Time and again, we have continued to stress the importance of eating clean to lose weight and to maintain a desirable weight. To things in a perspective, weight loss is not exactly a difficult or unachievable if you follow the weight loss programs on Rati Beauty. These diet programs encourage you to eat healthy rather than starve yourself to shed extra weight. Crash dieting never works, in fact, one tends to gain weight with the absence of essential vitamins and nutrients, which are essential to weight loss. As a result, your weight tends to yo yo and it becomes impossible to sustain the weight loss. However, there are some things which easily one can do to lose fat but then hardly anyone follows. In this post, we would be talking about 14 things which are quite easy to follow and yet we hardly pay attention to those.
1. Sleep for at least 7-8 Least Hours:
Various studies have repeatedly established the fact that sleep is of primary importance to lose weight. Even if you are eating healthy and exercising every single day, your body would not drop any significant weight if you do not get at least 7 hours of sleep at night. Sleeping for only 4 or 5 hours per night triggers the production of ghrelin (hunger hormone) and lowers the levels of leptin (fullness hormone). Also, people who sleep for 8 hours lose more fat without losing “precious” muscle. Having a sound sleep also boosts metabolism and lowers the production of stress hormone. So, sleep your way to weight loss instead of binging on Netflix and spending hours on social media which would disturb circadian rhythm, making it difficult for you to fall asleep peacefully.
2. Drink more than 8 glasses of water:
It’s the most easiest thing to do for great skin and weight loss, but only a few people manage to finish their minimal 8 glasses of water intake. Unknown to many, drinking water boosts metabolic rate to a good level helping you burn calories. Water is essential to run the digestion process smoothly and to flush out toxins from the body.
3. Practice Pranayama and kapalbhati:
A recent study conducted has established that if one needs to lose “10 kg of weight,” – 8.5 kg of it is pumped out in the form of carbon dioxide and only 1.5 liter/kg gets thrown out through bodily fluids. Surprised? Yes, that’s how you lose fat – in the form of CO2, which is a byproduct formed by burning of fat, carbs, protein by body’s cells. This CO2 travels through blood and reaches the lungs. From lungs, it gets expelled through our nostrils and that’s where pranayama and kapalbhati are important – these two forms of yoga exercises help you to throw out carbon dioxide from the lungs with the help of deep breathing. There’s a reason why yoga is so popular in the west – pranayama is a powerful way to not only relieve stress, but also to breathe out highly acidic CO2 from the body and lose fat in the process.
4. Stop dependency on comfort food:
Comfort food is probably one of the main reasons why someone gains weight rapidly. People often turn to food rich in high fat, calorie dense, sugary delights to find comfort from the daily grind. Detach completely from food as a source of comfort to prevent piling up of pounds.
5. Avoiding Sugar to Lose Weight:
The sugar that you pick off supermarket aisles are mostly refined and processed sugars which do a lot of harm to your body in the long run. When you cut down sugar from your diet, you will automatically feel energetic with improved concentration levels. It will also give your body a chance to heal inflammation and repair. Have you ever wondered the sugar that you cannot imagine even a day without, if you decide to cut it out of your system for at least 15 days, it’s gonna bring about tremendous positive changes in your body. Though sugar tastes sweet and appetizing, what it does to your body is completely opposite. Excess sugar triggers a lot of undesirable chemical effects which can cause headache, hormonal changes, insulin resistance, diabetes, and above all, fat storage and eventual weight gain. The biggest benefit of cutting down refined sugar is weight loss! If one consumes more sugar, the body will convert the glucose from sugar source to fat and store it for later use. By cutting down sugar, you will not be providing the body fuel for fat storage (glucose) and with strict exercise and diet routine, you would be able to shed weight really well and get your dream body and goal weight quickly.
6. Chewing food slowly and Enjoying Every Bite:
Our brain needs time to signal that the tummy is full and it doesn’t get that signal on time when you are eating fast or gulping food down. The digestion process starts in the mouth itself with enzymes in the mouth working on the food. Eating slowly aids in digestion.
7. Not eating food just because you are bored and not really hungry:
Most often we tend to turn to a packet of chips or chocolate because we are just bored and not really hungry. One should actually clearly distinguish the difference between hunger signals and boredom. Eating out of sheer boredom will lead to unavoidable weight gain and hamper your weight loss goals.
8. Keeping trigger foods out of sight:
One amazing way to stop overeating is by keeping trigger foods out of sight – if they are out of sight, they would definitely get out of your mind. Don’t get processed food, chips, instant noodles into your house and that way, these trigger foods would not reach your plate.
9. Stop Stress Eating:
Food with high sugar, sodium, transfat content have a direct impact on the brain. When you eat such food, your brain rewards you by releasing “feel-good chemicals” such as endorphins and dopamine. Such feel-good chemicals make us happy and elevate our mood. Such food items also cause sharp insulin spikes which give us instant energy but the drop in insulin spike is just as steep, causing fatigue and lack of energy. Eating processed and junk food releases a huge amount of dopamine and other feel-good chemicals compared to healthy food. The brain then causes more cravings for such food and it can lead to food addiction. When one indulges in such food, the “reward center” in the brain gets activated and releases dopamine and other feel-good chemicals and this cycle goes on and on, and one is unable to control these cravings. In short, people resort to emotional eating to feel better, relieve stress, and cope up with traumatic situations.
10. Indulging in at least one form of exercise:
Not finding even 10 minutes out of your daily routine for your health is not an excuse at all. Even 20 minutes of brisk walking can help boost metabolism and burn some amount of calories.
11. Practice Mindful Eating:
Chewing slowly is a part of mindful eating because it recommends enjoying each bite of food and being aware of the quality and quantity of food that you are consuming. Avoid transfat, high sugar, high calorie food and include lots of vegetables and whole grains in your diet.
12. Don’t watch TV or phone to avoid distraction while eating:
It’s easy to lose track of the amount of food that you are consuming when you get distracted while watching tv or browsing through phone. Eat your food in peace and as we mentioned above, savouring each bite and practicing mindful eating.
13. Lifting Weights vs doing only Cardio:
It’s a myth that cardio is best for weight loss, but cardio exercises show good results only if you combine it with weight training. Lifting weights after cardio helps to burn more fat and tone up muscles as well.
14. Portion control even during cheat meals:
There’s no point in eating healthy all through the week and blowing it all up on the weekend by indulging in pizza and burgers all through the day. Pizza is okay as a cheat meal, but just stop at just a slice or two. For the record, it’s not a cheat day – it’s only a cheat meal. Portion control is an essential aspect, not only to lose weight but also to maintain optimum health and to prevent diseases such as type 2 diabetes, stroke, and heart disease. Healthy diet programs, such as on Rati Beauty, promote weight loss through healthy eating habits, helping one practice portion control, lifestyle changes rather than forcing the body to starve.
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