What a start to the year! It’s hard to grasp the devastation in parts of our beautiful country…our thoughts are with those who have been affected by the floods, the cyclone and the earthquake. Suddenly life feels very fragile as Mother Nature flexes her forces.
Let me remind you of a few simple strategies so your weight loss journey continues to progress even in these challenging times:
- Keep it in perspective. The science of weight loss is…a deficit of 3500 calories will result in a 500g weight loss. So reducing your calorie intake by 500 calories/day will result in a 1 kg weight loss each fortnight. That’s 26 kg per year!
- Spread your food intake over the day. A light breakfast, a quick lunch and an oversized dinner are typical of the weight gain scenario. Trim the evening meal so you wake up with an appetite for breakfast
- Rethink your drinks. Calorie containing drinks make it easy to consume more calories than you realise without contributing to your level of fullness
- Go generous with the greens. Green vegetables and salads are excellent sources of cellulose fibre that require chewing and this contributes to longer lasting fullness. Both fresh and frozen vegetables are suitable
- Nutrition plays the starring role in weight loss. Exercise is about 20% of the equation. Remember the emphasis is on short and brisk so it doesn’t stimulate an appetite. Even just a 20 minute fast walk/day will be helpful
- Keeping a food diary raises awareness and creates mindfulness. It’s a useful tool for weight loss, especially in the early days when you’re turning those old patterns around
- You want to live the life of a smaller person. Don’t get caught up in the latest round of fad diets – it’s the small regular changes in your life that will enable you to manage a more suitable weight…forever