When you’re feeling completely overwhelmed knowing you have to pay more attention to what you eat, and how much you exercise, all while still keeping up with the rest of your daily responsibilities, it makes sense why you’d want to quit trying even before you start.
Here are five effective ways to lose weight by Meg Dowell that won’t leave you feeling stressed or burned out.
1. Include all five major food groups in your diet
When it comes to food, it’s a variety of food groups, and appropriate portions, that will reduce your calorie intake, not cutting out foods or eating more of one kind of food over another. Including grains, protein, fruits, vegetables and dairy in your diet means you will automatically consume more kinds of foods that have more nutritious value in them per serving, but fewer calories, such as vegetables.
2. Exercise a little bit
Reducing your calorie intake combined with exercising consistently is your key to seemingly effortless weight loss. The goal is to burn more calories than you’re putting in. If you can find a fitness activity you love, you’re one step closer to losing a few pounds. It’s better to give various activities a try until you find the ones you like doing than to avoid exercising altogether, especially when you want to lose weight.
3. Relax by doing something that doesn’t involve food
Weight loss doesn’t come easily, though, if your definition of relaxation involves mindless snacking while binge-watching FRIENDS on Netflix. Read a book or do a mindless activity that requires two hands, like folding laundry with a T.V. show playing in the background. Go for a walk around the block. Play with your cat or dog.
4. Make weight loss part of your life, not your whole life
To lose weight without hitting either wall, don’t make it your only priority. Decide what things are most important to you – work? Family? Friends? Figure out how to incorporate weight loss into each of those key areas in your life. By focusing on being your most productive at work, for example, you’ll start thinking more about what kinds of food and snacks to pack that will keep you feeling at your best.
5. Eat what you want, when you want
When you completely remove foods you enjoy from your diet, it’s much harder to introduce and experiment with new, sometimes healthier alternatives. There’s no need to stop eating one food, as long as you balance it out with another. You can still eat chocolate, as long as you make sure to have your fruits and veggies, too.With small, gradual changes over time, weight loss is possible. Try one new thing at a time and figure out what works for you.
Source : Lifehack