Losing weight doesn’t and should mean having to starve.
And yes, it is completely possible to lose weight without dieting and in a way that is enjoyable, not stressful and sustainable in the long term.
Here are five steps that will help you get there:
(1) DON’T SKIP MEALS
One of the key steps towards a healthy and sustainable weight loss is making sure that your blood sugar levels are balanced and don’t fluctuate too much throughout the day. Unfortunately, skipping meals can send your blood sugar on a complete roller-coaster and sabotage your weight loss from the get-go.
What will support your blood sugar stability is eating 5-6 smaller meals every day, which means breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner and also a small pre-bed snack.
Make sure that these meals are no more than three hours apart and that you eat them at about the same time every day for optimal effect.
This will not only help balance your blood sugar levels and support weight loss, but will also help you maintain healthy energy levels and good moods, and better manage cravings.
(2) MAKE NON-STARCHY VEGGIES AND FRUIT A HALF OF YOUR MEAL
This includes foods like dark green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, peppers, asparagus, green beans, cauliflower, eggplant, leeks, onions and many other veggies, as well as most fruit (except bananas).
These foods are full of vitamins, minerals and fibre, and low in in calories,
All of which will support your weight loss and ensure that you don’t miss out on key nutrients at the same time.
You can choose fresh, frozen or even canned, just make sure that the canned veggies don’t have any added sugar, salt or additives, and that the cans are BPA and BPS free.
(3) STAY HYDRATED
As smart as your body is, it can also get confused.
Unfortunately, this can also happen when it comes to your appetite, where
Your body can mistaken thirst for hunger.
The reason why this happens is that both thirst and hunger trigger similar signals in your brain, and this can then make your hypothalamus which controls your thirst and hunger respond in similar way to both.
So, if you are regularly dehydrated, you might be feeling hungry even when all your body really needs is just an extra glass of water, and this can lead to overeating and difficulties with losing weight.
To avoid this, make sure that you drink enough fluid every day, and consume it regularly and in small amounts throughout the day, rather than all in one go.
(4) DO A GENTLE LIVER DETOX
Your liver is the main fat-burning organ in the body that helps to regulate your metabolism, so
Weight-loss will be much easier if your liver is working well.
For a gentle liver detox, squeeze half a lemon into a warm or lukewarm glass of water first thing in the morning and drink it 20 minutes before breakfast. The lemon will act as a ‘cleaning agent’ and will support your liver detoxification.
Some of the other foods that will help you strengthen your liver as well, include ginger, turmeric and garlic.
(5) SLEEP 7-8 HOURS A NIGHT
Who knew that sleeping enough can also help you lose weight?
When you don’t sleep enough, a couple of things that affect your weight management happen.
One,
your body produces more ghrelin, a hormone that triggers hunger and reduces energy expenditure, increasing your appetite and making you more likely to overindulge the next day.
Two, lack of sleep increases the levels of a stress hormone cortisol, which can de-stabilise your blood sugar and sabotage your weight loss that way.
And three, lack of sleep also reduces your body’s ability to process insulin (a hormone that regulates your blood sugar levels), which can lead to insulin resistance - and that is a precursor to not only weight gain, but also type 2 diabetes.
So, if you are trying to lose weight, make sure that you get between 7 and 8 hours of sleep a night – your body will be grateful!
These are the five simple steps you can start with, and if you’d like to find out what else you need to do lose weight in a healthy and sustainable way, get in touch with us below, and let’s have a more detailed conversation about how we can help you achieve that goal.
