There's only one thing you need to do to lose weight, and that's burn
more calories than you eat every day. But because this old-school rule
can be confusing to follow on its own, we turned to top weight-loss
experts for their other set-in-stone advice.
Read on for the top 10 must-follow rules guaranteed to add up to
long-term weight loss.
Eat Protein At Every Meal
A quarter of your calories should come from lean proteins, such as
eggs, lean meats, fish and low-fat dairy. Why? Protein helps you feel
fuller longer, recharges your muscles after intense workouts, and
according to recent research, sheds more fat than muscle.
Eat A Filling Breakfast
It really is the most important meal of the day: More than 10,000
successful dieters who have lost more than 30 pounds and kept it off
for more than a year say that eating breakfast is a key part of their
plan. The best breakfast is one that contains both protein and fiber
to boost your energy levels and help you stay satiated throughout the
day.
Downsize Your Serving Dishes
Sticking with weight loss is often mind over matter which is why
smaller plates, bowls and utensils can be the key to cutting calories.
When you're eating from a salad plate (about 7 or 8 inches) rather
than a dinner plate (10 to 14 inches), you think you're still eating a
large portion. The proof: Researchers found that people given larger
bowls at breakfast ate 16 percent more cereal than those given smaller
bowls, yet they estimated that they were eating less.
Eat More Fruits And Vegetables
Time and time again, research has shown that eating more vegetables is
essential for long-term weight loss, which is why you should aim for
five to nine servings a day. Vegetables fill you up with the fiber,
vitamins, minerals and other nutrients important for overall good
health in a low-calorie, high volume package. Fruits are also bursting
with fiber and antioxidants and can be a good way to treat your sweet
tooth. One key to applying this weight-loss rule is to substitute
fruits and veggies for higher-calorie foods — for instance, layer
lettuce, tomato, and cucumber rather than extra meat or cheese on your
sandwich.
Stay Hydrated
So often, when you think you're hungry, you're actually thirsty. So
make it a weight-loss lifestyle rule: Stay hydrated. Drink a glass of
water before every meal. That way you know you're not thirsty when
you're eating. And yes, water is still your best beverage bet. A
recent study found that people had modest weight loss simply by
replacing high-calorie beverages with water and drinks with zero or
very few calories .
Sleep Well
If you want to lose weight, you need to get at least seven hours of
shut-eye every night. When you lack sleep, your body produces more
ghrelin, a hormone that triggers hunger and causes you to retain fat.
Also, you tend to make wrong choices when you're exhausted.
Sleep-deprived people might actually eat an extra 500 calories a day
compared to their well-rested peers, a small study found. Plus,
researchers found that dieters who slept well lost more fat than
non-fat body mass.
Avoid Artificial Sweeteners
This may seem surprising considering all those yellow, pink, and blue
packets we use, but artificial sweeteners do little for weight loss
and could actually cause you to pile on the pounds. The problem is
that "they're so intensely sweet that they seem to exacerbate a
person's addiction for sweets." Researchers found that rats given food
sweetened with artificial sweeteners ate more calories than rats given
food sweetened with normal sugar. So skip the diet sodas and the
artificially sweetened cakes, cookies and other treats.
Eat More Often
Old thinking: When trying to lose weight, don't eat between meals. New
thinking: Don't go more than five hours without eating. If you let
yourself get too hungry, it's harder to make the best food choices.
When you're starved, you're more likely to grab fast food. Eating
smaller meals more often also keeps your blood sugar steady and can
therefore lower your cravings, whereas skipping meals makes it much
harder to control your appetite, researchers found.
Keep Moving All Day
Make time for exercise. Exercise will help you reach your goal faster
and safer. But it's the combo of diet and exercise that works best.
Researchers found that postmenopausal women who dieted and did 45
minutes of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise five days each week
lost more weight more quickly than those who did just one or the
other, shedding an average of nearly 11 percent of their body weight.
The women who dieted shed just 8.5 percent and the women who exercised
only, 2.4 percent. Exercise is an important part of a weight-loss
lifestyle, White says, helping you to maintain any weight loss, too.
Reduce Stress
A study found that people with the lowest stress levels were the most
likely to lose at least 10 pounds. Stress also causes the body to
release more cortisol, the hormone responsible for storing body fat.
Cortisol has also been shown to increase cravings for fatty foods. Eat
in beautiful surroundings. There are studies that show if you have
beautiful surroundings your brain becomes more satiated and you don't
want to eat as much.
