There are so many ways we can lose weight—include these and watch the weight drop off !
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Rise and eat
If you think skipping breakfast will help you lose weight, you are sadly mistaken. Missing breakfast tricks the body into thinking you’re about to starve and you’ll actually end up eating more as the day progresses. Try to eat within one hour of waking for best results, but do make sure you have a properly balanced breakfast, as this will enhance weight loss. The healthiest choices contain a balance of healthy fat, protein, and some greenery such as asparagus or wilted spinach, and eggs with tomato and mushrooms.
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Eat “close to the ground”
If the food you want to eat wasn’t grown, picked or harvested, don’t eat it. That means avoiding sweets and baked goods which are refined carbohydrates. Choose instead real food like brown rice, sweet potatoes, or an apple. And while you’re at it, never eat a carbohydrate alone. Simply adding a bit of good fat, such as olive oil and protein with fat on will slow digestion, steady blood sugar, and keep the body from storing fat.
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Have a drink
Even if all you do is drink more water it’s likely you’ll lose some weight. The body needs to be fully hydrated in order to maintain a healthy metabolism. Try drinking 30 ml of water per kg of body weight a day, and watch what happens.
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Don’t graze all day
Eating more frequently appears to burn more calories, but it’s not strictly true—you keep your blood sugar and insulin constantly raised. So, to turn your body into a fat-burning machine, eat 2-3 meals a day only, no snacking in between meals. Each meal should consist of animal protein, good fats (eat the fat on the chop and the skin on the chicken), and green leafy veggies. For example a piece of organic chicken and a big salad with homemade salad dressing, some cheese and/or some berries is filling and nutritious.
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Freshen up
When you go shopping, don’t buy things which will cause weight gain—dump the junk and fill your trolley with health-giving fresh food. Try to avoid the boxes, the pre-packs, the processed food, tins, etc—stick with fresh, juicy foods and fresh meats. Fill your refrigerator with live, fresh food only—leave the dead food on the shelves. Anything which will go off in more than a week would not be fresh food. Yes, it’s more work, but if you are keen to lose weight, you’ll find the time.
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Move it
You’ve heard muscle weighs more than fat, but did you know muscle burns more calories? Weight training causes the body to burn more calories throughout the day, and when combined with regular aerobic exercise, the body will be better toned and burn more stored fat.
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Live a little
You know what they say about all work and no play—that goes for weight loss too. Giving up all the foods you love may sabotage your efforts. Allow yourself a little reward or treat once a week (choose the “reward” carefully though) and you won’t feel deprived.
Sally-Ann is a qualified Integrative Functional Nutritional Therapist. Her best-selling book Let Food Be Your Medicine is about to undergo it’s 4th expanded updated edition. She has also co-written the best-selling The Real Meal Revolution with Prof. Tim Noakes, awarded the People’s Choice Book of the Year 2014, and received the 2009/2010 Award for South Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business & Government for her contribution to health.
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