When it comes to eating right and exercising, there is no "I'll start tomorrow. Tomorrow is disease. ~V.L. Allineare
It's easy to get frustrated when trying to lose weight and even easier to give up. Assuming you have no underlying health issues, over eating and poor food choices may be the largest contributor to your bulging waistline. So, in order to slim down, the first step is really to become your own biggest critic. A task easier said than done.
While it's probably more comfortable to have someone like a nutritionist or dietician critique your eating habits, successful weight loss will really depend on your commitment and willingness to scrutinize what you're eating. Being honest with yourself and putting your diet underneath a microscope is tough, I don't know many people who will readily admit they're responsible for their own 42+ inch waist. Sometimes it's not knowing you are making poor food choices and other times its just self-deceit.
To help you slim down and become comfortable with your body, I've tried to help you identify 3 hidden habits that may be holding you back.
1. It's all in what you drink
During my first attempt to lose weight (of which I've had many), I made a conscious effort to watch what I ate and kept a rough estimate of my daily caloric intake from food. After a few months, I still hadn't lost any weight. I started reading more and more on nutrition and realized I was only watching what I ate, not what I drank. It dawned on me that I was sometimes consuming as much as 500 unnoticed calories a day from fruit juices, carbonated drinks, smoothies, beer, etc.
If you're struggling with weight lose, consider what you're eating and drinking. Make the effort to stop drinking fruit juices / pop and start drinking more water. Scale back on the alcohol and if you are a smoothie lover like myself, use half-water, half whatever else (i.e. orange juice, soy milk, etc). If you haven't been watching what you drink, I think you'll be surprised by the number of hidden calories you're consuming.
2. Pass on the ketchup
I'm not sure it's ketchup that I love or the amount of sugar in the ketchup but either way, I eat a lot of the stuff. The problem? Ketchup and other common condiments are made with considerable amounts of sugar, salt, etc. for their serving sizes. In addition, it's easy to over indulge.
You don't have to eliminate condiments altogether, just be conscious of how much ketchup, mayo, relish, etc. you are putting on your food.
3. The Glycemic Index
When I first started working out, I thought a balanced diet and eating right included white breads and pastas. That changed when I learned about the glycemic index (or GI) - not all carbs are bad for you, it's only the refined carbs.
According to glycemicindex.com, the GI describes the difference in carbs by ranking them according to their effect on our blood glucose levels. Choosing low GI carbs - the ones that produce only small fluctuations in our blood glucose and insulin levels - is the secret to long-term health reducing your risk of heart disease and diabetes and is the key to sustainable weight loss.
Refined carbs should be avoided because they spike your blood sugar levels so much so that if you charted when you ate refined carbs over the period of a week, you'd have just designed a new rollercoaster for Disney and be on the verge of a lucrative contract.
On the other hand, the fibre, protein and other nutrients in whole wheat products (that are removed as part of refining carbohydrates) keep that blood sugar level more stable, making any week end blood sugar chart look more like the swan ride at any amusement part.
Go ahead and keep eating carbs, but make sure they're whole wheat (not "made with whole wheat" or "wheat" - both are disguises for foods that still use refined carbs).
Hopefully these 3 considerations will get you started on the road to weight loss. If these types of tips are useful, I'll keep them coming.
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