Sometimes all you need to kickstart your weight loss journey is to make tiny dietary changes, and that would set the stage for success. It’s not necessary to stay hungry or starve to burn excess fat, just remember to eat right. In fact, on the Speed Slim challenge on Rati Beauty, you get to lose inches as well burn fat from your problem areas such as thighs, waist, and back. Weight loss is a process but if you find counting every single calorie exhausting, make these 9 simple dietary changes that boost weight. Read on:
1. Eat only When Hungry, Not Because It’s Meal Time: It’s essential to practice mindful eating to lose weight or not, and listening to huger cues that indicate physiological hunger rather than because it’s meal time or because you are stressed out, bored, anxious or angry will help you a great deal in cutting down unnecessary calories. We often turn to comfort foods when we are tired, bored, stressed out, or anxious, and that’s why, we would suggest you to refrain from reaching out for food when you aren’t really hungry. In most of such cases, you are more likely to turn towards unhealthy food and snacks.
2. Eat Until 80% Full: This one simple rule can boost your weight loss and improve overall health as well – stop eating when you are 80% full! “Hara Hachi Bu” is an eating technique that originated from Okinawa region of Japan. “Hara Hachi Bu,” literally translates to “eat until you are 80% full.” This practice promotes putting a stop to eating once a person reaches 80% satiety. It’s a part of mindful eating where one is alert about cues from the body when the satiety point has been reached. For weight loss to happen, it is important to remain in calorie deficit, and hara hachi bu is an effective eating practice that can help us shed weight by keeping us in calorie deficit. It’s a fact that your brain takes about 20 minutes to register how much your body has eaten, and when you stop at 80% full, it would mean you are actually full, and stopping at 100% full, would mean you have overeaten!
3. Chew Slowly, Pause Between Each Bite: Research says people who eat fast tend to eat more food and thereby consume more calories. People who eat quickly and at a fast pace are usually putting their health at risk and also tend to gain weight compared to those who take their sweet time chewing slowly. When you eat too fast, your brain doesn’t get the signal to stop once you are full. This means that you often eat more than you actually require. A slow-paced meal will make you think that you have eaten a good amount of food. When you eat too quickly, you lose count of the food intake.
4. Eat a lot of Plant-Based Foods: Fruits and vegetables are full of nutrients, have high fiber content, and you can feel fuller with low calories. One of the most effective weight loss tips to feel fuller and maintain a calorie deficit, is to fill half of your plate with veggies, and if those vegetables are green leafy things, that’s a double bonus. Most green leafy vegetables are rich sources of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, protein, and fiber, that form essential components of a healthy diet. Leafy greens are great for everyone, from kids to adults to the elderly, and of course, for people who want to lose weight as well with their low calorie, high nutrient content, along with metabolism-boosting properties.
5. Make your Plate Look Like a Rainbow: Carrot, cucumber, brinjal, broccoli, bell peppers, cabbage, spinach, brown rice, quinoa, avocado, beetroot, tomato, onion – make your plate look like a rainbow to get loads of nutrients and antioxidants that are found abundantly in colorful veggies and grains. Making meal plate colorful ensures that you are getting maximum amount of nutrients. Experts say you should have 5 portions of veggies and 2 portions of fruit for optimum health. It’s not necessary to eat them all at one go or in every meal – just make sure one major meal of the day is colorful enough.
6. Avoid Processed Food: Instant noodles, white bread, breakfast cereals, cakes, muffins, canned fruits, biscuits, cookies, ready-to-eat meals are heavily processed and contain refined carbs that lead to quick weight gain. Moreover, food additives, emulsifiers (carboxymethycellulose, polysorbate-80), artificial colors have been linked to weight gain. Most ingredients in processed food also raise inflammation which is another factor leading to obesity.
7. Eliminate Refined Grains: All forms of carbs are receiving flak in weight loss circles due to the common belief that they are fattening in nature and lead to increase of fat in the body; however, not all carbs are bad. Food items such as sugar, candies, white bread, pizza, donuts, cookies, burgers, chocolates, etc. have refined carbs that spike insulin levels and have loads of calories that quickly add up and get stored as fat in cells, and make it difficult to shed extra weight. Swap refined carbs with foods with complex carbs such as whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, etc. instead.
8. Eat without Distractions: One of the prerequisites of mindful eating is to eat without any distractions, which means switch off the TV, keep away the phone, and eat in peace so that once the satiety hormone kicks in, you can keep away the fork and spoon to avoid consuming extra calories. Eat without any kind of distraction, in peace, and enjoy each bite, so that the brain feels fuller with the optimum amount of calories, without pushing you to overeat.
9. Eat Protein with Each Meal: This macronutrient is absolutely essential for the body to function, and it is needed to burn fat as well. Protein increases the levels of the satiety hormone “leptin,” curbs appetite, keeps you fuller for longer, and also increases thermogenesis in the body which means we get to burn more calories. Since protein helps to build muscle, more calories are torched even at rest. So, make a conscious effort to amp up protein and include one protein source in every meal. If you are vegetarian and cannot have eggs or chicken, here’s a list of “14 Inexpensive Plant-Based Protein Sources” for weight loss.
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