vandelfin
New member
There are countless reasons that you might try to lose weight. You could want to look good in a bikini and feel confident when wearing one. You might be dreaming of your husband picking you up and carrying you anywhere (again), or to look better for your partner. You might simply want get rid of your huge saddlebag thighs, to not get out of breath when walking anywhere, not to have your feet / back hurt or simply, to be around long enough and to be able to play with your children / grand children.
What ever your ambition, I would like to offer a few solutions from personal experience, that you can apply today, to some of the most common problems you might have with fat loss.
The Problems
1. Not being able to control portion sizes
2. Binging
3. Resisting temptation
4. Setting unrealistic goals
5. Not following through
While this is certainly not exhaustive it covers some common problems that I would like to discuss.
The Solutions
1. Portion Sizes Simply drink water (even half a glass or 500 ml as shown in this study) to decrease the amount of food you require to feel full. The result: automatic portion control.
Count calories in order to increase your awareness of how different foods affect your body you will be able to make better choices, especially if you combine this with the next suggestion.
2. Binging You might be the sort of person who would miss lunch and dinner just so you can sit and eat junk for the rest of the evening; crisps and chocolate are your worst enemies! I get you absolutely and understand why you might think that way. Frankly, for the amount of effort and money food companies pour into research to make their snacks the most addictive on the market I am surprised that we aren't all in this position! To conquer snacks and junk foods get everything that's not on the healthy menu out of the house (not just the fridge or kitchen). Use the out of sight, out of mind approach.
Schedule your sweet / snack / junk food FIRST! Then fill the gaps with healthy foods. Get 80% right and enjoy the other 20%! This suggestion should also help you with problem No.3 Resisting temptation.
For the boredom eaters: quit the TV and occupy yourself so you don't have time to eat / think about how hungry you are. This works for many people; start a new hobby or set some new goals outside of your weight loss, change your surroundings and you'll change how you respond to them.
3. Resisting temptation When that Coke is just about to win you over is to say to yourself "I can have it after (say) 20 minutes". If you absolutely must have it then do. You might know that our willpower is limited and allowing yourself to have the treat (after clearing the 20 minute hurdle) might just save you much more grief later that day. If you have clear reasons and goals for your weight loss then you are quite likely to just not want the treat after 20 minutes or so.
If you can't make the right decisions: eat the same few meals over and over. This is a very simple but powerful technique. For meal plan ideas Google for something like "filetype
df 2 week fat loss meal plan".
4. Setting unrealistic goals The simple truth is: it took years to get here, it won't be just a few days to lose it all. Aim for 1 lbs (or ~0.5 kg) per week but dream big (aim to drop all the weight off!). This means it might take a year to drop 50 pounds {~25 kg}, and that's OK.
Throw the scale out, or at least limit weight ins to once per week. Not weighing yourself so much will free up your mind to make the more important decisions about food and drink, rather than worry about a temporary jump on the scale.
5. Not following through Use positive reinforcement like "I lose weight daily, I control my appetite with ease and feel better everyday", it might be a photo of your slimmer self on the fridge or a smaller size dress; experiment with your own motivation to see what works for you.
Use negative reinforcement. Set yourself up with a contract that pays money to a charity you hate if you fail, or a set up where embarrassing photos of you are uploaded if you don't go to the gym or fail to reach a certain weight. There are a myriad of websites that allow you to set up such contracts and they have proven very successful. Make it impossible to fail by putting up high stakes.
Get a fat loss buddy. You encourage each other frequently, depend on each other in times of weakness and spur each other on in times of success! The social aspect is certainly a must for some people and it might just be the key you are looking for. There are huge amounts of weight loss forums and exchanges where you can find fat loss buddies.
For those of you who cannot seem to find one, don't hesitate to massage me, I'll be more than happy to chat further and keep you accountable.
Conclusion We face many distractions and have to make sense of many conflicting ideas when it comes to fat loss (Have you ever seen a healthy vegetarian? Yes. Have you ever seen a healthy Paleo dieter? Yes.). Even tho your opinion on which is the perfect / best diet may differ to mine, I hope my simple suggestions were useful to you and helped you even slightly on your fat loss journey.
