Have you ever been told that if you raised your self-esteem, you would lose weight? The idea of a fat person having low self-esteem is a myth. Every psychological test given to overweight people indicates that if you are fat you are as mentally healthy, or unhealthy, as anyone in the general population.
There is nothing about overeating that is associated with poor emotional health. In fact, it is possible that obese people are emotionally stronger than slim people. Obesity is not a psychological disorder. Obesity is not an eating disorder. Fat people have a genetic predisposition to gain weight. If they wish to conform to ideal of slimness and if they want to maintain good health, they must counteract their inborn biological impulses through behavioral changes.
Our genes may give us the capacity and tendency to eat much and gain much, but it is our environment our habits Β that permit the tendency to flourish. Its the gene that opens your mouth that is responsible for overeating.
Any healthful diet program will work if you follow it. The challenge is building the new patterns into your life. Accomplishing permanent weight loss, is easier to achieve when you simply follow a series of small steps and don’t think about the big picture.
Adding some new habits to your daily routine, habits that absolutely facilitate weight loss, help you reach your goal quickly and easily.
Here are some scientific weight loss facts:
FACT 1: What You See Is What You Eat
Portion size determines calorie intake. If its on your plate, you will eat it. So take small portions.
FACT 2: Don’t Trust Your Stomach
Choose your portion size by measuring it or weighing it. Dont wait until you feel full to stop eating.
FACT 3: Taste May Not Matter
Portion size determines how much is eaten, whether or not the food tastes good. You will eat whatever is in front of you. Dont tempt yourself.
FACT 4: Restaurant Portions Are Gargantuan
When you wish to eat a particular food, it is assumed you are eating one serving of that food. Most restaurants serve portions that really are for 3 or 4 people. When we see huge portions so often, they start to look normal. In restaurants, if possible, ask for half the food to be wrapped to take home before it is served to you.
FACT 5: Writing Can Help You Eat Less
Dieters who record everything they eat tend to eat less than dieters who dont write down their foods. Pausing to find paper and pencil sometimes actually gets you to think
twice and ask yourself, Am I really hungry?Β And seeing in black and white precisely what youve put into your mouth can be so shocking that some dieters simply stop over-eating so they can stop writing. So walk around with pencil, paper, and a calorie book. Record whatever you eat and tally your calories before you go to bed each night.
FACT 6: Losing a Little Makes a Big Difference
Most of the symptoms and complications related to being overweight will disappear when you lose just a little bit of weight. Losing even 5% or 10% of your current weight will affect your health.
Dont intimidate yourself by thinking you have a huge amount of weight to lose. Instead, think of losing 8-10 pounds at a time. Just that small amount of weight lost is enough to make you feel much, much better.
Break up your weight-loss goals into small manageable units of pounds to be lost. Concentrate on losing one unit at a time.
FACT 7: Low-Fat Labels Can Be Misleading
You’ve seen those low-fat labels on many food boxes. When you examine the box of cookies or the package of muffins with that label, please look closely. Check the calories and check the sugar content.
Processed food is usually made tasty by adding sugars and fats. If there’s low or no fat, then the sugar is increased. Reducing dietary fat alone, without reducing calories, will not result in weight loss. The Nutrition Facts panel on your food is important. You should check it before you purchase or eat a particular food.
FACT 8: Eating Breakfast Helps You Lose Weight and Keep It Off
It seems that a common characteristic of people who can maintain their weight loss is that they do not skip breakfast. Be certain to sit down to a meal every morning.
FACT 9: Watching TV Adds to Your Weight
People get so absorbed with the TV programs that they give up exercise. This increased sedentary lifestyle can add up the pounds. Stay away from the TV.
FACT 10: Eating Out May Be Dangerous
The highest risks of obesity were those who ate the most meals away from home. Breakfasts and dinners eaten away from home were significantly higher in total calories, percentage of calories from total fat, and percentage of calories from saturated fat.
Meanwhile, they were lower in their percentage of calories from protein, carbohydrate, and fiber. Eat at home as often as you can.
FACT 11: The Scale Is Your Friend
If you are watching your weight, weigh or measure yourself regularly. You cant fool the scale or the tape measure. Buy a scale or a tape measure. Use it every morning.
FACT 12: Walk and Walk and Walk Some More
To put more walking into your daily routine, consider parking your car as far from the entrance of your destination as possible. If you use public transportation, get off a stop earlier than your usual stop and walk the rest of the way. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, and whenever you have a few spare moments walk around the neighborhood.Β Look for opportunities to add walking to your life.
FACT 13: Eating Slowly Makes You Feel Full
Chew your food well and eat slowly.
FACT 14: Bore Yourself and Lose Weight
If you eat the same menu every day, you will eat less and food will play a lesser role in your life. Create a balanced, nutritious meal plan and eat the same everyday. Stick to a boring menu. Eliminate choices, and stay away from buffets.
FACT 15: Your Friends Can Make You Fat
People can always make room for more food and they do, especially when they’re sitting around a comfortable table enjoying a conversation with friends.
If you eat alone, you tend to eat one third less than when you dine with others. And, if eating with a large group, diners tend to eat twice as much as they normally eat.
Eat alone when possible. Limit your social eating to a few friends. Meet with larger groups of friends while walking, or in a non-food environment.
FACT 16: Fool Yourself with Portions
Serve yourself dinner on a salad-sized plate. Use smaller sized spoons, too. Your portions will look larger and you will eat less.
FACT 17: Treat Your Kids (and Yourself) to Healthful Foods
To achieve healthy nutrition the focus must be on the entire family, you cannot realistically follow a weight watcher plan without the involvement of your famili. If you have kids, limit their fatty foods. Buy food that is good for you Β it’ll be good for them, too.
FACT 18: Exercising for the Fun of It Will Keep You Active
People who exercise regularly and dont stop after a few weeks or a few months are women who are not thinking exclusively about exercising to lose weight. They are thinking that exercise makes them feel good often cheers them up and makes them smile. They actually have fun. They appreciated the stress relief and the strength they acquired. Their body shape and the calories they consumed were not their primary motivations.
Come up with another reason to exercise, besides losing weight. Find a sport or activity that you love to do.
FACT 19: Forbidden Foods Will Call Out to You
Keep healthy foods accessible and visible. Dont buy and store unhealthy foods in your home or office, because you may eat more than you intend to.
FACT 20: Sleeping More Helps You Eat Less
The hormone leptin, which is produced by fat cells and passes through the circulatory system to the brain. Leptin signals the brain and lets it know when food has filled the body. Thus, leptin is an appetite suppressant. Leptin also has some effect on body temperature, so it actually increases the amount of calories burned.
When do humans produce leptin? During sleep and not just the moment we fall asleep, but only after about 6 or seven hours of sleep. If you are sleep deprived, your supply of leptin may be reduced and you will feel hungry and eat more.
Get at least seven hours of sleep every night to reduce what you eat.
