7 ways to help lose weight.

WEIGHT LOSS: SEVEN TOP TIPS

1. Slow Down

It takes about 20 minutes for your brain to receive the message from your stomach that you’ve eaten enough. By slowing down and eating mindfully without distractions you are more likely to stop before you overeat. Try putting your utensils down between each mouthful, chewing more, and adopting the Japanese eating philosophy of ‘hara hachibu’ or “eat until you are 80% full.” 

2. Psychology

Did you know that one pound of fat contains more energy than a pound of dynamite? No wonder it takes some determination to shift it. Sports psychologists say that the ability to stay on task under pressure is a key difference between winners and losers in the sporting arena. That doesn’t mean that winners don’t make mistakes, it just means that they recover quickly, learn from their failures and move on. In our experience weight loss winners are those who set goals, stay focussed, accept setbacks and don’t let themselves get distracted from the task at hand.

3. Energy Imbalance

In order to lose one pound of fat you need to create a 3,500 calorie deficit. If you eat 250 calories less than you are used to each day and you burn 250 calories more, you will create a 500 calorie credit, which over the course of a week would total the 3,500 calories you need to burn a pound of fat. Carry on doing that for 6 months and you could lose around one and a half to two stone and - because you’ve done it slowly - there is a good chance that you will sustain that weight loss and improve on it.

4. Yoga & Pilates

We all know that cardiovascular exercise is good for calorie burning, but it may surprise you to learn that studies have shown that yoga and Pilates can help with weight loss; not so much because they burn calories, but because they have the ability to foster the self awareness and discipline that is required to stick with a weight loss programme. The message here is that, when combined with calorie burning activities like cardiovascular exercise and strength training, yoga and Pilates can be an effective part of the weight loss equation.

5. Fridays

If the scales are going to be a measure of your success, we suggest that you weigh yourself once a week, on Fridays. Once a week because it’s important not to become obsessed by the scales and Fridays because a. it’s best to weigh yourself at the same time each week – thus comparing apples with apples – and b. because weighing yourself on Friday gives you a little reminder of where you are at, just before the weekend – which is where a lot of the damage can get done.

6. Diary

Keeping a food diary is a really useful tool. This is largely because it helps you to focus on what you are eating, when you are eating, why you eating and how much you are eating. Create a simple notebook with columns covering the when, what, why and how much questions and review it at the end of every day. You’ll be amazed at how often you eat when you don’t need to and how often you eat more than you need to. But the real benefit of the diary is that every time you head for the fridge it makes you stop and think if you really need to make that journey.

7. Resistance

It’s hard to over stress the importance of weight training in a fat loss programme. If you are new to the gym then start with cardiovascular exercise, which is the best way to crank up your metabolism to begin with. If you already have an established cardio programme then you should be looking at complementing it with a weights programme. Not only will you burn calories during the weights session but as your muscles become better toned, you will also continue to burn them long after the workout is over. Our coaches will very happy to help you get started.

Try implementing a few of these tips and see how much difference they make to your weight loss programme.