Wednesday 10 August 2011

HOW TO EAT YOURSELF THIN


Some of us who are trying to lose weight, have certain unanswered questions. Am I genetically prone to be fat? What is the secret of staying thin...how do those thin people eat and don't put on weight?. Will I ever lose weight? I have lost some weight, but how come I am stuck, I don't seem to be able to lose anymore, though I am dieting....

Let me share with you some vital 'secrets' or 'revelations'. When you understand, what exactly is is happening, you can follow some simple solutions and ground rules to eat yourself thin.

30% of being thin is genetic. Rest is environment, food choices your make, your eating habits and mindset. If you are raised playing sports, eating healthy and unprocessed foods, in all probability you would follow the same heathly lifestyle even as an adult. On the contrary, if you grew up eating lots of high calorie foods, whenever you wanted, binged a lot, and was rewarded with food and sweets, you would follow the same unhealthy choices as an adult, you would have got 'addicted' to the sweets, chocolates, high calorie foods, and fast foods. Though eating has always been an inseparable part of entertainment (there is always food at parties, events, functions), it should not be seen as the ultimate entertaining activity, where you fill your plate and try to consume more food than your body requires.

Thin people don't use hunger as an excuse to eat unhealthy or consume large portions of food. If you eat too fast, your brain will not recognize that you are full and you end up consuming more food than you really need. This happens especially when you missed a meal, or are famished. You would tend to eat fast due to hunger and end up eating more. Our brain takes 15 to  20 minutes to signal to us that we are full. So eat slow, chew well and relish your food. Try not to miss your meals. Keep a fruit or low calorie snack in your bag or briefcase, or a small salad in an airtight container, so you can have that in case you feel you might miss your meal. If you are out at the Mall, there is no rule that you must eat out if it isnt breakfast, lunch or dinner time. And if do chose to eat out, it's not a difficult decision to eat a low calorie meal or salad. Most restaurants at the Mall food courts have low calorie meals.

I have personally observed the choices and lifestyles of  thin people around me. They binge less, eat less, they want to remain thin, they are concious of what and how much they eat, they have better self restraint, they weigh themselves every week. They will work on losing any additional weight they put on. They secretly ask themselves, 'if I eat this, will I put on weight?' How do I know this...well, a lot of thin people look at certain kinds of food and say, 'No, I don't want this...this will make me fat or this will make me put on weight.' Food is not an entertaining or comforting activity for them. They have healthier ways to keep themselves occupied and happy. Life is all about learning...we can learn from all these positive and wise choices and make concious efforts and who cannot lose weight?

Oh...if you reached a plateau after a certain amount of weight loss, cut down on some more calories (if possible) and increase your exercise and physical activity, you might have to put in more effort towards the end of your weight loss journey. Be willing to do that. If your friend or neighbour or relative lost a certain amount of weight, say 20 pounds in 3 months but you have been dieting and exercising and lost only 10 pounds in 3 months, don't be disheartened or give up. Different people take different amount of time to lose weight as no two people's metabolic rate is same, nor do they  eat the same amount of food or go through the same physical activity. Your weight loss journey is unique. If you keep some of these simple, yet highly effective techniques in mind, you can actually eat yourself thin!

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