Things You'll Need:
- motivation
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Step 1
# Focus on the tried and true. Ultimately, losing weight comes down to one key principle: Burn more calories than you consume. The steps that follow won't work if you have a thousand more calories coming into your body on a daily basis than you have coming out. Lay the foundation for weight loss with these practices:
* Count calories and keep a food diary.
* Go on a diet.
* Cut down on sugar, high fructose corn syrup, trans fats and saturated fats.
* Burn more calories by exercising: Run, walk, even exercise at the computer you are sitting in front of now.
* Raise your metabolism. -
Step 2
Downsize your kitchenware. The human mind works in mysterious ways. It turns out that using smaller bowls, plates, and containers can subconsciously influence how much you serve yourself. Even nutrition experts are victims of this phenomenon; when 85 of them were given a random mix of small and large bowls and scoops, those who got larger bowls served themselves 31% more ice cream, and added on another 14.5% if they had bigger scoops!
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Step 3
Put down the knife. By putting down whatever utensils you're using between every bite, you can significantly slow down your eating time, leaving your stomach a chance to feel full and reducing the likelihood that you'll go for seconds. Another technique that can have a similar effect is to take a sip between each bite. Numerous studies have shown that eating slowly results in eating less.There's even a device you can get from a dentist that you wear to make your oral cavity smaller so that you take smaller bites,and a fork that's so awkward to use that you'll get less food per bite
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Step 4
Know thine enemy. Make a list of the food items that are your weaknesses. These aren't always unhealthy foods, either. Sometimes we fool ourselves into believing that as long as we avoid the "bad" foods, we're making progress. At least, that's what we like to think as we get up for our third serving of fruit salad, or finish a bag of pretzels in one sitting because they're "healthier" than chips. Remember that too much of anything is bad. You probably don't need to keep a food diary to know your enemies. Common culprits include soda, bread, alcohol, and fast food. Whatever your weakness, cut down on it. If you cut it out completely, you're more likely to binge. Only buy small packages of it and only have it only once in a while. If cutting down doesn't work, you might need to go cold turkey.
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Step 5
Choose whole grains over a whole belly. If you switch out all of your refined grain food (white bread, food made with white flour) for whole grain food (oatmeal, whole-grain cereal, whole-grain pasta, brown rice and barley) you won't lose additional weight overall. Sorry. But, you will lose more weight in the belly area, which will make it look like you lost additional weight--at least, that's what a Penn State study implies. Not only will your slimmer profile make you feel better about your progress, but by losing the VAT (visceral adipose tissue) you're also doing away with a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, coronary vascular disease, and some types of cancer. So check those labels and make sure that any grain-based foods you buy are made up of at least 51 percent whole grain.
