Easy lifestyle changes to help me lose weight !

[Lynday]

Good evening, this is one of my many evenings of feeling blobby :(

I am trying to motivate myself into losing my baby weight (more like toddler weight now), and I was wondering, before I start the seriousness of a DIET, does anyone have any little tips or tricks of day to day food management that they do?

The only tip I can give which I noticed someone else do, whilst I was chowing down my calorie laden burger at a BBQ was to skip the bread and just have the meat and load up on the salad. Simple, but genius to me!

So, any other tips and tricks please do share :)

Hi,
How about replacing sugar with artificial sweetener in tea and coffee
Changing to semi-skimmed milk
Using smaller plate at family mealtimes
Using olive oil in cooking or spray on oil for frying
Grill or oven bake rather than fry
Don't weigh yourself every day, in fact get rid of the scales
You don't need a spread in sandwiches if your sarni has another form of moisture, eg ww jam on toast tastes fine on its own.
Buy Good Food book Low Fat Meals, nice, easy meals
Limit alcahol to weekends
Fill up on loads of veg

Have now lost 3 stone this year, and waited until dd was a teen to shift it

The only thing I have really missed, is wine cheese

Good luck

No eating unless sitting at a table.
Leftovers straight into fridge or freezer so no hoovering up!

I wouldn't go for artificial sweeteners- I think they do funny things to your metabolism. Try to wean yourself off the whole sugar thing, as well as stuff that converts to sugar in your blood instantly, like white carbs.

Drink water, lots of. Carry a bottle with you everywhere you go. I just buy one every few days and refill it until it starts looking tatty. I really should invest in a proper water bottle.

Eat less bread, have salads instead of sarnies, sweet potato instead of white potato, brown rice and pasta instead of white.

2 words really, low carb!

Yes, low carb is extremely effective. It's tough though- carbs seem to be the main source of food pleasure and comfort, sadly.

Have one day a week where you are more indulgent and don't worry about dieting too much.Try to make most meals be based around tons of veg or salad, and a small amount of protein. Find lots of different salad recipes to keep things interesting, get into stir fries, veggy curries etc.

If you are a bread / pasta fan,trying limiting bread to just one meal of the day, and halving the amount of pasta you eat on a plate. Bulk out with sauce / veg / salad.

Cut back on alcohol, eg only at weekends or having a set number of alcohol free days in the week. If you like white wine, have a small amount and top up with fizzy water to make a spritzer.

And effective but hard (for me) - no snacking unless its fruit / veg / protein. Snacky feeling moments are when I most want crisps / chocolate / biscuits and sometimes I chew fruit flavour gum to stop myself helplessly shoving this type of thing in my mouth...

Oops, there should have been a 'but the rest of the time' after the first sentence...

When socialising with a friend suggest going for a walk instead of going for a coffee and cake!

Having ready made snacks- pre washed fruit, carrot sticks etc handy.

Never buy biscuits or crisps for the kids.

Stick to three good meals a day.
Don't pick, if your hungry eat a portion of fruit and have a cup of tea or coffee.

Take the skin/fat off meat.
Think veggie (lay off the cheese).
Fill up on veg not carbs.
Walk or exercise for 30 mins a day, this can include housework/gardening.
Eat your food slowly, stop well before you feel very full.
Don't use lots of condiments there packed with sugar and add up fast.

The best one for us is no cakes, biscuits, sweets or treats in the house at all. When temptation hits it makes it very difficult to cheat ;)

write down every single thing you eat or drink. You'll find yourself deciding against picking at snacks or having that biscuit just because you are then horrified at seeing it all written down. This also works well on portion sizes.

Serve yourself a meal, then put half of it onto another plate. Only go back to that if you are genuinely hungry.

Between meals, if you think you are hungry, have a pint of water then think about it.

Track your food intake - I use the Myfitnesspal app and aim for about 2000 calories/day.

Set a reminder to weigh yourself once a week and record your weight (again I use an app for this) - keeping an eye on it means you'll notice a trend upwards or downwards.

Include some exercise in your walk to work, if you're working, or take your child out for a brisk walk in the buggy every day.

