Ten top tips for losing weight
What’s the best to lose weight and keep it off? Try these tips to beat the diet yoyo
So we’re really into January now. Christmas is long gone but the weight gained over the festive season is probably still hanging around. It’s the time when those of us who made them still believe we can keep our New Year’s resolutions. A time of optimism and hope. Make the most! It tends not to last.
With newspapers, magazines and other media carrying articles about how to lose weight this is the golden window for diet pushers. How long does it last? Maybe to the end of January, if that. Why? Because changing ingrained behaviour is incredibly difficult. There are those who resolved at midnight one New Year’s Eve to, say, give up smoking or drinking to excess and managed to keep it. They do exist. Some people need a date to start new habits and discard old ones. Losing weight is the trickiest of resolutions to make because we cannot give up eating; we have instead to eat differently. And if that means going without a favoured food, going hungry, feeling irritable, it’s very difficult to stick to it.
For me a switch went off in my head that made me determined to lose weight and, much more to the point, keep it off. That switch was the fear of catching Covid while obese. Writing these Substacks has helped me enormously because I feel I would be letting people down if I didn’t stick to it. It’s been over 15 months now and I’ve lost four stone and kept most of it off - four pounds went on over Christmas but I’ve already got one back off.
I can’t turn that switch on in your head. You have to find what that switch is for you. And while a future event at which you want to be thinner may work - a family wedding, your own wedding, an anniversary, school or work reunion - whatever it is this can act as an incentive but it’s temporary. You need to want it for the long term. To make a permanent change. That does NOT mean being on a permanent diet! Diets by their nature are something we go on and off again. It requires a change in eating habits but also in attitudes towards eating. It’s a bit like becoming a vegetarian or vegan for the rest of your life rather than simply doing Veganuary.
Here are ten top tips that have worked for me and may work for you. I stress that I am not a doctor, dietitian nor nutritionist. I’ve had no medical training. I am not advising. I am simply saying this is working for me and may work for you. If you have Diabetes or any other kind of condition or you need to lose a lot of weight it’s best to check with your doctor before embarking on any kind of weight-loss regime.
TEN TOP TIPS FOR LOSING WEIGHT
Regular weigh ins - whether you like daily weigh-ins, weekly ones or something in between do it regularly. You can’t keep an eye on your weight if you don’t know what you weigh. We tend to kid ourselves about weight when we don’t know the truth. Face the truth. It’s a vital part of any long-term weight-loss regime. Use the same scales so you’re measuring like with like. And same time of day, usually first thing.
Regular meals. Don't skip meals but only eat breakfast if this is normal for you. Three or four regular meals a day well spaced out works for me. But find what works for you and stick with it.
Absolutely no forbidden foods. Vital! If you feel deprived you won’t stick with it. We always crave that which is forbidden. So include favoured foods in your plan - but try not to have too much of them.
Allow treats. But if you know you can't eat one or two chocolates/biscuits without eating the lot choose something else for a treat. And find a non-food treat to reward yourself too.
Exercise but don't use it as an excuse to eat more. Do some kind of physical activity for its own sake. You'll feel better and if you feel good you're much more likely to stick to your plan.
Eat normally - what is normal for you. But eat less than you did. Reduce portion size gradually so you slowly get used to being satisfied with less. If you’re responsible for feeding other people this is the best way to go. Eat the same as them. Don’t have different meals. This matters because we’re trying here for long-term change, not a short-term fix.
Have a gap of at least 12 hours between your evening meal and breakfast. Most dieticians now say that a period of hunger is good for us. This is usually overnight. The success of the 5:2 diet is based on this. Variations of the diet for those who can’t face semi starvation two days a week is to have as big a gap as they can cope with between their last meal of the day and their first the following day.
Don't rush meals. Register you are eating by eating slowly and note each mouthful. Think about what you’re eating as you eat it. Even if it’s just a cheese sandwich thinking, “This is a lovely sandwich and I’m really enjoying it,” will help to register that you’ve eaten and help you feel sated.
Get support. Friends, family, a slimming group, whatever it is. Get help from people who want the best for you and will encourage you. You can do this alone. But it’s so much easier when you have encouragement from close friends, family and colleagues.
Don’t starve after a binge! Lapsing from time to time is inevitable. Don’t beat yourself up if you have a binge and don’t try to starve the following day to make up for it. Accept you are human and go back on your plan.
And finally, and perhaps most importantly of all, enjoy your weight-loss regime! Think of this as pleasure nor punishment. Our brains don't like denial. To light up the reward centre of your brain eat what you like best - but keep the amount down. Look forward to each day’s eating and enjoy changing your habits so you’re healthier and happier as well as slimmer. Good luck! More next week.
I LOVE that Laura - "Enjoy your weight-loss regime" - a counter-intuitive and mind-blowing possibility that even as a former therapist, I'd never considered. While it did briefly come to mind before, I immediately dismissed it as preposterous. Now that you've said it too though, it's starting to make a lot more sense, and it could be a game-changer :-)