How to Achieve Healthy Weight Loss
If you read my previous article "The Four Magic Words of Healthy Weight Loss", you were likely discouraged by the challenges you face in following them.
It is true that healthy weight loss is no easy task and you must persevere through the many messages that you face offering a quicker way, ranging from diet pills to weight loss clubs and plans, to major operations to reduce the size of your stomach to restrict how much you can eat at any one time.
You know them all, the advertising overwhelms us and they are among the first places that people turn to shed excess, unhealthy weight.
But, there is hope that by taking simple steps, you can reach a healthy, optimum weight for yourself and stay at that weight.
You can overcome the genetics, the upbringing, the bad habits that all have conspired against you with the clear determination to help yourself to your healthy weight range.
You can start simply by taking to heart the first two of the four magic words, eat properly.
In simple terms, this means that you should re-educate yourself on how much to eat, how to present your meals and what to eat to support your weight loss goals.
There is no guess work in these steps, there is guidance from a wide variety of sources so that you can feel good about your choices and goals.
You've heard the expression "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach"? Well, it is more true than you realize.
Eating from smaller plates, cups and bowls is a terrific way to start moving towards your weight loss goals.
Your eyes will perceive a full plate of food and your brain will interpret the full plate as a filling meal.
You will feel full and satisfied from smaller portions.
The amount of calories that Americans consume has risen in the past thirty years, as has our weight.
Coupled with our general dependence on automobiles and our generally pedestrian unfriendly suburbs, our city planners and society have encouraged weight gain.
Restaurant portions have grown by a significant percentage, too.
Smaller plates can help you to fight back! When eating out, ask for the lunch menu, even at dinner time.
Or order appetizers, or a sampler plate.
Attractive food invites our other, more primitive, senses to participate in helping you to be sated sooner.
Food that smells good and is warm and inviting, comforting, helps us to concentrate on the plate before us.
Good tasting food helps us to be aware of chewing our food and slowing down to savor the taste of it.
What we eat is one of the most important components of eating properly.
Research originated at the University of Toronto brought the concept of the Glycemic Index to assist diabetics in managing their disease and, recently, it has been accepted as a significant aid in helping dieters to lose weight in a healthful and safe manner.
It measures how quickly a carbohydrate is digested and releases glucose to our bloodstream.
High GI foods are digested quickly while low GI foods are digested slowly.
Coupled with the Glycemic Load index, which measures the impact of the amount of food eaten, you now have an accurate, predictable way to follow how to change the food you eat to healthier, more helpful choices that will still satisfy you.
(For a complete explanation of the history and science of the Glycemic Index, including references, contact me at the email listed at the end of this article) Following a glycemic index based diet is not complex.
Simply substituting foods that are low to intermediate on the GI scale for high GI scale foods can have a significant impact on your health and food consumption, helping you to healthy weight loss.
There is more help for you to achieve your healthy weight loss goals than you realize.
By taking simple but powerful steps to a moderate and healthy diet, by following your taste buds, nose and eyes, you can avoid expensive diet plans, packaged diet foods and dangerous medical procedures to lose the weight that is preventing you from the healthy and active life that you desire.
And, remember that exercising does not have to mean expensive gym memberships, it can be a simple walk with your spouse, dog or a friend.
A pedometer, which measures the number of steps taken, is an inexpensive and accurate way to measure your exercise level.
Set a goal of reaching 10,000 steps a day within a reasonable time frame for you and you will be well on your way to a healthier you at your healthy weight range.
It is true that healthy weight loss is no easy task and you must persevere through the many messages that you face offering a quicker way, ranging from diet pills to weight loss clubs and plans, to major operations to reduce the size of your stomach to restrict how much you can eat at any one time.
You know them all, the advertising overwhelms us and they are among the first places that people turn to shed excess, unhealthy weight.
But, there is hope that by taking simple steps, you can reach a healthy, optimum weight for yourself and stay at that weight.
You can overcome the genetics, the upbringing, the bad habits that all have conspired against you with the clear determination to help yourself to your healthy weight range.
You can start simply by taking to heart the first two of the four magic words, eat properly.
In simple terms, this means that you should re-educate yourself on how much to eat, how to present your meals and what to eat to support your weight loss goals.
There is no guess work in these steps, there is guidance from a wide variety of sources so that you can feel good about your choices and goals.
You've heard the expression "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach"? Well, it is more true than you realize.
Eating from smaller plates, cups and bowls is a terrific way to start moving towards your weight loss goals.
Your eyes will perceive a full plate of food and your brain will interpret the full plate as a filling meal.
You will feel full and satisfied from smaller portions.
The amount of calories that Americans consume has risen in the past thirty years, as has our weight.
Coupled with our general dependence on automobiles and our generally pedestrian unfriendly suburbs, our city planners and society have encouraged weight gain.
Restaurant portions have grown by a significant percentage, too.
Smaller plates can help you to fight back! When eating out, ask for the lunch menu, even at dinner time.
Or order appetizers, or a sampler plate.
Attractive food invites our other, more primitive, senses to participate in helping you to be sated sooner.
Food that smells good and is warm and inviting, comforting, helps us to concentrate on the plate before us.
Good tasting food helps us to be aware of chewing our food and slowing down to savor the taste of it.
What we eat is one of the most important components of eating properly.
Research originated at the University of Toronto brought the concept of the Glycemic Index to assist diabetics in managing their disease and, recently, it has been accepted as a significant aid in helping dieters to lose weight in a healthful and safe manner.
It measures how quickly a carbohydrate is digested and releases glucose to our bloodstream.
High GI foods are digested quickly while low GI foods are digested slowly.
Coupled with the Glycemic Load index, which measures the impact of the amount of food eaten, you now have an accurate, predictable way to follow how to change the food you eat to healthier, more helpful choices that will still satisfy you.
(For a complete explanation of the history and science of the Glycemic Index, including references, contact me at the email listed at the end of this article) Following a glycemic index based diet is not complex.
Simply substituting foods that are low to intermediate on the GI scale for high GI scale foods can have a significant impact on your health and food consumption, helping you to healthy weight loss.
There is more help for you to achieve your healthy weight loss goals than you realize.
By taking simple but powerful steps to a moderate and healthy diet, by following your taste buds, nose and eyes, you can avoid expensive diet plans, packaged diet foods and dangerous medical procedures to lose the weight that is preventing you from the healthy and active life that you desire.
And, remember that exercising does not have to mean expensive gym memberships, it can be a simple walk with your spouse, dog or a friend.
A pedometer, which measures the number of steps taken, is an inexpensive and accurate way to measure your exercise level.
Set a goal of reaching 10,000 steps a day within a reasonable time frame for you and you will be well on your way to a healthier you at your healthy weight range.