Buy lots of nice fruit and veg so you have healthy stuff to snack on. Try not to have the unhealthy stuff in the house.

Never go to the supermarket when you're hungry - only after a meal!

Thank you for all your replies!! You have inspired me to look at my lifestyle and see where I can make slight alterations, in order to hopefully, help me lose weight easily and keep it off too!

I have taken from you all :

Sweetner rather than sugar in tea/coffee
I drink so much tea/coffee I am going to try and alternate with a pint of water.
Grill more often.
Seek alternatives to bread.
Veg, veg, veg, protein.
Only eat whilst sat at the table, that will definitely limit the snacking!
No hoovering DS leftovers - straight in the bin!
Sunday will be my indulgent day. I love a roast followed with pudding :)
Bulk out dishes with veg/pulses
Only buy naughty foods I don't like for OH
Eat slowly
Food shop after a meal!

Sorry if I've missed any out, I'm sure I will come back to this page within the week!

Aim to cut out snacking between meals (doesn't suit everyone but has helped me cut out loads of unncessary calories per day).

Don't eat processed food.
Use lots of herbs and spices for flavour.
Fat isn't your enemy. A little of the right type of fat delivers a lot of flavour and satisfaction. Eg Greek yogurt v low or no fat varieties.

And sweeteners make your body crave sugar.

Have a big pile of salad leaves, celery, cucumber etc with meals, whenever possible. You'll spend lots of time chewing!

You could try herbal or mint tea - it still feels warm and cosy but for pretty much zero calories.

Don't buy diet food as it will make you eat more... seriously! Full fat but less of it is the key as your body isn't fooled by the lack of fat content. Replace refined sugars with natural sugars like honey. As soon as you deprive yourself of something you will just crave it anyway and then overeat it!

If you struggle with portion size (which I did for years) try eating off a smaller plate (large side plate rather than dinner plate) and try to recognise when you're full and stop eating at that point rather than finishing everything automatically.

I'm doing the easyloss virtual gastric band hypnosis app atm (only doing the preliminary bits, not the virtual surgery) and have lost on average 2lb a week without actually 'dieting' - its very easy :)

Two easy ones....
Honey in tea or coffee...NOT sweetener....it's grim....don't waste your money or health...
Low fat milk.....not semi....low.....you'll soon find even semi is too sickly...

You put nothing about exercise on your list?

No bread whatsoever.

A really lovely recipe is Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's sweet potato and peanut butter gratin. It goes a long way, sweet potato is low GI so lasts you longer in your blood, and the peanut butter is the same....but ,most of its gorge.

X

Sorry to disagree, but your body treats honey exactly the same way as sugar. No diffence. Sweeteners make you crave ore sugar. Try reducing the sugar bit by bit in your tea and coffee.

My tip is no food after dinner is finished and cleared up. Once you have left the kitchen, food is off limits. It stops all That evening snacking which is a killer.

Definitely write down everything you eat and agree MyFitness Pal app is fab for this.

Don't eat after 6pm at night, if that's too early for dinner/tea basically once you've had your main meal no more!

Exercise too, start with walking instead of driving, swimming, gym, etc. At the beginning of my weight loss I used the Wii until I felt more confident to venture outside

A bit of parmesan cheese on things like bolognaise etc is better than cheddar as you only need a teeny bit.

Weigh out your cereal (not necessarily every day- just once is enough) to see what the recommended quantity looks like. It's WEENY - I realised I was eating 4 or 5 times the amount I should be. Also try to use a cereal with no added sugar- I like Dorset cereals.

Think of lattes/cappucinos as a snack, not a drink. You don't have to stop them completely, but it'll make you drink less of them, or snack less on a day you have one.

If you find you're hanging around for 20 mins for some reason (for me- arrive at DS' nursery a bit early for eg), go for a brisk walk. It'll burn more calories than you think.

Yes to myfitnesspal- it's helped me lose 2 stone in a couple of months, but more importantly taught me good eating habits like portion size and that I can eat some chocolate, cheese, butter etc but just in sensible portions and not all on the same day!

Really....I did not know that about honey....and there's me using it in my coffee...ok sugar, honey free it is!!! Cheers for that, but also damn!!!!