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Weight loss doesn't have to be painful, as there are many small and easy changes that you can make to your lifestyle and eating habits that can help you lose weight easily and reduce the number of calories that you eat over time. The key to transitioning to a healthier lifestyle is to make these changes, stick with them and to be as consistent as possible. Certainly, diets like the HCG diet can help to reset your metabolism and help you with appetite control, and it can actually change the foods that you crave by resetting your body's chemistry and metabolism to a more natural level. So, diets do have great merit and can be one of the best ways to lose weight very quickly. But, there are some easy changes that you can make after your diet is finished to ensure that you keep the weight off and lose even more.
Method #1 - Drink less alcohol and calorie drinks
You can get rid of a lot of excess calories in your diet by avoiding drinking alcoholic drinks and sweetened drinks. Calorie drinks all too often become a source of hundreds of thousands of excess calories in a person's diet per month, and these calories can easily be eliminated from your diet without much effort. Alcoholic drinks actually contain a lot more calories than most people think; just one beer has about 154 calories, and most people drink more than one at a time so the calories can add up fast. Try to replace as many calorie drinks in your diet as you can with water or unsweetened drinks, but don't replace them with artificially sweetened drinks as those are almost as bad for you as sugar drinks and can wreak havoc on your metabolism.
Method #2 - Don't eat a few hours before bed
No matter what time you go to bed, you should avoid eating a few hours before your bedtime. Eating during the late night or a few hours before bed is usually due to a bad habit or boredom, especially if you have eaten dinner. Try to get into the routine of avoiding eating late at night, and avoid midnight snacking at all costs. Snacking in the evening is a major source of weight gain because the calories are not burned, especially carbohydrate rich meals. If you absolutely have to snack on something during the night, make sure it is natural and a low glycemic index food like a piece of meat or vegetables. Try to avoid snacking on anything with a high carbohydrate content or even a moderate carb content during the evening, and ideally you shouldn't eat anything at all. Drinking water helps with midnight cravings or unsweetened caffeine free tea.
Method #3 - Drink water
We've said it before on this blog, but drinking more water is one of the best things that you can do to help with your cravings for food throughout the day. One of the biggest causes of hunger is dehydration, and drinking a sufficient amount of water can help with any hunger cravings that you have as the result of being dehydrated. Water also helps to keep you full between meals and prevents you from overeating. Several studies have found that people eat fewer calories per month when they drink 8 glasses of water per day. Drinking water regularly is associated with a lower risk of several illnesses as well. You should try to drink a minimum of six to eight glasses of water per day, and again you will want to replace every drink that has calories in your diet with water.
Method #4 - Eat more protein
Consuming more protein in your regular diet is one of the quickest and easiest ways to lose weight, and it can help you stabilize your blood sugar and avoid midday cravings for foods. Most people don't eat enough protein, and the recommended amount is anywhere from 0.5 to 1 gram per pound of body weight, depending on how much you exercise and how much resistance training you do. If you don't do any exercise at all, you can eat an amount closer to 0.5 to 0.6 grams per pound of body weight per day. You need to be conscientious of how much protein you are consuming on a regular basis, and if you find that you aren't eating enough you should start adding larger servings in your meals. The best sources are organic meats, organic whey protein, seafood, and some soy products like fermented soy and legumes.
Method #5 - Eat more fiber rich foods
Eating foods that are rich in fiber such as most fruits and vegetables is one of the easiest and most painless ways to lose weight, because fiber rich foods help you feel full after a meal but don't add extra calories to your diet. Some examples include berries, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, apples, oranges, green leafy vegetables, nuts and squash. You should avoid grains, because even though grains can be rich in fiber, they are also high in carbohydrates as well as gluten and other allergens that can cause chronic inflammation in many people. Grains are not the best source of fiber; organic fruits and vegetables are, and you should try to snack on them and eat them as much as possible in your regular diet for their health benefits and low caloric content.
Method #6 - Use smaller plates
Using smaller plates has been proven to be an effective way to control portion sizes. When you use smaller plates, you are less likely to fill the entire plate up with food, and smaller plates can help you portion out the right amount of food. You can get the same satisfaction from a meal by using smaller plates while eating a smaller amount of calories because of the fact that much of meal satisfaction is psychological. It's especially important to use smaller plates and bowls when you are eating desserts; a large plate of dessert is one of the worst things to portion out and can be a major source of weight gain. If you haven't tried this method, buy a bunch of smaller plates and use them at every meal, and the chances are that you will be eating fewer calories per week and may even lose a few pounds after a few weeks.
Method #7 - Stay busy outside of home
Having habits that keep you outside of home will help you avoid relying on snacks for energy, as much of weight gain comes from a sedentary lifestyle and eating out of boredom. Staying out of your kitchen is the surest way to avoid boredom related eating, but don't get into the habit of eating out at restaurants either. Fill up your schedule with as many activities as you can, and it can go a long way at helping you avoid snacking at home. Try to team up with a friend who is also trying to lose weight and fill your schedule with fun things to do that will help you forget about food, and avoid near food as much as possible. It is pretty amazing how effective this technique can be; when your attention is diverted on a hobby or activity that is truly fun and engaging for you, it is very likely that you won't be thinking about food very much.