September 24, 2018

*-- Habits to Cut to Help With Weight Loss --*

As someone who struggles with her weight, I've been researching things that I can do to naturally help lose weight other than walking and going to the gym. Sometimes working out alone is just not enough. Here are some major factors that inhibit weight loss.

Stress: Stress affects your metabolism and not in a good way! Too much stress will provoke your body and mind to crave food, which will cause you to eat more. Most people also deal with stress by eating, so that doesn't help. If you can find another way to relieve stress, it will help relieve the cravings!

Skipping Meals: Whether done on purpose, or by accident, skipping meals is a bad idea! People believe if they eat less during the day they will lose weight, but that isn't true. If you're only eating one big meal a day, your body will try to store all the nutrients and fats from that one meal. Also, if you skip breakfast completely, it will actually cause you to eat more during the day. Try to eat 5 smaller meals throughout the day and don't eat after 8 o'clock.

Eating Too Fast: It can take your body around 30 minutes after eating food to realize it is full. The rule used to be to chew 30-40 times per forkful before swallowing. This is because it would allow you stomach time to process so that you wouldn't over eat. Try sticking to this rule!

Not Enough Sleep: When you don't get enough sleep, you're doing more than depriving your body of rest. It can cause a hormone imbalance as well. Specifically in the hormone Leptin (this tells your body when you are full) and the hormone Ghrelin (this tells your body when you are hungry). By not sleeping enough, you're usually up late, which can also contribute to late night eating. Try to get at least 7 hours to ensure the proper balance in hormones!

Caffeine: Caffeine increases the stress hormone. This hormone, Cortisol, can make you crave foods high in sugar and fat. If you can kick the caffeine habit and replace it with some exercise, you will see improved results. A good work out in the morning can leave your body feeling awake and rejuvenated, much like coffee if you do it right!

Processed Foods: Processed Foods have high contents of food and sugar, which can hinder weight loss. Cookies, chips, frozen foods, cakes, etc. all contribute to weight gain. *I took out all processed foods and started making our food all from scratch. Pizza, lasagna, casseroles, crock pot meals, deserts, etc. Not only did it help us start to slim down, but we found we were also spending less money on food because the ingredients we were buying we were able to use for multiple meals!*

Water: People tend to drink beverages that are not healthy for them instead of water. Drinking 2 liters of water a day speeds up your metabolism and leaves less room in your stomach for food. Drinking water also reduces headaches, reduces the risk of heart attack, and detoxifies your body!

Wine: Swap your bedtime snack with a glass of one. Wine does still have calories, but the average calories for red wine is 135 calories and for white wine is 120 calories. There is no fat content in the wine. Most people snack on food such as these below and listed with it are the calorie and fat content for one serving size of each.

By changing these habits your body should adjust and start shedding some weight, or at least not allow any more weight to be put on. For best results though, make sure to do some mild exercises as well during the week!

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