Although losing weight can be an extremely difficult and often frustrating experience — especially if you are impatient about seeing results — by sticking to your exercise plan, eating properly and employing a few of the following tricks, you’ll begin to notice the pounds slowly melting away. Some of them may sound a little strange but nobody has to know. So keep reading.
1. Increase the amount of protein: High-protein diets have become a popular way to lose weight because emerging research has hinted that protein may be able to satisfy hunger better than either fats or carbohydrates.
Diets higher in protein and moderate in carbs, along with a lifestyle of regular exercise are often purported by experts to reduce blood fats and maintain lean tissue while burning fat for fuel without dieters being sidetracked with constant hunger.
2. Drink more water. Researchers in Germany report that water consumption increases the rate at which people burn calories.After drinking approximately 17 ounces of water, the subjects’ metabolic rates or the rate at which calories are burned — increased by 30% for both men and women. The increases occurred within 10 minutes of water consumption and reached a maximum after about 30 to 40 minutes.
3. High-fiber foods may reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and they help to keep your digestive system healthy. Dietary fiber is only found in plants, where it functions as a skeleton to help plants maintain their shape and structure. Humans can’t digest the fiber so when we eat plant-based foods, the fiber passes through the small intestine into the colon where it helps maintain regularity and bowel health.
4. Eat Spicy Foods. Spicy foods raise your metabolism, but the real benefit of food with a little zing is that spicy food slows your eating. When you eat too fast, as many North Americans do, by the time your body signals it’s full, you’ve overeaten. Eating more slowly is a good weight-loss strategy, and making food spicier is an easy way to do it.
5. Eat at home more often. Canadian families spend at least 30% of their total foods dollars at restaurants and fast food joints. People who eat out a lot tend to eat less-healthy food and to be heavier.
6. Eat you breakfast. Nutritionists have been advising people against skipping breakfast for years, but recent studies give a better picture of its importance. British researchers discovered that if you haven’t eaten breakfast, your brain’s reward centre will light up more vividly when you see a high-calorie food-making you likelier to indulge.
7. Eat slowly.The French excel at leisurely family meals. On average, 92 percent of French families dine together nightly. These meals typically last 33 minutes during the week and 43 minutes on weekends. In contrast, a 2007 Statistics Canada report noted two trends in Canada over the past 20 years: a steep decline in the number of families eating together, and shorter mealtimes. Although it sounds illogical, lengthy meals actually encourage less eating. “It generally takes 20 minutes from the time you’re full for your brain to realize you’re full, so taking longer to eat means you’ll end up eating less .
8.Eat a big lunch. Instead of ingesting the bulk of the day’s calories in the evening, Europeans traditionally eat their biggest meal between 2 and 4 pm.If you eat less at night, you’ll wake up hungrier and eat a bigger breakfast, which facilitates weight control. As a general fat-fighting rule, try to get the bulk of your daily calories at breakfast and lunch.
9. Tumeric This spice, a key ingredient in curries, One of its chief components is a substance called curcumin, which may turn out to be a potent fat fighter. A recent study from Tufts University in Boston found that mice fed a high-fat diet with small amounts of curcumin gained less weight and body fat than other mice given meals that were similar but curcumin-free. Researchers think the ingredient suppresses the growth of fat tissue. Try some turmeric in your next curry or stir-fry.
10. Nap. There is increasing evidence that chronic sleep deprivation raises the risk of weight gain. Their are two hormones: leptin, which helps the brain sense when you’re full, and ghrelin, which triggers hunger. The less sleep you get, the lower your leptin levels-and the higher your ghrelin. “Many people think they’re hungry when they’re actually sleepy,” Maas says. “Instead of a snack, they need shut-eye.
If you have any questions on weight loss treatments please feel free to contact our clinic 905-477-0200.
Dr. Lorenzo Diana, ND