Reconstruct your mindset, go ahead towards fitness instead of making weight loss a goal because you may overlook things after accomplishing the goal and trapped in the vicious circle of weight loss and weight gain. Hence, turning your head in the right direction is necessary to make it a journey of life.
Nowadays, most people seeking advice for weight loss. They are just entangled in the worldly suggestions begin from “WHAT TO DO” and terminates at WHAT NOT TO DO”.
We are searching for the solution to the problem via multivariate sources but we neglect the origin of a problem from where it begins. So, the problem is with the lifestyle we are living because during modernization our livelihood is affected immensely.
We switched from physically active person to physically inactive folk, disrupted eating pattern, devouring more processed food, late-night working or disturbed circadian rhythm, and many more in a row.
Few critical points that you should keep in mind before following any weight loss plan:
1. Dietary Regime to Follow
If you are thinking about a diet like which diet is best for weight loss then you must follow either the Mediterranean diet (MD) or The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet.
These are well-studied and well-researched diets for weight maintenance.
The DASH diet is more focused on eating vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, low-fat dairy products, and lower in saturated fat, total fat, cholesterol, sugary products, refined grains (maida), and sodium. ( Azadbakht et al, 2011)
There are many studies which show that DASH eating pattern tends to have a beneficial effect on Type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and increase good (HDL) cholesterol. Alongside, may help in reducing weight and waist circumference significantly. (Azadbakht et al, 2011; Champagne et al, 2011)
Similar to the DASH diet, the Mediterranean diet also high in whole grain cereals, legumes, pulses, nuts, fruits & vegetables, olive oil as a chief source of fat, dairy products mainly, cheese & yogurt, and consuming fish and poultry in moderation quantity, consumption of 0-4 eggs weekly, low intake of red meat, and lower to moderate intake of wine usually along with meals. (Bach-Faig et al, 2011)
The diet is normally associated with low intake of saturated fat, high intake of monounsaturated fatty acids, proffer fiber, glutathione, antioxidants, and other essential phytochemicals in plentiful quantity.
Moreover, long term adherence to this diet has been correlated to lower the possibility of death due to cardiovascular diseases and coronary heart diseases, obesity, type-2 diabetes, and other metabolic syndromes.
Besides, compliance to a low-calorie Mediterranean diet accompanied with exercise at least for 6 months could be used as a powerful tool to lose bodyweight (Esposito et al, 2010)
2. Keeps Your Body Hydrated Before the Meal
Studies have shown that gulping water before meals may fill your stomach with a zero-calorie substance which consequently increases the satiety value and helps you in eating a less calorie-containing meal.
Alongside, drinking water instead of sugar-sweetened beverages might also aid you to reduce weight. (Greiner, 2010)
Likewise, research on a middle-aged and older adult has manifested that a hypocaloric diet (a diet low in calories) accompanied with drinking 500 ml water 30 minutes before each meal promotes more weight loss than a low-calorie diet alone. This weight reduction may be due to a decrease in meal energy intake. (Dennis et al, 2010)
Aside, an increase in consumption of water along with a low-calorie diet is the best, simple, inexpensive, and more popular strategy in weight loss program which is practiced widely and it improves the hydration status too.
Consuming 500 ml of water upraise the metabolism by 30% which begins within 10 min. and attained maximum after 30-40 min.
Therefore, consuming 2 liters of water per day might instigate the energy expenditure due to the thermogenic effect of water (Boschmann et al, 2003).
3. Don’t Fill Your Basket With HFSS Food
What is HFSS food?
Food high in fat, salt, and sugar, whenever, you go grocery shopping always try not to pick processed food or foods prepared from refined flour like bread, cakes, biscuits, fried chips, and other various sugary products.
Even, you shouldn’t go for brown bread because it is also made of refined flour in which caramel is added just to give a brown color to it.
Restrict the consumption of all types of sugars whether it is brown sugar because all sugars provide the same quantity of calories i.e. 4 kcal.
