9 Weight Loss Alternatives

A simple search for weight loss options brings up tens if not hundreds of

options: diets, supplements, pills, workouts and even surgical operations.

Over the years, women have subscribed to all sorts of regimens to lose

weight. Do they work? Are they sustainable? Well, sometimes. Here are

some of the most common weight loss advice that you’ll come across:

1. Reduce Carbs

Carbohydrates are broken down into sugar, which is then stored as fat. If your

diet consists mainly of carbohydrates, you’ll keep piling fat as the days go by.

If the carbs are not on your plate, chances are they’ll come in the form of

snacks. Cake, cookies, biscuits and so on. These options are even worse as

they contain high levels of sugar and fat.

If you’re physically active, you burn calories for energy, thus regulating your

weight. If not, or if your intake exceeds the rate of utilization, then you’ll

gradually add weight. Increasing the portions of proteins and vegetables at

the expense of the carbohydrates cuts down on the piling up of fat.

2. Eat Slowly

Gulping down your food increases the chances of eating more than you need

too. The ‘full’ signal takes up to 20 minutes to register in the brain. If you’re

eating quickly, you’ll keep eating even when you’re already full, just that the

brain has not registered it yet. If you ate slowly, you’re more conscious of the

feeling, and you stop eating much sooner. The lesser the food is taken, the

lower the calories.

3. Use Small Plates

Take away the platters from your dinner table. Large plates deceive you with

the portions. You feel like you’re just taking a standard serving while you’re

in fact heaping on a large meal. And when you’ve served just enough; it’ll

look scarce on a platter. Reducing the size of your plate will help you

regulate your portions.

4. Increase Fiber

Fiber-rich foods make you full faster and keep you full for longer. Some of

the most potent sources of fiber include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and

legumes. Use fruits as a snack to replace the sugary or fatty options. Having a

fruit salad 30 minutes before a meal can considerably reduce the amount

you’ll consume. As for the vegetables, think of them not as a side dish, but a

key component of the meal. Let the vegetables occupy up to half of your

plate. Go for brown rice and bread baked from unprocessed wheat. Such a

diet will leave you full for hours and reduce the need to snack on unhealthy

options.

5. Replace Soft Drinks

A can of cold soda on a hot summer day is surely refreshing, but not as friendly

for your weight. Soft drinks contain a high amount of sugar, which is

eventually converted to fat in the body. You can wade off that craving by

staying hydrated. Even before you feel thirsty, sip water periodically. A

hydrated body is less likely to demand a sugary drink. If you must have

something tastier, go for fruit or vegetable juice. Vegetable juice may not be

as tasty but is definitely a better option as it contains less sugar. Take the fruit

juice in moderation, especially if it comes from sugary fruits such as apples,

mangoes or oranges.

6. Cook at Home

The idea of getting into the kitchen after a long day at work is not exactly

pleasant, but your body will thank you for it in the long run. Cooking your

own food allows you to choose fresh and healthy ingredients, and cut down

on processed foods. One of the main problems with processed foods is the

preservatives used to give them a longer shelf life, which often contains trans

fats and sodium. Trans fats are a major contributor to belly fat.

As you cook your own food, you can monitor the levels and quality of oil and

sugar which majorly contribute to weight gain. Carry the food to work too.

Whenever you get time to cook, prepare multiple meals and refrigerate or

freeze them, so you don’t have to cook every day.

7. Eating Out

Restaurant meals are hardly friendly to weight loss. They mostly concentrate

on the flavors; to tantalize your taste buds hoping that you’ll return for more.

You can minimize the eat-outs, but you don’t have to cut them out entirely.

One of the useful tips that will help you with restaurants is to look at their

menu beforehand. Fortunately, most of the establishments now have their

menus online. Browse for the healthy options on offer, such as those steamed

instead of fried, or sugar-free drink options. By the time you sit in the

restaurant, you’re already certain about what you want to have no matter

what everyone else is having. You also don’t have to eat the entire portion

served. You can have some packed to take home for the next meal.

8. Avoid Comfort Food

Some women will eat a mountain when stressed, frustrated or sad. This type

of eating is not triggered by hunger, but by an emotional need. Interestingly,

during this time hardly anybody goes for a salad. Fatty and sugary foods

become the top option, perhaps to please the taste buds, to compromise for all

the bad feelings elsewhere. Learn to fill such emotional needs differently.

Entertain yourself by watching a movie, reading a book or going out for a

game. Once you start to feel better, the demand for food lessens.

9. Keep Track of Your Eating

How much did you consume, say, last weekend? Unless you’re consciously

keeping count, such a question would be hard to answer. You’ll be surprised

how much you eat in a day, or a week, if you note it down. We snack in

between meals and hardly consider that food, yet in most cases, those snacks

contain high amounts of sugar and fat that lead to weight gain. Keeping track

of what you’re eating and the resultant calories also help you determine the

number of calories you need to burn to lose weight. The more you eat, the

more you’ll need to exercise. Alternatively, you can simply regulate your

eating.

Now that you’re here reading this book on weight loss through intermittent

fasting, I think it’s safe to assume that the methods you’ve tried out, if any,

have not been successful. Chances are you’re still struggling with extra

pounds.

Before we embark on this form of fasting, let’s explore some of the reasons

why your weight may not be going down despite the various remedies that

you’ve tried out:

Wrong Information: You’re most likely to obtain your weight loss

information from the internet. Are you aware of the credentials, if

any, of the persons providing that information? Anyone can claim

to be an expert on the web. Some of these people can give

misleading information or outright lies, mostly in an effort to sell

you one of their remedies. You may have taken one of these,

spurred by the glossy testimonials, and they left you high and dry.

If the remedies come in the form of pills, supplements or injections

could leave you with nasty side effects to boot.

Poor Sleep: When you have adequate sleep, your hormones are

balanced enabling the burning of fat. With poor sleep, the fat

burning is compromised keeping you from shedding the pounds,

even when every other factor should be leading you there. Stress is

also a contributing factor here, as it will often keep you from

sleeping well. Stress and poor sleep, whether experienced jointly or

separately, also contribute to excess eating. When you’re stressed,

you eat to soothe yourself. When you can’t sleep, you roam around

the house in the dead of night, and there’s a good chance that

you’ll end up in the kitchen. The result is the same; pounds that

just won’t come off.

No Dedication: Keeping your body in shape is work; even more so

when you’re already overweight. You will be required to eat right

and exercise, not just periodically, but to turn this into a lifestyle.

There’s hardly any shortcut and even those which promise to be

turn out to be costly in the long run. And the results may not be

sustainable. You may have decided to enroll at the gym, how many

sessions did you attend? Or if you opt to go out and run in the

morning or after work, do you find it hard to leave the warmth of

your bed or complain of being too tired? If you don’t follow

through with your weight loss plan, you will not have any notable

results, and that will only demotivate you even further.