I’ve written before about how bad my local newspaper is. And that the only reason I keep it is because I like to look for the typos in the morning while I drink my coffee.
But this morning, I found no typos. In fact, I found an article that stared me down and screamed, “Hey Mac!!!!! Read Me!!!! I’m what you need right now!!! I’ll remind you how to be successful again!! I’ll get you back on track!”
So here they are. 6 tips for losing weight without dieting. 6 tips for the lifestyle that I’m supposed to be living these days, but am struggling with mightily…Until today that is!
- More Spice–It’s no wonder that people on diets fail when they choose to eat food that doesn’t taste good to them. In a world of fried and fatty foods doused with mayonnaise and ranch dressing, who wants to eat carrot sticks and celery for every meal. You don’t have to if you know just a little bit about seasoning your healthy foods. Use some cumin, turmeric, chili powder, cayenne pepper, or even some salt! All of these things will make your food taste better and not add any calories to them. Give it a shot!
- More Breakfast–You’ve heard it before, but the research really backs it! People who eat a healthy breakfast are more likely to maintain a healthy weight than people who don’t. Enough said. Eat some granola and fruit in the morning and kick start that metabolism for the day.
- More Protein–Your body uses more energy digesting protein than it does while digesting carbs or fats. Plus, eating protein helps to build muscle and increased muscle mass also boosts your metabolism. It’s a win-win situation.
- More Volume–Just because you’re trying to save calories during the day doesn’t mean you have to eat small amounts of food. Try finding some foods that have a lot of volume, but not a lot of calories. Foods do this in two ways: having a lot of empty space, and having a lot of water. Try some popcorn (full of air), or some grapes (full of water). Both of those foods are more filling than a lot of other snacks that may have more calories.
- More Sleep–New research suggests that lack of sleep triggers hormonal shifts that boosts hunger and appetite. People who get only 5 hours of sleep have been found to have 16% lower levels of the hormone leptin (lower levels of leptin have been linked to obesity) as compared to those who get 8 or more hours of sleep per night.
- More Satisfaction–Get more pleasure from your food. Don’t be in a rush while eating and don’t be distracted. Enjoy every bite of food you eat. Eat mindfully always. This is hard for a lot of us and if it is for you also, try the following. Make your meals a big deal. Set the table and get out the good silverware and dishes. Put on some soothing dinner music. Make your meals an experience to remember and you’ll feel more satisfied.
Think about these 6 points every day and you’ll be back on track in no time. It worked for me today, and hopefully I remember to think about them tomorrow as well!
{ 1 trackback }
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Ooh, spice! I specialize in spice. You can eat the same healthy, home-grown food in different formats (stew, salad, sandwich) and with different spices and it’s like having the whole world in your kitchen.
I like all of these tips except for “more protein,” which is bad advice for a number of reasons.
1) Americans get more than enough protein in their diets already, and that goes for vegetarians too. When’s the last time you heard of someone in the Western world not getting enough protein? Perhaps better advice would be “get your protein from healthier sources” not “eat more protein.”
2) Excess protein in your diet gets converted to glycogen through a process called glycogenolysis, and is then stored as fat if your body if you have sufficient glycogen in your muscles for immediate energy.
* the process is called gluconeogenesis, not glycogenolysis as I originally wrote. Tomato, tomahto.
Totally agree with Ryan, but for an additional reason. The mere act of ingesting protein doesn’t “build muscle”. It has to be protein in conjunction with weight bearing exercises. Weight-bearing exercises break down muscle and it’s in the act of the body repairing itself that stronger muscles are made. In this sense – a little extra protein should be beneficial to this process. To say just eating protein will help build muscle seems a bit misleading.
My two cents anyways.
Cheers!
Brigid is correct, except protein builds all cells, not just muscle. But obviously, protein is useful in repairing the microscopic damage (muscular hypertrophy) done to muscles during resistance exercise. But then again, so is fat: What do you think every cell wall in your body is made of?
if we’re getting all technical…our cells don’t have cell walls
And the walls of cells that do have cell walls aren’t made of fat either, they’re usually made of cellulose, I believe. I’d rather eat protein and have my body convert it to fat than to eat just fat where no conversion is necessary.
Dietary fat does not automatically equal body fat. Last I checked there were no fat Greek people before they started eating a western diet instead of a mediterranean diet, which is chock full of healthy fats.
But I get what you’re saying…
Wow, I’ve been reading your get rich slowly site for a long time and really like it. I’m so glad to have found this one too. I’m thinking of writing a post to tell people how good the site is.
Your “think about these 6 points every day” and some of your tips reminded me of a good book – “Why We Eat More Than We Think”. It’s by a guy who essentially studies eating habits and why we make the choices we do – topics like high volume foods (e.g., popcorn, air-fluffed shakes) and mindless eating are covered. Anyway, I don’t get anything for you going out and reading this, but you might get something out of it!