Diets that Help You Slim Down Effortlessly
When we think about carrying out a diet regimen, we automatically think that it will be awful, that we will be hungry the entire time and that we will continuously be in a terrible mood.
But, you can slim down without having to suffer. How? We will tell you in this article.
Is it possible to slim down without having to suffer?
Going on a diet is not synonymous with suffering. This is an idea that we have wrongly been taught and that has stayed around generation to generation.
The good news is that we can lose weight without having to go hungry, without having to fear the “rebound effect” and without being depressed, in a bad mood or angry.
Pay attention to these tips for an ideal diet:
1. Say goodbye to metabolism “killing” foods
We can divide the foods that do not benefit our bodies, but instead hurt us, into three groups: processed sugars, processed flours, oils.
How many of your foods are included in this list? Surely, the majority of them.
One of the problems that they cause is bloating. Because of that, one of the reasons that you cannot lose weight is because of the starches and fats that are accumulating in your tissues.
2. Don’t go on a diet
Although it may seem strange, the best diet for weight loss without suffering is actually…not dieting!
This is because, for many people, counting calories and looking at food packages, as well as watching the scale, turns into an obsession.
Continuously thinking about your weight and about the foods that are “allowed and not allowed” is not good for our physical or mental health.
Because of that, it is better to not diet. Especially when it comes to those diets that promise miracle weight loss in just a few weeks.
3. Eat a good breakfast
The base of a healthy diet comes from providing your body with what it needs. So, eating a healthy breakfast is fundamental for many reasons.
First, because it provides your body with the necessary nutrients to make it through a long work day (remember that you have been asleep for many hours and that you have not eaten in that amount of time).
Also, a complete breakfast helps you to avoid cravings throughout the day and to keep you from being super hungry at lunch time. It also allows you to have energy for exercise and be more productive, etc.
Prolonged fasting causes fat storage because the body is not receiving food, so it goes into “storage” mode.
Try to include the following food groups in your breakfast: fruits, vegetables, dairy, grains…nothing fried, sugary or pastry-like.
4. Don’t weigh yourself all of the time
The body fluctuates in weight according to different factors.
- For example, weighing yourself in the morning before breakfast is not the same as weighing yourself at night after having eaten various meals throughout the day.
- You will also get different results if you weigh yourself before exercising in comparison to after you are done training.
- Your weight can even change depending on whether or not you have gone to the bathroom, how much water you have drank, and if a woman is menstruating.
The healthiest thing to do is weigh yourself each month and try to do so under the same conditions (for example, always after eating breakfast and before exercising).
5. Eat more often (but less food)
One of the main problems with “magic diets” is that they greatly reduce our food intake. This is not good because our body needs different nutrients.
It is not recommendable that you only eat yogurt for lunch, or that your dinner is just a bowl of soup. A good way to slim down without having to suffer is to eat more often, but in a smart way.
What does that mean? Basically, it means that instead of eating 4 copious meals, you can have 6 smaller ones. And, it is the same amount of food divided into more meals.
It is a good idea to eat every 3 or 4 hours. That way, you will feel less hungry at lunch or dinner, your body will have more continuous energy and your stomach will burn fats when it is working to digest your foods.
6. Chew your food well
This is another trick that can help you lose weight without having to suffer with “miracle” diets.
- When we eat slowly, we ingest less food. That is because, when our brain receives the signal from our stomach that we are full, it is usually too late.
- Chewing each bite 30 times will also help because your digestive system will get the food more processed.
- Something that may also help your goal is using smaller plates. That way, you will give yourself smaller portions.
7. Don’t deprive yourself of the foods that you like
You can always enjoy ice cream, a piece of cake or a hamburger, when you do so in moderation. Eat one of your favorite foods once a week and don’t be afraid of “cheating” on your diet.
The great thing about this allowance is that it will help you avoid anxiety and cravings. Also, it will help the next time that you are faced with a plate of food that you love, and you will not feel the need to devour it in a matter of seconds.
8. Eat more protein
This nutrient has many benefits for our body and it helps us slim down without suffering.
At every meal, try to include proteins accompanied with fruits and vegetables in order to feel full and energized. Proteins contain few calories, slow down digestion and are healthy.
9. Don’t be distracted while you eat
Turn off the TV, put your phone down, and stop reading that book that you love while you are eating. If you are doing something else while you eat, you will consume more foods, and they will be worse quality.
Also, you do not chew your foods as well as you should and your brain will take longer to receive the message from your stomach that it is full since it is focusing on something else.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Hannou SA., Haslam DE., McKeown NM., Herman MA., Fructose metabolism and metabolic disease. J Clin Invest, 2018. 128 (2): 545-555.
- Brikou, D., Zannidi, D., Karfopoulou, E., Anastasiou, C. A., & Yannakoulia, M. (2016). Breakfast consumption and weight-loss maintenance: Results from the MedWeight study. British Journal of Nutrition.
- Jager R., Kerksick CM., Campbell BI., Cribb PJ., et al., International society of sports nutrition position stand: protein and exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2017.