4. Follow Daily Detox Regimen
Kick start your morning by chugging any of the detox drink that helps you in cleansing your body by removing toxins from the body.
Some of the detox drink you can easily be made at home in this hustle-bustle lifestyle are Lemon & Mint Water, Cinnamon Water, Ashwagandha Water, Apple Cider Vinegar, Fenugreek Water, Jeera Water, Aloe Vera, etc.
Try adding some of the best refreshing water for weight loss.
5. Know Your Food
Educate yourself is the principal step in leading a healthy and disease-free life.
It is mandatory to read the food label thoroughly as it describes your food’s nutritional value and tells you about whether the food you want to buy is healthy or not.
Always look at the calories, proteins, sugar, and fat content that specific food is providing. Many time, the food you think are healthy are not at all nutritious like high fiber biscuits, which may contain more fat than a plain marigold biscuit.
Sometimes, packaged juices contained additional sugars which ultimately increase your calorie intake. Hence, it is requisite to know it before you buy it.
6. Grab A Bowl of Sprouted Food
Eating a bowl of sprouted pulses or legumes helps in increasing the fiber content of your daily diet.
It is the best and delicious low-calorie and high protein food that can be eaten raw or in cooked form. Even, you can indulge it in your salad that will upraise the overall nutritional value of the snack.
Sprouting elevates the soluble dietary fiber content three times while decreasing the insoluble fiber content by about 50% hence, helpful in improving digestion, and alleviates constipation. (Koehler et al, 2007; Yang et al, 2012)
A list of sprouts that you can incorporate into your daily regime is Brussels sprouts, mung bean sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, soybean sprouts, cowpea sprouts, and lentil sprouts.
7. Indulge Dietary Fiber to Your Daily Plan
Shreds of evidence from various studies also reflect that meals high in fiber, fill your stomach and increases the gastric emptying time which ultimately controls hunger pangs and reduces binge eating behavior. (Fuhrman et al, 2010; Clark & Slavin, 2013)
If you are looking for fiber supplementation then, guar fiber is the best natural dietary fiber that can be easily integrated into daily food.
It contains more than 85% dietary fiber and helps in controlling appetite by slowing down the colonic transit time of digested food, stimulate the satiety hormone cholecystokinin (CCK) which consequently increases the post-meal satiation impact.
Taking 2g/serving of guar fiber on regular basis provide satiation effect after meal thereby, reduces the calorie intake in-between meal by approximately 20% in normal people.
Further, consumption of guar fiber at a level >5g alone or in combination with protein (2.6g guar fiber +8g protein/serving) reflects short term satiety control. (Rao, 2016)
So, there are innumerable food options are available in the supermarket through which you can improve the daily fiber content of your meal plan. Like by adding fruits, veggies, whole grains, ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, oats, muesli, etc.
Regular consumption of oatmeal found to be effective in improving appetite control which in turn provides fullness satisfaction. This effect of oat may be due to its β-glucan content. (Rebello et al, 2013)
8. Include Healthy Fats on Your Plate
Use healthy fats for cooking would provide additional benefits to your weight loss journey.
Consuming food abundant in omega-3 fatty acids such as green-leafy vegetables, fish, fish-oil supplements, other seafood, flaxseeds, nuts, and sesame seeds may reduce the risk of obesity, and other associated metabolic disorders mainly, cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, type-2 diabetes, etc.
The WHO has already recommended the intake of 200-500 mg of omega-3 fatty acids either in eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid form (EPA and DHA respectively) at least 1 to 2 times per week is essential to maintain cardiovascular health. (Sara & Nicholas, 2012)
Further, a diet high in MUFA like olive oil, soy oil could have the potential to reduce body weight, body fat mass, waist circumference, and body mass index thus it assists weight loss in obese women. (Kaippert et al, 2015)
The fish oil supplementation (3g/day for 20 weeks) in combination with lifestyle modification program reduces the waist circumference by 1.3% along with the decrease in blood pressure by 33% and triacylglycerol by 27.3% which consequently reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome by 29%. (de Camargo Talon et. al, 2015)
9. Practice Yoga For A Stress-Free Life
Yoga is an alternative therapy for weight loss that involves physical poses, focused on breath, and connects body and mind.
