capsaicin, which may boost metabolism and
increase the burning of fat.
Capsaicin may also reduce appetite and
calorie intake.
21.
Take Probiotics
Probiotics are
live bacteria that have health benefits when eaten. They can improve digestive
health and heart health, and may even help with with weight loss.
Studies have shown that overweight and
obese people tend to have different gut bacteria than normal-weight people,
which may influence weight.
Probiotics may help regulate the healthy
gut bacteria. They may also block the absorption of dietary fat, while reducing
appetite and inflammation.
Of all the probiotic bacteria, Lactobacillus
gasseri shows the most promising
effects on weight loss.
22.
Get Enough Sleep
Getting enough sleep is
incredibly important for weight loss, as well as to prevent future weight gain.
Studies have shown that sleep-deprived
people are up to 55% more likely to become obese, compared to those who get
enough sleep. This number is even higher for children.
This is partly because sleep deprivation
disrupts the daily fluctuations in appetite hormones, leading to poor appetite
regulation.
23.
Eat More Fiber
Fiber-rich foods may
help with weight loss.
Foods that contain water-soluble fiber may
be especially helpful, since this type of fiber can
help increase the feeling of fullness.
Fiber may delay stomach emptying, make the
stomach expand and promote the release of satiety hormones.
Ultimately, this makes us eat less
naturally, without having to think about it.
Furthermore, many types of fiber can feed
the friendly gut bacteria. Healthy gut bacteria have been linked with a reduced
risk of obesity.
Just make sure to increase your fiber
intake gradually to avoid abdominal discomfort, such as bloating,
cramps and diarrhea.
24.
Brush Your Teeth After Meals
Many people brush or floss their teeth
after eating, which may help limit the desire to snack or eat between meals.
This is because many people do not feel
like eating after brushing their teeth. Plus, it can make food taste bad.
Therefore, if you brush or use mouthwash
after eating, you may be be less tempted to grab an unnecessary snack.
25.
Combat Your Food Addiction
Food addiction involves
overpowering cravings and changes in your brain chemistry that make it harder
to resist eating certain foods.
This is a major cause of overeating for
many people, and affects a significant percentage of the population. In fact, a
recent 2014 study found that almost 20% of people fulfilled the criteria for
food addiction.
Some foods are much more likely to cause
symptoms of addiction than others. This includes highly processed junk foods
that are high in sugar, fat or both.
26.
Do Some Sort of Cardio
Doing cardio -- whether it is jogging,
running, cycling, power walking or hiking -- is a great way to burn calories
and improve both mental and physical health.
Cardio has been shown to improve many risk
factors for heart disease. It can also help reduce body weight.
Cardio seems to be particularly effective
at reducing the dangerous belly fat that builds up around your organs and
causes metabolic disease.
27.
Add Resistance Exercises
Loss of muscle mass is a common side effect
of dieting.
If you lose a lot of muscle, your body will
start burning fewer calories than before.
By lifting weights regularly, you'll be
able to prevent this loss in muscle mass.
As an added benefit, you'll also look and
feel much better.
28.
Use Whey Protein
Most people get enough protein from diet
alone. However, for those who don't, taking a whey protein
supplement is an effective way to boost protein intake.
One study shows that replacing part of your
calories with whey protein can cause significant weight loss, while also
increasing lean muscle mass.
Just make sure to read the ingredients
list, because some varieties are loaded with added sugar and other unhealthy
additives.
29.
Practice Mindful Eating
Mindful eating is
a method used to increase awareness while eating.
It helps you make conscious food choices
and develop awareness of your hunger and satiety cues. It then helps you eat
healthy in response to those cues.
Mindful eating has been shown to have
significant effects on weight, eating behavior and stress in obese individuals.
It is especially helpful against binge eating and emotional eating.
By making conscious food choices,
increasing your awareness and listening to your body, weight loss should follow
naturally and easily.
30.
Focus on Changing Your Lifestyle
Dieting is one of those things that almost
always fails in the long term. In fact, people who "diet" tend to
gain more weight over time.
Instead of focusing only on losing weight,
make it a primary goal to nourish your body with healthy food and nutrients.
Eat to become a healthier, happier, fitter
person -- not just to lose weight.
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