Weight loss basics
/If you want to lose weight it’s best to keep it as simple as possible. Simple doesn’t mean easy but if you can focus on daily actions, rather than an end result you will gradually move towards your future self.
So the basics are the following:
Don’t eat out often. If you prepare your own meals you know exactly what’s going into them. Once a week eating out is a good rule of thumb.
Eat only when hungry. If you can rate your physical feelings of hunger on a scale of 1 to 10 this is one practical way; 10 being starving so if your hunger is less than 8 then try drinking water/green tea or chewing gum instead of snacking.
Don’t drink your calories. Examples include: soda, juices, alcoholic beverages, coffee with cream/sugar/butter etc., or smoothies which aren’t a planned main meal. If you consume some or all of these drinks throughout the day and night it is easy to consume hundreds (or more) calories than your body requires for daily life or training.
Choose lean proteins whether that be lean meats or plant-based proteins. Fatty meats such as bacon and Wagyu could fit into that once-per-week category. Higher fat dairy (such as Greek yoghurt) is ok as long as you can track the portions. When cooking with fats it’s a good idea to track that as well, or alternatively add the fat post cooking.
Keep vegetables and salads free from cream and butter. It’s ok to add some olive oil for example to salads but again best to track that if doing so.
Eat slowly and stop at 80% full every meal. This is perhaps the most important practical action you can take. 80% full means satisfied, but not stuffed. It is the point at which hunger has gone and you could eat more, but you choose to leave any food left on the plate for leftovers. Please don’t throw food in the bin unless it has gone bad!
By using these strategies you never need get into counting calories which can stress you out and are approximations only. Calories on food labels can be +/- 10% ‘‘off’’ and then cooked vs raw vs processed is a whole other debate.