Here are some of the weight management tips we have shared with our class:
Diagnose your hunger. Know the difference between hunger and thirst. When hunger strikes and before you actually grab something to eat, consider drinking 8 ounces of your favorite unsweetened liquid, waiting 3 minutes and asking yourself if you’re still hungry. Know the difference between satisfied, full and stuffed and stop at satisfied, remembering you may eat again in a couple of hours.
Don’t eat when bored, sad, or tired. Don’t eat watching TV, reading or basically when unable to focus on the 4 qualities of your food, aroma, appearance, taste and texture. That’s mindless eating and you’d overeat. Get help for chronic depression, anxiety or boredom and remember these things don’t get fixed with medications.
Avoid feeling deprived, it eventually causes overeating. If you feel deprived, you need to munch on more healthy snacks like vegetables, nuts, seeds and fruits to feel full.
Feed your body every 2.5-3 hours with whole foods and snacks like seeds, nuts, veggies and fruits.
Remember warm foods and those with a crunch are more satisfying and filling.
Good fats make you full not fat. Go for olive oil, nuts, seeds, coconut oil, avocados….
Know what foods make you weak and why and learn to say NO. Also plan for when on the road, busy or stressed. Always travel with good snacks and never shop while hungry.
Anticipate weight loss plateaus. Don’t get discouraged when you seem to hit a roadblock in your weight management efforts. Regroup, re-evaluate, reset your limits and goals and re-engage with the same original zeal you started with.
Make yourself accountable to loved ones and friends. Accountability is a necessity for success. Log your food intake in an easy to use app on your smart phone or a simple notebook. Review what you eat weekly and learn from patterns. This is especially helpful to get you out of plateaus.
Unless you actually enjoy exercising, mix exercise with something you do enjoy. Listen to an audiobook, your favorite music or bring a friend along to talk with while you workout.