4 Ways To Feed Your Mind And Manage Your Weight
Forget all the fad diets that promise quick weight loss and a better body. If you want to be healthy, it’s time to step up your diet game, eat more slowly so you can enjoy your food more, and get more sleep. Here are some tips from experts on how to feed your mind and manage your weight.
1. Get a high-quality food scale - This is the single most important tool for controlling portion sizes, not just of food but also other things like water and coffee as well as for monitoring changes in body size over time.
2. Don’t snack - A great deal of your body weight is determined by how much you eat, not how much you take in. That means that you can’t lose weight by just cutting back on calories – there’s got to be a certain point where you stop eating when full, which is why it's important to prepare some small meals between your main ones.
3. Eat more slowly - Studies have shown that people who eat slowly are more satisfied with their food and the pleasure has been linked to lower levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin, longer appetites, and subsequently lower calorie consumption.
4. Eat mindfully - This sounds like a creative way of saying it takes me longer to eat my food, which is partly true. When I eat, I'm taking in all the sights, smells and textures of the food, but I’m losing most of that because my mind is on other things. Switch off your phone and other distractions while you’re eating, tune in to all the cues around you - especially taste – and take your time eating more slowly.
5. Eat more fish - Although we tend to think highly of red meat when it comes to fats and proteins, fish is actually a better source than beef and chicken of all these nutrients.
6. Eat more dairy - Not only is dairy a great source of calcium, protein and other nutrients, it provides satiety in the same way as other full bodied foods.
7. Sleep more - This can't be stressed enough – not only will it help you lose weight, but it will improve your metabolism and offer important nutrients that are vital for brain function.
8. Have a "dietary Dyl" - Your diet should be about quality of food not quantity – you should eat as many nutritious high-quality foods as you can because food is fuel to keep your heart pumping, brain ticking over and muscles working hard.
9. Have a small dinner - Eating dinner late in the evening can lead to poor quality sleep, and that's when weight gain often occurs.
10. Sleep quickly - Part of the metabolic process is vitalising and recharging our bodies, so we need to go to bed quickly and wake up slowly every day – no alarms required.
11. Get some fun into your dinners - If you’re eating with friends or family, food should be celebrating not just sustenance – it’s important to remember this while you're planning your diet.
12. Get some exercise - Food isn’t just food – it’s fuel for the body to give us energy, and it needs to be replaced as we eat. But this also means that exercising regularly is vital for sustained weight loss, as well as overall lifestyle health.
13. Sleep today - Drink like a fish? Have a few too many sweet treats? Don't sweat it – tomorrow is another sleep day, so you can make up for it then.
14. No snacking - It's amazing how much our minds can fool us into thinking that snacks are perfectly normal, but this habit is more likely than not contributing to weight gain if you're eating more than you think (see point 2).
15. No afternoon tea - Again, it's amazing how much we convince ourselves that afternoon tea isn't just a snack, but a tiny meal in itself. You're far more likely to crash in the afternoon if you consume caffeine this late in the day.
16. Be careful of your fats - Regularly eating foods that have a lot of fat content can increase body weight and chances of gaining belly fat. This is because their food is stored more easily than other nutrients and your body is prone to hold onto these fats for longer periods of time since it’s easier for it to get them from your body when needed later on rather than searching elsewhere for fuel.
17. Drink water - Studies have shown that drinking more water helps boost metabolism and decreases overall body fat. Water not only helps control portions, it also keeps you hydrated and feeling full longer.
18. Avoid snacking - Even if you aren’t gaining weight by snacking, the habit can lead to mindless eating later in the day when you're hungry, or to eating larger meals when you don't need to based on being out of touch with hunger signals.
19.