4 Healthy Diet Changes to Help You Lose Weight Quickly

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Lose Weight

If someone needs to drop ten pounds to fit into a wedding outfit or get in shape for swimsuit season, they might think the best solution is to starve themselves. In reality, it is the worst thing you could do for yourself as your body needs to regularly consume fats and nutrients to keep itself functioning. Depriving yourself of these things can lead to weakness, dizziness, brittle bones, and in some extreme cases, heart problems. If you’re looking to lose weight, try the following instead.

Intermittent Fasting

You might be saying to yourself “But wait, I thought starving yourself was bad?” And it is! Intermittent fasting is not about depriving yourself of nutrients but creating an eating schedule that encourages your body to burn calories rather than store them.

There are several different methods of intermittent fasting. They range from the 16/8 method where you fast for 16 hours and then pick an 8-hour window to consume your recommended daily intake of calories, to the 5:2 method where you restrict your calorie intake to 500-600 for only two days out of the week.

The most important factor is the intermittent part, ensuring you’re still eating a healthy amount of calories. Even after you find the best fasting book to guide you through the process, your new regime should be done under the guidance of your primary care doctor just so you can ensure the method you picked is the healthiest option for you.

Cut the Carbs

If you decide intermittent fasting isn’t the best option for you, take a look at your diet and snack habits for possible overindulgence. Even if you only have a piece of candy here and there, sweet treats can quickly add up through the day into a lot of extra calories you don’t really need.

Replacing soda and other sugary drinks with water or black coffee or tea can have a significant impact on your calorie intake, and switching out snacks like potato chips and candy bars with a serving of dried fruit and nuts can both satisfy appetites and trim waistlines.

Do your research and don’t be fooled by “healthy” granola bars or low-fat items. These often have a lot of sugar in them that tastes great but means they aren’t the health-conscious alternatives they make themselves out to be.

Learn Portion Sizes

You might be surprised to learn that the recommended serving of beef is a cut the size of a deck of cards and not an entire sirloin steak. Similarly, you might think your favorite snack has only 100 calories because those are the words in bold on the label. However, if you look closer you might find that is the amount in a serving rather than the entire package.

If you don’t have the time to research every little thing, there are several meal tracker apps on the market where all you have to do is enter a search term or barcode and they can tell you the recommended serving size of even the most obscure meal.

Go Natural

In addition to eating only your recommended daily serving of calories, you may want to fill your menu with unprocessed foods that are high in protein. Instead of deli meats or fast food sandwiches, stick to burgers that are either bean-based or 100% ground beef with no fillers. Protein-rich diets help with building muscle and can reduce ghrelin, a hormone that induces hunger.

Don’t pass on the salad or steamed vegetables, either. If you’re not a fan of veggies, reach for the oatmeal instead. Diets rich in soluble fiber can reduce your body’s absorption of carbs and harmful forms of fat. They also have the benefit of relieving constipation, encouraging healthy gut flora, and can reduce the risk of colon problems, such as cancer.

Weight retention could be an indication of an underlying health problem. If you’ve adopted a healthier diet and regularly exercise but still have trouble shedding pounds, you may want to speak with your family doctor.