We’ve heard it all before; fad diets don’t work. Losing weight requires discipline and dedication; you need to exercise consistently and follow a healthy eating plan.
If the thought of sweating it out on a treadmill, meticulous meal planning and then spending a day of your weekend purchasing healthy ingredients (and then cooking a week’s worth of healthy meals) makes you want to give it all up and embrace your bulges, read on.
The following tips require little effort, can be applied to your daily routine and are not all that soul destroying.
Order plain beverages
I’m a sucker for caramel lattes. But ordering a cappuccino with froth instead of cream and forgoing the sugar will save you about 40 calories. A small and pretty effortless price to pay for a slimmer waist line.
Snack attack
Keep healthy foods close at hand for you to snack on. These should be easy to eat and things that you will enjoy. Think biltong, sugar free yoghurt, hummus with rice crackers or veggie sticks, celery dipped into peanut butter (surprisingly yum!), cheese, almonds, fruit and popcorn.
Eat dinner at breakfast
Instead of eating a heavy meal before going to sleep, fuel your body with the nutrients it needs in the morning to get you through the day. Then have a lighter evening meal.
Drink more water
Especially before a meal, this is believed to boost the metabolism and it also fills you up a bit, resulting in you eating less. Sometimes, when we feel hungry, we are in fact dehydrated. So when hunger pangs come on when they shouldn’t, have a glass of water. Squish fruit and herbs before adding to water to jazz up the taste.
Don’t eat from the bag
We are all guilty of unconsciously eating from a bag until we have discovered we have reached the bottom. Keep your portions under control by pouring sweets, chips and nuts into a ramekin or small bowl.
Combat the movie munchies
Before settling down in front of the TV, paint your nails. This will prevent you from being able to eat. Alternatively, (because painting your nails every night is unsustainable), find something to do with your hands, like knitting, if you find you cannot enjoy your down time without thinking about an unhealthy snack.
By Khurshid Guffar.