If only you had a nickel for every weight loss tip you found online, heard from a friend or read in a magazine. From “skip breakfast” to “go carb-free”, the tips are easy to come by, but the results are not.
While weight loss tips and guidelines that are scientifically proven by reliable institutions might or might not produce the same results for you, by learning more about them, you will soon develop your own direction for your weight loss program; one based more on fact than trend.
1. Eat Fat
Or at least don’t try to avoid it at all costs. A study completed by Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, showed that, in people given one of two weight-loss diets, one low in fat and one higher in monounsaturated fat, those with the higher-fat diets stayed on the diet longer and maintained their weight loss longer.
2. Slow Down at Meal Time
A University of Rhode Island study showed that, of two groups of women who were fed large plates of pasta, the group who were instructed to eat slowly consumed significantly fewer calories than those who were told to eat quickly.
3. Drink to Your Health
Harvard researchers studied 6,000 people and discovered that drinking just a single sugary soft drink a day, regular or diet, increased their obesity risk by 31%. How does drinking a diet soft drink affect your obesity rate as a regular high-sugar drink? Researchers believe that the absence of calories in the diet drinks makes your body think it will get fed. When no calories show up, your body signals that you are hungry and you eat more.
4. Write it Down
The National Weight Control Registry in the U.S. says that keeping a written record of your eating habits, the triggers that make you want to eat, and your physical activity, is one of the most powerful tools for successful dieters.
5. Stop Skipping
The science on this one is still being written. While you’ll find far more studies that show skipping a meal, especially breakfast, causes a number of health problems, including increased difficulty in losing weight, there are studies that show skipping a meal has little or no effect on weight loss.
But forget science. Think about it the idea of not eating breakfast. Even if skipping a meal was a good idea, does it make sense to skip the first meal you have after going all night without any food?
But perhaps the best tip of all isn’t scientific. Even scientific research isn’t right all the time. Why? Because everyone is different. If we ever saw a study that shows “80% of people lose weight doing a certain activity”, we would all think we’ve found the magic weight loss pill and that we could all lose weight if we did the same thing.
But that activity didn’t work for 20% of the people in the study.
We are all different and you need expert weight loss advice that is specific to your body type, lifestyle and weight loss goals. Visit your local Herbal One Centre today and talk to a nutritional counsellor who will help you start a weight management program designed just for you.
Sources:
http://www.besthealthmag.ca/best-eats/swap-and-drop/6-proven-weight-loss-strategies#jGu52ilaYrIeX4xP.97
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=56398#
http://www.alternet.org/story/152486/there_is_no_biological_reason_to_eat_three_meals_a_day_–_so_why_do_we_do_it