Five Quick and Easy Weight Loss Tips

Five Quick and Easy Weight Loss Tips: 

With thousand of weight loss tips and secrets hitting the web daily, you’d think we’d all be thin as rails. Not so, according to continuing reports that obesity is on the rise in the United States. My bookshelves contain 23 diet books, including: Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, Fat Flush, The Rice Diet, to name a few. But nutrition classes and nursing school reinforced this basic fact 3,500 calories make up a pound and losing weight requires a balance between food intake and exercise. These are five healthy, practical, and easy tips to losing weight. They may not be flashy but I promise you that they will work!

1.  Keep a Food Diary: Food accountability is critical to weight loss. If you bite it write it. Studies have shown that dieters keeping a food diary lose twice as much weight as those dieters who don’t.  A food diary causes dieters to think twice before overeating or making a poor food choice.  A food  diary will give you an idea of when you have your most challenging time of day and help you discover your trigger foods. A  food diary makes you accountable for the food and calories you consume.

2. Wear a pedometer.  Exercise is critical to weight loss and a pedometer makes you accountable for the amount you are moving daily.  Aim for 10,000 steps a day (about 5 miles) and increase as you can and when you can. You will soon find yourself parking further away in the parking lot just to get those extra steps into your pedometer. Every move counts!

3.  Portion control. Food portions have increased over the years causing portion distortion. It may not be your fault but it is your problem. Learn proper food portions. (see tag : 5 Tips on Portion Control).Don’t count on restaurants, or hostesses to portion out food properly, this is your responsibility. Learning to adhere to proper portions will led to successful weight loss.

4. Drink Green Tea …Green tea contains polyphenols and antioxidents that help in fight a variety of disease and illnesses. Studies  have shown that green tea contains thermogenic properties that increase metabolism and help burns more calories.Drink it hot or cold. Drink  3 or more cups a day to get best results.

5. Drink 8 eight ounce glasses of water daily: The majority of your body (over 70%) takes place in water. When you do not drink enough water, your body systems slow down and one of the systems that slows is your metabolism. Water flushes the by product of fat loss. Thirst is often mistaken for hunger so drinking water can reduce the amount you eat. Although it takes about 10% fluid loss to be considered dehydrated, as little as a 2% loss of fluid can cause headaches, dull critical thinking, and affect athletic performance. Drinking water is a critical weight loss tool.