Top 10 Diet Tips to Lose Weight

We get a lot of emails from our readers wanting to know the top 10 diet tips that you can add to your daily lives to help them lose weight. Most have discussed their displeasure with miracle, lose weight fast or fad diets and are looking for real solutions to help with long term weight loss. The Newsfitness.com team has come up with what we believe to be the Top 10 Diet Tips to help you achieve your Weight goals and more importantly maintain the weight loss achieved.

1.    Regular Sleep Patterns of up to 10 hours per night

It has been found in numerous studies that sleep deprivation increases the hormones in the body that craves food whilst decreasing other hormones that help to tell you when you are full. Researchers have found that people who sleep 2 – 4 hours are 73% more likely to be obese then people who get 7 – 9 hours sleep. Therefore getting up to around 10 hours a night sleep will normalize your hormonal levels and aid your bodies digestion. Try to reduce your caffeine intake ie: drinking coffee, coke etc levels after lunch. So the main thing to take from here is “sleep more to lose weight”.     



2.    Eat a Healthy Full Breakfast every morning

Eating a healthy breakfast every morning provides your body with the fuel it requires to meet life’s daily challenges. People who skip breakfast are more lethargic and display symptoms of low concentration, and problem solving. However the main benefit from a weight loss perspective is that it boosts the bodies metabolism for the body to burn those excess calories. If you have a full breakfast it is more likely that you won’t be as hungry at lunch and overeat during this meal. Overall a breakfast should be made up of complex carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

3.    Eat Regular Meals

Eating at regular intervals during the day helps the body to be able to generate enough energy to fuel the body. It is recommended to eat a minimum of 3 meals and up to 5 meals per day depending on the size of the portion and the amount of exercise that the body is required to complete. The portion size should and will be different for an athlete than for a clerical officer due to amount of daily exercise that is completed. A general rule for portion size is to eat like a king in the morning, like a prince at lunch and as a pauper during the evening. That way when you sleep you won’t have excess carbohydrates left whilst sleeping to turn into fat deposits.

4.    Eat more Natural and Less Processed Foods

Most foods that you find at your grocery store are filled with preservatives that enable the food to last longer. These added preservatives have an adverse effect on the nutrients and minerals that are naturally found in these foods. Therefore eating foods with higher levels of preservatives are not helping your weight loss. If it is possible always purchase fresh foods avoiding convenient pre-packaged foods. These foods contain higher volumes of calories, salts or sodium and fats which are stored in the body and not readily used for fueling your energy requirements.   



5.    Eat Slower

When you are at a restaurant, have a look around at the thinner people eating. What you will notice is that they take a longer time to eat their food. Eating slower is a good method for losing weight due to the time it takes for your brain to register that you are full. 20 minutes is the approximate timeframe. If you eat your meals quickly it is more than likely that you will over eat and consume many more calories than you anticipated. So to lose weight and enjoy your food more slow down to lose weight.    

6.    Hydrate your Body Regularly

Water makes up, on average, 60 percent of your body weight. Every component of your body depends on water to function correctly. For example, water flushes toxins out of vital organs, carries nutrients to your cells and provides a moist environment for ear, nose and throat tissues.

A lack of consumption of water will lead to dehydration, a condition that occurs when you don't have enough water in your body to carry out normal functions. Even mild dehydration can drain your energy and make you tired. It is advised that you should consume for men 3.3 litres of liquid a day and for women 2.2 litres.

Next time you sit down for a meal consume a glass or 2 of cold water with your meal. Water has no calories and will make you feel fuller quicker. This will stop you over eating and control the meal proportions.       

7.    Regular Exercise

If you are serious about weight loss then regular exercise is the key. Dieting alone will only give you small weight loss results. The previous blog Top 10 Exercise facts details your exercise requirements to help you lose weight. The good thing is that a 30 minute exercise a day will be enough to start getting your body I shape and shedding those excess pounds built up over the winter period. Find n exercise that you enjoy like walking with a friend, joining a local sport or your local gym. That way you are more than likely to continue this over a period of time.     

The main fact is that if you are serious about losing weight then you need to be serious about getting regular exercise. You will feel better immediately and your body will thank you for it.



8.    Use Non Food substitutes when life’s stresses hit

Many studies have been conducted to determine the event that led to people moving from a healthy lifestyle to over eating. In the majority of cases it was diagnosed that a massive stressful event took place like the loss of a family member, marriage breakup, money problems or the loss of employment. People find comfort in large quantities of food and come to rely on this to help them through. To combat comfort eating try something new like go for a run, listen to your favorite music or turn to something else that you enjoy. Like alcohol your problems don’t go away with eating a bucket of chicken or a tub of ice cream, your body will thank you for not inducing those large volume of calories. 
      
9.    Keep A Diary

Keeping a diary of your daily food intake and exercise can help you to achieve weight loss. Filling out what you have eaten and the quantity, how you felt before the meal and your state of mind whilst eating will provide a self-awareness of how you are tracking. Did you eat more when you are stressed? When feeling good about yourself did you purchase a healthy salad instead of the hamburger? Study your patterns and start to take back control of your weight. A high percentage of people who have completed this have become aware of their personal food triggers and been able to start and modify their habits to a healthier choice enabling them to be able to achieve heir goals.   

10.    Treat Yourself

Remember that you are going to have a rollercoaster of emotions as you change your dietary habits. When you set and meet a goal treat yourself to a night out or a food or drink that you previously enjoyed. That way you will be more likely to stick with your new diet and less likely to fall back into your previous unhealthy habits. 

For these Top 10 Diet Tips to be successful it is about being able to over time modify your eating and exercise habits. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will be your weight loss. Its about sticking it out for the long term to make healthier changes to your habits. The main change that you will see is a loss in weight, a tighter more attractive body, more energy and a greater zest for life. If these are your goals then today is the time to start becoming more health conscious. If you have any other top dieting tips or have  story that you would like to share we want to hear from you. Enjoy your new healthier life from the newsfitness.com team.