Five Easy Ways to Lose Weight without Dieting
March 21st, 2009 by admin
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- Fad diets just do not work! In fact, many scientists have completed studies that prove that someone who repetitively tries diet after diet ends up fatter than an individual who had never tried to diet. Instead of trying the next fad diet, change your lifestyle to lose weight and keep it off permanently.
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- The process of dieting changes your metabolism and makes it easier to put weight on, after the diet is finished. When you diet, your body starts to act as if there is a famine and naturally stores more fat in cells for reserves to survive the food shortage. When the diet finishes, the fat cells have increased in size, and will more readily store excess fat consumed. Fad diets limit what you eat for a short time, but you usually cannot sustain the diet in the long-term. When your eating patterns return to normal, you will usually put the weight you lost back on.
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- If you really want to lose weight, you need to change
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- Here are five easy ways to lose weight without dieting.
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- 1. Substitute Low Fat or Low Calorie Alternatives
- There are many ways you can substitute low fat and low calorie alternatives for every day food, and you won’t even notice the taste. Herbs provide very tasty substitutes to creamy sauces. Try a pesto sauce made with fresh basil, garlic, and pine nuts ground together in a blender with pasta, instead of a creamy, white sauce. Add herbs to dishes to add taste, instead of any sauce at all.
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- If you want a cream sauce try adding skim milk and a small dollop of sour cream to the dish when cooking. Another alternative is low fat coconut cream, rather than using high fat regular cream. Low fat tasty cheese does not taste any different to regular tasty cheese. Use low fat milks or skim milks rather than full fat milk.
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- 2. Drink Water
- Water has no calories and also has many other benefits for those trying to lose weight. Water helps your body to flush waste material and increases the benefits from eating a high fibre diet. Water also helps you to feel full, so drinking water with your meals will help you to eat less naturally. Instead of consuming many calories with soft drinks, energy drinks, and milkshakes, switch to water. If you want to add some flavour, try a small amount of low calorie cordial mixed with your water. Black tea is also beneficial.
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- 3. Use Smaller Plates
- The real key to losing weight is eating than you did previously. However, you don’t need to actively diet to achieve eating less. Simply purchase and use smaller plates. Only fill the plate to the inside edge, rather than have food flowing over the plate to the very edge. Use smaller bowls and plates, and do not go back for seconds. Very quickly your body will adjust to eating smaller amounts and you will still feel full, even though you are eating less.
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- Portion control can really aid losing weight. Check the labels on your food and see how many portions or serves are in the package. If a serve equals two biscuits, eat only two, not four. When you eat out at restaurants, order an entrйe size portion rather than a main meal, or only order a main meal instead of entrйe and main. Eat smaller portions of your favourite foods and you will still enjoy your food and will lose weight, without actively dieting.
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- 4. Fill Up on Fruit and Vegetables
- Fruits and vegetables are high in fibre and low in calories. Substitute carrot and celery sticks with dips instead of crackers. Eat plenty of vegetables. Try to half fill your plate with vegetables, particularly green, leafy vegetables. This helps you to feel full quicker, and the fibre in the vegetables assists your body to expel all waste products easier, preventing bloating and retaining water.
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- Fruit has a natural sugar and can fill a craving for something sweet, without adding too many extra calories. Instead of reaching for the chocolate bar, try munching on an apple. Instead of eating ice cream or sweet desserts full of calories, try eating a small bowl of fruit salad.
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- 5. Get Active
- Increasing your levels of activity will help your metabolism to step into high gear and will burn more fat. Just 20 minutes of high paced exercise every day will help to kick start your metabolism, and you will burn more energy during the day, even when you are sitting still. Just go for a walk and try to walk a little further each day. Soon you will find it is easier to walk and exercise.
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- Join an aerobics class with a friend to keep your motivation high. Find ways of exercising without thinking about by taking the stairs instead of waiting for the lift or walking around a shopping centre and window shopping. Incorporate a little bit of activity within your daily routine and lose weight easily.
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- Making these small changes to your lifestyle will help you to lose weight easily, without resorting to fad diets that don’t work. Fill up on fruit, vegetables and water, rather than high calorie snacks. Reduce the size of meals you eat and substitute low fat alternatives for every day foods where possible. Increasing your level of activity is the final step in losing weight easily. You can lose weight and keep it off permanently by incorporating these changes into your life.