What To Do When You Want To Lose Weight

By Steve Ian


The challenge with weight loss is that it is as much of a physical challenge, as it is a mental challenge. If you ignore the portion size, you will fail. Similarly, if you neglect the mental portion, you will fail. It requires your complete physical and mental attention, in order for you to see any type of benefits, for all of your efforts.

Lose more weight by building muscle. Muscle burns calories at a rate of four times faster than fat. Get some dumbbells or fill milk jugs to provide resistance. Do strength training exercises three times a week. This will help you build the muscle that will soon replace the fat you have burned off.

Who would have thought that brushing your teeth is not only good for oral hygiene, but also for weight loss? Research has shown that brushing your teeth after you eat slows your appetite, and you will also be less likely to want to eat so you keep that fresh, just-brushed feeling for a while.

Implementing a regularly scheduled meal plan is one way to train your body to manage hunger and thwart pesky cravings. Decide on a set time to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you find yourself feeling especially hungry, you can supplement your caloric intake with a scheduled snack time between meals. This helps your body establish a normal routine, which will stave off those random, all-of-a-sudden, snack attacks.

Not all fats are bad for you and eating healthy fats can help greatly to lose weight. Polyunsaturated and Monounsaturated fats are considered the healthiest while saturated and trans fats are the ones to stay away from. A steady consumption of healthy fats of nuts like almonds, walnuts and pistachios, seafood, and oils like canola, soy and olive will go a long way toward losing weight.

Don't give up. If your diet doesn't seem to be going well, don't throw in the towel. People are terrified of failure, but it is important to pick yourself up and keep going. More often than not, when a diet isn't going to plan, it's more to do with the actual diet than the person. You need to find a diet that suits you and your lifestyle.

When your muscles are working, they burn up to four times as many calories as your fat does when you are inactive. You should take advantage of this and include an intensive routine in your workout exercises. Try working on your muscles two or three times a week for short sessions of twenty minutes.

One of the best ways to keep weight off is to avoid eating in the hours before bedtime. Although easier to say than to do, it's worth avoiding food before bedtime, because any food you take in will just sit there in your stomach, not burning off, and eventually making its way to your fat cells. Spend your evening hours doing something productive, like reading, and you won't be as tempted to eat at night.

If you are cooking for the family, cook the same meal for you as you do for me. A lot of dieters make the mistake of thinking that the family shouldn't have to eat their "diet food", but if the whole family can't eat what you are eating then you're fixing the wrong things. A diet has to be a life change and sustainable throughout your life, so get the family involved eating what you eat.

As the above tips suggest, losing weight is really not as difficult as many people make it out to be. All it takes to lose weight is some determination and willpower. If you follow these tips, you are certain to drop the weight you have been trying to drop for years.




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