What other major problems have I missed?
What solutions have worked for you that are not listed above?
I'm very interested in hearing from you. I will read every comment and reply as appropriate. Best of luck on your journey!
What ever your ambition, I would like to offer a few solutions from personal experience, that you can apply today, to some of the most common problems you might have with fat loss.
The Problems
1. Not being able to control portion sizes
2. Binging
3. Resisting temptation
4. Setting unrealistic goals
5. Not following through
While this is certainly not exhaustive it covers some common problems that I would like to discuss.
The Solutions
1. Portion Sizes Simply drink water (even half a glass or 500 ml as shown in this study) to decrease the amount of food you require to feel full. The result: automatic portion control.
Count calories in order to increase your awareness of how different foods affect your body you will be able to make better choices, especially if you combine this with the next suggestion.
2. Binging You might be the sort of person who would miss lunch and dinner just so you can sit and eat junk for the rest of the evening; crisps and chocolate are your worst enemies! I get you absolutely and understand why you might think that way. Frankly, for the amount of effort and money food companies pour into research to make their snacks the most addictive on the market I am surprised that we aren't all in this position! To conquer snacks and junk foods get everything that's not on the healthy menu out of the house (not just the fridge or kitchen). Use the out of sight, out of mind approach.
Schedule your sweet / snack / junk food FIRST! Then fill the gaps with healthy foods. Get 80% right and enjoy the other 20%! This suggestion should also help you with problem No.3 Resisting temptation.
For the boredom eaters: quit the TV and occupy yourself so you don't have time to eat / think about how hungry you are. This works for many people; start a new hobby or set some new goals outside of your weight loss, change your surroundings and you'll change how you respond to them.
3. Resisting temptation When that Coke is just about to win you over is to say to yourself "I can have it after (say) 20 minutes". If you absolutely must have it then do. You might know that our willpower is limited and allowing yourself to have the treat (after clearing the 20 minute hurdle) might just save you much more grief later that day. If you have clear reasons and goals for your weight loss then you are quite likely to just not want the treat after 20 minutes or so.
If you can't make the right decisions: eat the same few meals over and over. This is a very simple but powerful technique. For meal plan ideas Google for something like "filetype
df 2 week fat loss meal plan".4. Setting unrealistic goals The simple truth is: it took years to get here, it won't be just a few days to lose it all. Aim for 1 lbs (or ~0.5 kg) per week but dream big (aim to drop all the weight off!). This means it might take a year to drop 50 pounds {~25 kg}, and that's OK.
Throw the scale out, or at least limit weight ins to once per week. Not weighing yourself so much will free up your mind to make the more important decisions about food and drink, rather than worry about a temporary jump on the scale.
5. Not following through Use positive reinforcement like "I lose weight daily, I control my appetite with ease and feel better everyday", it might be a photo of your slimmer self on the fridge or a smaller size dress; experiment with your own motivation to see what works for you.
Use negative reinforcement. Set yourself up with a contract that pays money to a charity you hate if you fail, or a set up where embarrassing photos of you are uploaded if you don't go to the gym or fail to reach a certain weight. There are a myriad of websites that allow you to set up such contracts and they have proven very successful. Make it impossible to fail by putting up high stakes.
Get a fat loss buddy. You encourage each other frequently, depend on each other in times of weakness and spur each other on in times of success! The social aspect is certainly a must for some people and it might just be the key you are looking for. There are huge amounts of weight loss forums and exchanges where you can find fat loss buddies.
For those of you who cannot seem to find one, don't hesitate to massage me, I'll be more than happy to chat further and keep you accountable.
Conclusion We face many distractions and have to make sense of many conflicting ideas when it comes to fat loss (Have you ever seen a healthy vegetarian? Yes. Have you ever seen a healthy Paleo dieter? Yes.). Even tho your opinion on which is the perfect / best diet may differ to mine, I hope my simple suggestions were useful to you and helped you even slightly on your fat loss journey.
What other major problems have I missed?
What solutions have worked for you that are not listed above?
I'm very interested in hearing from you. I will read every comment and reply as appropriate. Best of luck on your journey!
