There are many diets out there, but true lasting weight loss
requires a change in lifestyle. Carrying extra weight results in a higher risk
for type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, knee and hip pain,
cardiovascular disease, gallstones, female hormone dependant cancers, prostate
cancer, colorectal cancer, renal cancer, dementia in women and premature death.
But with just modest weight loss these risks start going down and improvements
can be seen. Here are few things you can do to help you on your weight loss
journey.
Weight loss requires your body to burn its stored energy, so
you need to expend more calories than you consume. A simple way to reduce calorie intake at each meal is to use
smaller plates to help in decreasing portion sizes. For a typical dinner on your plate you want half vegetables,
two thirds of the rest to be protein and the small amount left as
carbohydrates. The carbohydrates
that you have on your plate should be low glycemic index and load foods (for
explanation of these terms please see my previous article ) and free from sugar as much as possible. Whenever possible try to eat brown rice
and wholegrain bread instead of white.
Simply changing the amounts of different foods on your plate can be a great
start in losing weight.
Increase the amount of good protein in your diet. If you crave sugar if may be because
you are not eating enough. Eating
protein helps you to feel full. An
easy way to do this is by adding a protein shake. Protein is especially important to include in
breakfast. Some good breakfast
foods are eggs, almond butter or yogurt.
Seek out grains that are high in protein such as spelt or Kamut.
Add good fats to your diet from fish, olive oil, or nuts and
seeds. Avoid anything that
contains trans fats or aspartame as these can cause your body to retain fat.
There are many online calculators that can help you know how
much you are eating versus exercising.
A study found that smart phone apps had the best compliance. People also tend to lose more weight
when they are working together towards a common goal so join a fitness group or
just find some friends to set goals with.
If you don’t currently do any exercise, just walking for about 30
minutes per day can start to show results.
Adding activity to our daily routine burns lots of calories
too. Walk instead of drive, take
the stairs, get in the pool with the kids instead of sitting on the side, kids
make great weights (and they love being thrown around and carried), do squats
while brushing your teeth. Just keep
moving! Following crash diets and occasional
fasting, like skipping a meal, will result in fluctuating blood sugar and be
counter productive to staying active and losing weight.
Making sure your digestive system is working properly is
also important for losing weight.
Make sure you are eating plenty of fibre and drinking lots of
water. You also may want to take a
probiotic supplement. B-Complex
supplements have also been found to aid in weight loss by increasing metabolism.
Get some sleep! Sleep quality and total time spent sleeping
can actually predict weight loss. Exercising
and losing weight also helps people sleep better. For help in sleeping, check out my article on sleep.
Permanent weight loss requires changing habits, lifestyle
and becoming the person you want to be.
It is easier to lose weight with help, so if you have any questions talk
to you local naturopath.
References
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SB. Eating behaviors
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Carter MC, Burley VJ, Nykjaer C, Cade JE. Adherence to a smartphone application for
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Government of South Australia, Department of Health
Healthy Weight Fact Sheet 2
http://www.health.sa.gov.au/pehs/branches/health-promotion/healthy-weight-factsheet2.pdf
Accessed 11 May 2013
Jean-Philippe Chaput and Angelo Tremblay. Adequate sleep to improve the
treatment of obesity. CMAJ.
September 17, 2012.
Jones, David S. Textbook
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Kullgren JT, Troxel AB, Loewenstein G, Asch DA, Norton LA,
Wesby L, Tao Y, Zhu J, Volpp KG. Individual-
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Seshadri KG, Ananthakrishnan V, Tamilselvan B, Amarabalan R,
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activity in obese and elderly women with type 2 diabetes. Indian J
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