When you’re trying to lose weight you probably follow all the most well-known tips. However, if you’ve hit a plateau or are not losing weight as quick as you’d like, you might need to change things up a bit. Here are some of the lesser-known weight loss tips to get you past the frustration.
1 Mood Setting
Did you know that eating in low lighting, perhaps with the accompaniment of some easy listening music, can actually encourage you to eat slower and therefore consume less before you get that full feeling? This theory has been proven to average out at about 120 less calories consumed for every evening meal!
Frequently asked questions
2 Chopsticks
It might feel a bit silly to eat non-Asian food with chopsticks, but the difficulty of use and reduced size of each bite means that you will be prone to eating less and chewing more which helps with your metabolism. It also takes away the opportunity to shovel your food down and overeat before you can take a second to think about your portion size. Don’t try it with soup!
3 Veggies First
Make a habit of eating the vegetables on your plate before any other food group. This way if you start to get full before you have finished eating, you can rest assured that you will have gotten the healthiest part of your meal down before you feel like giving up!
4 Ignore Buzzwords
Don’t fall in to the trap of being obsessed with products that contain buzzwords like ‘fat free’, ‘all natural’ etc. If you are following a healthy diet of fruit and vegetables along with lean protein, a few carbs and a little saturated fat, then there should be no need to compensate with these manufactured products that could contain undesirable additives.
5 Out of Sight
The phrase “out of sight, out of mind” really comes to life when thinking about weight loss. Try not to leave leftovers or packets of snack foods out in open sight, as you will be much more tempted to eat them if you keep catching a glimpse of them every time you walk in to the kitchen. Keep them in the fridge and cupboards and you won’t have to look at them all the time! Even better – toss away any temptation before you start you weight loss routine and don’t buy them!
6 Order First
One of the best tips for weight loss I can offer is to order first when eating out with friends. We tend to want to fit in with what our friends are eating, so if your BFF orders cheese fries before you can ask for a salad, you might be tempted just to say ‘and I’ll have the same please!’.
7 Rule of Two
When out at a restaurant, abide by the rule of two which states that alongside your entrée, you should only be choosing a maximum of two other things on the menu, and this can range from a glass of wine and a side salad to some garlic bread and a diet coke, but the rule of two means that you will have to skip dessert if the numbers dictate it.
8 Use a Napkin
Recent studies have shown to prove that those who place a napkin on their laps whilst eating observe better table manners overall, and as a result tend to eat slower and more carefully which in turn can help to improve a sluggish metabolism.
9 Ditch Cereal
Experts have stated that women who eat cold cereals for breakfast are more likely to crave a mid-morning snack than those who eat something like warm porridge. If you find yourself reaching for the biscuit tin before lunch, then you might want to reconsider your breakfast options. Protein is much better at killing off cravings.
10 Instagram
Use Instagram as a way to create a healthy food journal for yourself as well as tracking your body’s progress. It can be a way to stay on track and also a source of great inspiration from great recipes to looking at the progress of others on a weight loss journey.
Have a go at some of these and hopefully you will start to lose those pounds.