Evidence shows that individuals who practice yoga perceive less stress, binge eating, decreased appetite, reduced cravings, and inclined towards healthier and mindful eating (Ross et al, 2016).
If you have an eating disorder or you ate more in stress condition, then, yoga practice is found to be beneficial to counter stress-related eating behaviors.
Binge eating during stress condition is related to the release of cortisol hormone which increased the intake of high fat and high sugary products.
Studies have revealed that yoga reduces stress-related eating via downregulation of HPA axis response to stress. (Schiffman et al, 2000)
Further, yoga practice improves adherence to the healthy eating pattern and shifted towards more mindful eating.
10. Supplements You Can Go For
If you are looking for some adjuvant therapy for weight loss then you can take alpha-lipoic acid supplements, L-carnitine, black coffee, whey protein isolate, and many others.
Even there are thousands of supplements are available over the counter. However, how much they are effective and their safety are some critical points you should consider before you buy any supplements.
Results of various studies signify that alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) supplementation alone or in combination with eicosapentaenoic acid promotes significant loss in body weight and fat in healthy overweight or obese person following a low-calorie diet (Oregon State University, 2020; Kucukgoncu et al, 2017)
Now, another one in a row is L-carnitine supplements which are available over the counter and popular among the overweight or obese population.
Yes, research has indicated that this supplement is found to help achieve weight loss in overweight or obese individuals.
As well as it was seen that L-carnitine intake before training support athletes to maintain optimal body weight and accelerate the oxidation of fat while performing exercise by stimulating the fat metabolism thus promote the reduction in fat mass (Ahmet et al, 2018).
11. Track Your Dietary Behaviors
Dietary tracking is the “gold standard” that will help you in achieving your weight loss plan and keeps you on right track.
You can track it either by mobile phone app or by writing it down using pen & paper or memo.
Surprisingly, studies have also shown that persistent tracking is a more safe and sustainable approach to upgrade continual weight loss victory while inconsistent tracking did not offer weight loss. (Wharton et al, 2014)
So, people who awake less at night, taking good sleep, stay physically active after weight loss, consume less sugar-containing beverages, eating fewer calories from protein, and getting emotional support are some of the factors that help in maintaining the weight loss for a longer period compared to people who regain their weight after some time (Soeliman et al, 2014).
Moreover, it will keep you motivated and encourage you towards healthy food choices.
12. Go for Black Coffee
Studies have revealed that the caffeine component in coffee could perhaps boost metabolism by 3-11% thereby, encourage fat burning by approximately 10-29% (Dulloo et al, 1989; Bracco et al, 1995).
Consuming 4 cups of black coffee daily could possibly decrease the body weight by 4% as per a recent study held in Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers.
Additionally, consuming black coffee before a workout could boost your workout intensity too.
13. Get for An Aerobic Workout Plan
Aerobic exercise would help you in burning more calories, improving stamina, endurance, and mental health.
Evidence suggested that aerobic workout plans possibly reduce the visceral adipose tissue thus may help in decreasing visceral obesity i.e. fat accumulated around your organs and cause metabolic disorders (Ismail et al, 2012)
14. What “Not to Drink” to What “to Drink”
Try to refrain from sugar-sweetened beverages as much as possible. Instead gave yourself a chance to switch to these healthy soda replacing drinks.
An array of reviews have been exemplified that consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is directly related to overweight, obesity in children and adults as it increases the overall calorie intake (Keller et al, 2015).
While you can drink plain water, plain brewed coffee, black tea infused with herbs, or other different teas.
Regular consumption of green tea offers weight loss and weight management but slightly not very significant this would be due to a mixture of Catechins or epigallocatechin gallate (Hursel et al, 2009).
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