How To Start A Healthy Diet To Lose Weight
If you’re carrying some extra weight and you’re thinking about starting a healthy diet to lose it, you’re in the right place! In the next article, we’ll give you some tips to achieve your goals in the easiest possible way.
1. Motivation
The first thing you need to start a healthy diet to lose weight is motivation. Motivation is the key to achieving any goal that you set for yourself, and it’s no different when it comes to diets.
Usually, people are motivated during the first few days of starting a healthy diet. But as time goes by, the motivation disappears and people end up quitting. To prevent this from happening, we recommend that you set weekly goals, such as the ones that we suggest below:
- Pick one day of the week to weigh yourself and write down your progress.
- Write down the distance you run or walk every day. Noticing that your endurance is increasing will be a great motivation to continue losing weight.
- Install an app on your phone where you can see that information in a visual and motivational way.
If you’re not motivated enough, we recommend that you don’t start a diet. You’ll probably end up quitting after a few days and experience the rebound effect. Find a motivation and then start a healthy diet to reach your ideal weight.
2. Start working out
When you think of starting a diet, usually the first thing that comes to mind is changing your eating habits. Making that change is fundamental, because you must decrease your calorie intake and eliminate the unhealthy foods you consume. But still keep in mind that diet isn’t everything; exercise is also a fundamental pillar in any kind of diet.
If you haven’t worked out before, start with some low intensity exercises. Walking for one hour a day or alternating a few meters of running with a few meters of walking is a great way to start. In just a few days you’ll see that your endurance improves and you can begin to expand your workout time and do it at a higher intensity.
We also encourage you to work out by doing daily activities, such as the following ones:
- Use the stairs instead of the elevator.
- Walk to the supermarket, your child’s school or to run errands.
- Walk to your job, and if this isn’t possible then don’t park right outside of the door.
3. Have five meals a day
We’ve all heard many times about the importance of having five meals a day. Very few people actually do this; and the same thing happens with people who are on a diet, because they believe that if they eat more times in a day, they’ll lose less weight.
In reality, eating five times a day controls the feeling of hunger and prevents binge eating. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are the most important meals. But to eliminate anxiety and control your appetite throughout the day, healthy snacks are necessary.
4. Tips to eat less and calm your anxiety
To make weight loss easier and to help you reach your goals, we’ll show you some tips that will help you to eat less. Just changing some habits is enough to lose more weight with less effort.
- Eat on a dessert plate. It’s becoming more and more popular to eat in bowls, but this only makes you eat more and removes control over how much you eat. Our recommendation is to eat from a dessert plate. It’s an easy way to eat smaller portions, and you’ll barely notice because the plate will still be full.
- Eat less foods in each meal. When you have different types of foods on the table, you may feel the need to try them all, and as a result, end up eating more than you should. This usually happens during casual dinners. That’s why we recommend that you cook just one or two dishes to limit yourself to only eating the necessary portion.
- Buy groceries after you eat. We’re sure you’ve been there: you’re shopping for groceries before you eat and you’re hungry. This makes you buy more food than you actually need, and you are more likely to buy unhealthy foods. To prevent this from happening, the best time to shop for groceries is just a few minutes after you’ve eaten.
If you have the right motivation, losing weight is possible. Besides, following these tips will make the process much easier.
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.
Pinto, J., & Carbajal, Á. (2010). Dieta Equilibrada, Prudente o Saludable. Nutrición y Salud.
Garcia-Continente, X., Allué, N., Pérez-Giménez, A., Ariza, C., Sánchez-Martínez, F., López, M. J., & Nebot, M. (2015). Hábitos alimentarios, conductas sedentarias y sobrepeso y obesidad en adolescentes de Barcelona. Anales de Pediatría. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.anpedi.2014.07.006
