For many people, especially food-lovers, diet is a four-letter word that shouldn’t be uttered in decent company. We all know the benefit of eating a healthy diet but, for many people, the lure of sugary treats is often too strong to resist, which results in broken diets that are often discarded entirely before any benefit can be gained from them. In fact, according to the results of a poll posted in The Independent, people will try at least 126 fad diets in their lifetime. The good news is there are several ways people can maintain a healthy lifestyle while still eating their favourite foods.
Hydration
While most people assume that food is the only player in weight management, water plays a far bigger role in the process than food. Part of the reason for this is because the receptors in the human brain that tell a person that they are thirsty are often mistaken as signals for sugar cravings. Water also plays a role in the digestion of food so good hydration is essential for maintaining a healthy body. Research has also shown that drinking water before meals can also assist in weight loss. Studies have shown that drinking a glass of cold water can boost the metabolism of a person by almost 30 percent. A boosted metabolism can convert food into energy more efficiently and can assist in burning off excess calories.
Portion Control
For many people, the secret to losing weight may not lie in what foods they eat but rather how much of those foods they are consuming. Research has shown that even people not on any particular diet were able to lose a significant amount of weight just by tracking their food consumption.
Portion sizes will differ from person to person but the general rule of thumb when it comes to portion size is that a portion of starchy foods such as pasta or rice should be about the size of a person’s fist while a person’s portion of protein should be the size of two palms. Fruit servings are generally the size of a tennis ball while vegetable portions are about the size of a fist.
Prepare Meals in Advance
With all the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it can be easy to forget to eat or to just pick up a fast-food meal instead of eating a healthy meal prepared at home. That is why the best way to lose weight without depriving yourself of your favourite foods is to plan ahead. Preparing meals for the week on a Sunday night is a great way to ensure that your week’s meals are healthy and balanced and that if you do need to stay late at work, you will have a meal ready to eat when you get home.
If preplanning and then preparing multiple meals at once doesn’t interest you, many weight loss plans take the hassle out of the process by offering healthy, pre-made meal replacement options for dieters. A rapid weight loss plan suitable for most people, such as this rapid weight loss plan from Shake That Weight, allows dieters to tailor-make their diet so that they can incorporate some of their favourite foods into a meal plan that suits them. Shake That Weight products include cereals, bars, noodles, porridge, soups, shakes, and even full ready-made meals that can be delivered to their customer’s doors within 48 hours of signing up for a plan.
Make Smarter Snack Choices
While health experts used to believe that snacking between meals was bad for dieting, studies have now shown that maintaining stable blood sugar levels is far better for people looking to lose weight. This is because many sugar cravings are caused by a drop in blood sugar levels, which results in people snacking on the wrong things. Snacking on the right foods during the day can help a person maintain their balance and will result in fewer calories being consumed in the long run.
Healthy snacks can include whole fruits such as apples or strawberries, dark chocolate, nuts such as almonds, a serving of Greek yoghurt with fresh fruit, or even something more substantial like a pita pocket filled with hummus. Diet snacks don’t need to be dull and lacking in flavour to be viable alternatives to sweet treats like cake or sweets.
Exercise Regularly
In most people, weight gain happens when a person’s intake of calories exceeds how many calories they spend during the course of the day. For this reason, the best way to ensure that you can eat your favourite foods (in moderation of course) is by ensuring you exercise in order to burn off those excess calories.
Exercise plans do not need to involve costly gym memberships and hours of blood sweat and tears; simply incorporating a run into your daily routine a few times a week can go a long way towards ensuring a healthier lifestyle overall.
Making the decision to be healthy does not mean that a person has to deny themselves all the foods that they love. As long as a person can maintain balance in their diet, they should be able to eat that bag of chips without regret.
