It seems like trying to shed some excess weight is the global sport right now. Countless millions of people right now are desperately trying to avoid that last doughnut, or skip the pizza at lunch and have pasta while they go for a walk instead, yet does any of that work? If you read the newspapers then you will see all the doom and gloom about how we are all getting fatter and more unhealthy so it certainly doesn’t look like it.
Don’t panic though, here are some tips though that can help you make your diet a success:
Cut down on the sugar – Ever since the Atkins diet received some bad press (although it did receive lots of good press before that which people seem to forget) then if you mention cutting down on carbs then people instantly start regaling you with horror stories they have heard about low-carb diets. I don’t mean cut out things like rice and bread though, I just target the worst source of carbohydrates, sugar. Nothing spikes your blood sugar level quite like sugar, and yet apart from tasting nice and giving us a small, and temporary boost in energy, then it really doesn’t have any nutritional value.
Do yourself a favor and empty your cupboards of all your sugary foods, donate it to a charity for the homeless or something, but get it out of the house so you are not tempted by it. You will probably struggle at first because you will miss the little kick of sugar that you usually got from eating those foods, but you can’t lose weight without some sacrifices.
Get some exercise – I know that finding the time and motivation to exercise can be hard, but it really is important to keep yourself healthy, and is a great way to burn of calories and help you lose weight without you having to eat less. In fact some of the latest diets like the Fat Burning Furnace are starting to shift their focus away from what you eat and onto how you should be exercising to build muscle and burn calories.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that all exercise has to be intense though. You don’t have to go flat out on a treadmill to get the benefits of exercise and burn some calories, even just going for a simple walk will limber your body up, get the blood flowing around your body and help you to burn calories (about 250 an hour).
Make healthier food choices – Even if you are cutting out unnecessary sugar from your day then you still need to keep an eye on the other things you are eating. If you pile your plate up high with fatty junkfood like pizza and chips then you aren’t going to lose any weight. I think the best meal you can have is a mixture of meat, complex carbohydrates like brown rice and vegetables. Keep the meat down to the size of a pack of cards or just a bit bigger, put the carbs on about a third of the plate and then fill the rest up with vegetables and you have a really healthy and tasty dinner!
