Do you want to lose weight but haven’t been encouraged by the results of your weight loss efforts? Do you wish to see more glaring results on your body? Why don’t you try to alter your eating behavior and habits? You would be surprised to learn that doing so can lead to weight loss at a faster rate.
While we can all agree that working out and watching your diet is the best way to lose weight, there are plenty of diet changes that can have a positive effect on your weight loss program.
Simple eating rules, for instance, can help you to lose weight without submitting yourself to killer workouts in the gym.
Here are some basic eating rules that you should be following now so that you can fulfill your dream of a slimmer, healthier you:
-
Eat more fiber
Eating more foods rich in fiber like whole grains, vegetables and fruits can help you shed unwanted pounds at a faster rate. Studies suggest consuming a minimum of 30 grams of fiber a day. Doing so would keep you feeling full for a longer period, which can augur well in the long run.
The good news is that there is no shortage of choices for fiber-rich foods. You can eat more cereals, brown rice, whole wheat bread, and bran muffin if you’re looking to shed weight. Vegetables like broccoli, carrots, and spinach, fruits such as banana, apple, pear, and raisins, and nuts and seeds are all great sources of fiber.
-
Don’t eat too fast
Unless you are in a hurry to eat because you are running late for a meeting or a job interview, I suggest that you chew your food slowly.
Eating slowly and its positive effects on weight loss have been well-publicized with celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow jumping on the bandwagon, so to speak. Researchers have also validated the claimed effects of slowly chewing food on weight loss.
Experts from the Texas Christian University made a study on the relationship between calorie intake and eating fast by looking at how speed eating affects calorie intake. Their findings— people who eat slowly take in 88 fewer calories than those who eat fast.
-
Drink water before you eat
Water is widely considered the best beverage for our bodies. And why not? It can do a lot of things, from cleansing the body of waste to boosting metabolism to suppressing appetite.
The latter is particularly important if you want to lose weight. Since water is an effective appetite suppressant, I suggest that you drink water before meals so that you will feel fuller, and hence, you will likely not eat a lot. Studies have also shown that drinking water before a meal can lead to an average reduction of 75 calories for every meal.
-
Use smaller dinnerware
This is a very basic eating habit that people tend to forget. But switching to a smaller dinnerware has been proven to be a very good way of limiting one’s caloric intake and thus helping one lose weight in the long run.
The explanation is that using a smaller plate like a salad plate can trick our minds into thinking that we are eating more.
-
Stop eating prepackaged foods
Biscuits, chips, cookies and other packaged and processed foods are laden with salt, sweeteners, and chemicals that will do more harm to your body. These foods are usually stripped of nutrients good for you like antioxidants, soluble fiber, and good fats.
Aside from causing you to gain weight, eating prepackaged foods will likely lead to many health problems, too.
So instead of eating these foods when you’re suddenly craving for something in the middle of the afternoon, why don’t you snack on more nutritious foods such as cool yogurt, berries, mixed seeds or roasted soya nuts?
-
Go slow on alcohol
Alcohol and weight loss just don’t go well together. Do you know that alcohol has 7 calories per gram? To give you a better appreciation, that’s almost twice the four calories for every gram of protein and carbs, and around 2 calories less from the 9 you can get from fat.
Moreover, a 4-ounce glass of red wine has 95 calories while margarita has a whopping 550 calories.
Aside from fattening, alcohol won’t provide any feeling of satiety. Thus you are more likely to drink more once you’ve started drinking.
-
Eat more small meals instead of three large meals
We’ve been accustomed to eating three large meals throughout the day– for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
However, studies have shown that eating numerous small meals throughout the day is, in fact, better for those wanting to lose weight. Eating small meals usually keeps the hunger at bay while ensuring that metabolism remains active.
When you follow the usual three meal pattern and end up taking a huge amount of calories in one sitting, your blood sugar would start to dip after a while. This, in turn, leads to hunger pangs that will make you eat more.
-
Eat more in the morning
I guess you’ve heard this before— eat breakfast like a king. Yes, this is true especially for those wanting to lose weight. Numerous studies have shown that eating big breakfast and minimizing caloric intake as the day progresses can have a huge impact on one’s weight loss plans.
Two recent studies published in the Proceedings of the Nutrition Society showed that eating more calories in the morning can be correlated to lower risks of metabolic syndromes and obesity.
Conclusion
As you have learned, there are plenty of eating habits that you can follow now if you want to lose weight fast. From timing your meals to using smaller plates to chewing food properly, there are lots of eating rules that can impact your weight loss efforts.
So why don’t you start following these basic eating rules, if you are really serious about losing weight?
