Weight loss hacks – my top 6.
1. Wait
If you feel like seconds or dessert give yourself 10 minutes then decide whether you still feel like it (more than likely you won’t because your brain will have had time to receive the message from your stomach that you are actually full).
2. Don’t wear lose clothing
This might sound funny but I’ve noticed that if I wear my gym clothes or favourite jeans etc I tend to eat less, and FEEL like eating less. Where as if I’m sitting around in my pj’s or track pants it’s so much easier to demolish a tub of ice cream!
3. Try fruit
After dinner and most savoury meals, I usually feel like something sweet. If you have this same sweet tooth habit it could be responsible for those extra kilos you might be trying to shift, and something as simple as swapping chocolate, cake, biscuits etc for a tub of fresh blueberries can make a massive difference on your waistline!
You could also try an apple or stewed apple with un-sweetened yoghurt, or making a hot drink instead. (Just don’t be tempted to dunk chocolate chip biscuits into your hot drink!)
4. Do something else
Side track your-self. Get busy doing something else and 9 times out of 10 you will find you arn’t actually hungry or you stop thinking about having a piece of cake because your busy doing other things.
5. Find excuses
No, not excuses not to go to the gym! Excuses to do things that burn extra kilojules.
I purposely park my car furthest from the supermarket entrance so that I have to walk and carry the shopping back to my car, burning extra kilojules (calories) while I do it without even thinking about it.
This can be applied to many other things like walking to the dairy to get milk rather than driving, walking to the mail box rather than stopping in your car when you arrive home from work.
Take the stairs instead of the elevator at work etc.
All these little things do add up! (That’s why using a pedometer or tracking your steps each day works so well).
6. Don’t finish your meal
Yes our mothers taught us to eat everything on our plates, but in actual fact that’s not a good thing!
Rather than eating everything on your plate just because it’s there, only eat until you are full and then stop, regardless of how much is left on your plate. This will not only lead to less food consumption (and less calories, therefore less weight) but it also re-trains your body.
You will feel like eating less over time as your stomach shrinks once it used to eating less (just like over eating can stretch your stomach, leading to a want for more and more food at meal times).
It is also MUCH easier on the digestive system (especially with your evening meal) to have less food to break down and will mean you have a much better nights sleep too! Bonus!