1. I’m not eating enough. I usually skipped breakfast, and if I had time then I ate lunch. I always ate dinner since I was cooking it and enjoying it with my family. Between breakfast and lunch, I would snack. The nutritionist put me on a strict schedule to eat every three hours starting at 7 AM. Ugh, it was painful, but I was ready to do just about anything to get my metabolism back on track. I definitely had to change my snack choices. I’m still trying to learn the art of healthy snacking so that my blood-sugar doesn’t spike. It prevents hunger pangs, cravings, and body fat storage. The balance of protein, fiber, and healthy fats is sure to keep me satisfied between meals.
2. I eat 5 small meals a day. “When men ate parts of their morning meal at hourly intervals, they consumed almost 30 percent fewer calories at lunch than when they ate the same amount of food at one time. Other studies show that despite eating the same number of calories distributed this way, your body releases less insulin, which keeps blood sugar steady and helps reduce hunger,” according to Best Health Mag. As I mentioned above, I apparently wasn’t eating enough, therefore disrupting my metabolism by skipping meals. Eating five smaller, healthier meals: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner is better.
3. I’m learning about good and bad oils. Vegetable oil is not good for you. It turns into unwanted trans fat. Best oils are coconut oil, red palm oil, olive oil and butter (not margarine). This article here is helpful if you want to do more reading on “good for you” oils to cook with.
4. For some reason, I missed this along the way: Carbohydrates turn into sugar no matter how low in fat they are. I found this extremely fascinating: “Healthy eating hampers your attempts because a carbohydrate-based diet prevents you from losing excess fat. To lose fat, your body must use that fat as fuel. It will only use its stored fat as fuel if you deprive it of its present supply of fuel: blood glucose,” says Diabetes Health. This article also goes on to explain what your body does to carbohydrates and how it processes them.
5. Water is so very important. Drinking water helps flush out the toxins in our bodies that slow down weight loss. I’ve also read that drinking green tea will help me lose weight by speeding up your metabolism. You can read more about this here.
6. Who knew eating slow was helpful! This is another tip I’ve learned along the way. When you eat too fast, by the time your body sends signals that it is full, you’ve overeaten. Eating slowly is a good weight-loss strategy.
7. Drink lemon water. I discovered this when I had a child who was constipated and decided to look into why it instantly worked for him. According to FitDay.com, “In addition to possessing properties that are favorable to weight loss, drinking lemon water also ensures that some of the toxins in your body are cleaned out, promotes quick bursts of energy and even cleans out some of your internal waste.”
I am not a doctor so if you’re wanting to try a diet make sure to consult your doctor. I am still on the journey. Since November I lost 10 pounds, but over the holidays I gained back 4. I was so bummed. My goal is to lose 15 more pounds and then I will re-assess at that point.