It wasn’t an easy task to condense these tips down to 10 and the list is in no particular order.
The clients whom I’ve had the pleasure in seeing at my nutrition and health clinic that embraced all of these tips, reached their weight loss target.
They also had a strong believe in, and an emotional connection to their weight loss goal.
“If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it,
I know I can achieve it.”
So here goes my Top 10 Tips
Tip 1
Cut out all junk / processed, or severely limit. Why? Well processed foods have lots of chemicals which the liver needs to filter. The liver also plays a role in breaking down fat. So if its too busy filtering chemicals, then it won’t break down fat as effectively and so fat will store in your body.
Also every cell in our body is made up of food and food talks to our genes (bad genes can be turned off and good genes turned on by the foods we eat) so start with a good whole foods diet with just some treats here and there. Every day eat at least 80 to 90% of your foods as real food. That means whole foods: so, fruits, vegetables, meats, poultry, fish, good quality oils, nuts and seeds, beans, and unrefined whole grains.
Tip 2
Review your lifestyle and link it to your need for stimulants that drive down energy reserves, leading to unhealthy food and lifestyle choices. In my clinical experience, it’s the people who live demanding lifestyles and try to pack too much into one day who struggle here. They need the stimulants to keep them going (e.g. coffee, cigarettes, high sugar snacks, high energy soft drinks, alcohol, – resulting in poor sleep patterns). The more stimulants the higher our blood sugars rise, and the higher they rise the lower they drop, so more stimulants are needed. It’s like you are on a blood sugar rollercoaster and can’t get off.
Tip 3
Forget calorie counting. Once you’ve learned what foods are healthy and nutritious just focus on portion sizes. As a general rule, remember the palm trick – your protein portion should measure no more than the size of your palm. Your vegetable portion should measure the size of your whole hand. Your carbohydrate portion should measure only the area of your fingers on one hand.
TIP 4
Eat little and often
This is something many lifelong dieters find hard to do. Crash dieting, starving yourself for most of the day and yo-yo diets all have one thing in common – they slow your metabolism right down. When you do finally sit down to eat, your body, thinking it was going through a famine, stores as much of the meal as it can as fat.
Tip 5
Eat protein with every meal and snack.
Protein has amino acids, the building blocks of protein. They are needed for all our body’s cells, muscles, bones, hair, skin and even hormones. Because your muscles are, in effect, made up of protein, if you want to maintain a healthy muscle mass, boost your metabolism and encourage fat loss, you need to ensure you are getting the right amount, and types of protein foods.
Tip 6
Full fat foods are good for you
Eating the right kind of fat is vital for optimal health.
Essential fats are needed for hormones, immune function, pain and inflammation reduction, blood sugar balancing – less energy dips, healthy heart and blood vessel function. Plus nerve cells are high in fat. Lots of low fat products are high in sugar so you are back on that blood sugar rollercoaster. Good fats keep you fuller for longer so you will be less tempted to eat unhealthily. E.g. nuts and seeds, oily fish, nuts & seeds, cold pressed seed oils, avocado, olives.
Tip 7
Get organised
It takes planning to lead a healthy lifestyle. Cook dinners up in batches and freeze in single portion sizes. Prepare lunches the night before. Delegate household chores amongst the family. Keep lists, plan food for the week. Stock up on store cupboard essentials – herbs and spices essential to flavour wholesome unprocessed food.
Tip 8
Get moving. Exercise is not to be forgotten when focus is on loosing lots of body fat.
We need to exercise to burn fat, so for the average sedentary person who is 1 to 2 stone overweight exercise is key. If you are in the obese category, tendency is that your bones and joints are suffering, you may have osteoarthritis, diabetes plus numerous other health problems and so a specialised exercise and nutrition programme is needed. It’s important to find an activity that you enjoy, to boost even further those feel good hormones so you can stay motivated to keep up your new health regime!
Tip 9
Eat mindfully. Turn off the T.V., don’t eat in a rush. Pay attention to what you eat and really enjoy each bite! This also means noticing when you are almost full and laying down your fork. By eating slowly you will also support your digestive system so it can easily breakdown your food and absorb the nutrients, needed for health and vitality.
Tip 10
Recognise negative thought patterns and link to over eating – try to turn negatives to positives. If you need some extra support in this area, try Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. The Cognitive-Behavioural approach or school of thought holds that virtually all emotional and behavioural problems directly stem from confused thinking. It pays particular attention to the role that cognitions (or thoughts) play in the development and maintenance of peoples’ behavioural and emotional problems.
Client feedback
Check out some feedback on this link from star clients of mine (female, aged 38 and female age 33) whose hard work paid off. They followed these tips and were delighted to achieve their weight loss goals!
https://www.discovernutrition.ie/feedback.php
If you would like to follow my 8 weight loss programme,
that is one-to-one and personalised to you, just get in touch and I can explain what’s involved.
Caroline Seale, Nutritional Therapist BA (Hons) DipNT mNTOI
087 1266525 or 056 7780658