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Great food, no more weighing
We’ve all experienced it. We resolve to lose weight now, but somehow it doesn’t work out. How can you make sure it works this time?
The most common weight loss mistake is that people set unrealistic goals and want to lose the pounds too quickly. They follow a crash diet or suddenly start exercising like a wild man. Losing weight at a leisurely pace, with achievable goals, is much more successful in the long run. Set yourself a modest goal, such as losing 8 to 10 pounds in six months (that’s less than a pound a week).
Secret 1: mental training
Research by psychologists from Canada shows that good intentions have a better chance of success if you make them as concrete as possible. An example? Don’t think, “I’ll go for a walk in the evening more often.” That is not specific enough. This is: ‘I go four times a week to walk, right after dinner, and then I take the route along the forest. I walk at a brisk pace, without getting out of breath’. The researchers in Canada put 177 test subjects to the test. They asked those participants for a whole week fruit to eat. One group was asked to make a concrete plan and practice it in their minds: the time when they would eat fruit, walk to the fruit bowl, grab a knife, peel the fruit, and eat it. The other group just figured it out. The group that made a concrete plan and also visualized it ate twice as much fruit as the control group.
Secret 2: delicious food
You can of course torture yourself with a strict, boring and frugal diet in which you weigh everything. But you probably won’t stick to such a diet. Why would you? Instead, be inspired by one of the healthiest diets in the world: the Mediterranean diet. Salads, grilled fish, beans, stews with lots of vegetables, nuts and olives: not only are they very tasty, they are also very healthy. The best thing about the Mediterranean diet is that it contains generous portions of fruits and vegetables. Those colorful ingredients are truly miracle cures for dieters: they are filling and provide many vitamins but few calories.
Secret 3: no more weighing every day
Stepping on the scale every day is a bad idea. Those unexpected few extra ounces can spoil a day or even be a reason to stop a diet. And that while your body weight naturally fluctuates a bit. That can save a pound or a kilo from day to day. Weighing once a week is sufficient.
Scientists have long agreed that waist circumference is a better way to determine overweight than the scales. The mirror and your belt are also excellent means of measuring your progress.
Secret 4: moving in between
Exercise is absolutely necessary if you want to lose weight. But you don’t necessarily have to go to the gym for that if you don’t like it. Start moving more in your daily activities. The advantage is that exercise really becomes a habit, which makes it last. So from now on, do your weekday shopping by bike. Never take the elevator or escalator again, always take the stairs. Indulge yourself in the house and garden. Take an evening walk. Do it right away when you get up abdominal exercises and push ups. This way you can stop a lot of exercise in a day. A good goal is ultimately an hour of vigorous exercise a day. With that amount, it is possible to prevent relapse after weight loss, according to research among successful lose weight.
Secret 5: be honest
Hunger is by no means the only reason to eat. There are many more reasons. Boredom, for example, fatigue, anger or sadness. Be honest with yourself and find out why you eat. Are you really hungry or is there something else going on? When you are sad, do you really manage to eat that sadness away, or is the comfort short-lived? And isn’t it better to admit that sadness, instead of hiding it under a bar of chocolate? Professor Tatjana van Strien of Radboud University Nijmegen, says in her book ‘The slimming myth’, that there are many so-called emotional eaters. “For these people, dieting makes no sense, as long as they don’t address the underlying cause of their eating behavior,” says Van Strien.
Liesbeth van Rossum is an internist and endocrinologist and Mariette Boon is an internist in training and researcher into brown fat. Together they wrote the bestseller ‘Fat important‘. This duo knows all about body fat and how you can influence it. Do you want to lose weight? Listen to the podcast below before you start a diet, because then you can avoid common mistakes.
Sources):
- Plus Magazine