Losing Weight Advice

 Disclaimer:  I am in no way an expert on weight loss.  Please read many places and talk to many medical folks before choosing and following a weight loss plan.  

I recently posted a recipe from a diet book written by Dr Michael Mosley.  The recipe is a very tasty one, and is a healthy version of a 'naughty' chocolate dessert, using no sugar and only healthy ingredients.

One of my dear readers has asked me for a little advice on weight loss: so here are some notes that could help someone, as they certainly help me.

1.  Plan all your meals ahead.  Think about what you want to eat each day for a week, and write out a shopping list for exactly what you need.

2.  Try out different diets, and decide the main way you will manage your intake. Not every diet will work for every person.  The main things to remember are:  stop eating processed foods, stop eating sugar and salt, eat healthier versions of things (e.g. wholemeal pasta, lower fat cheese).

3.  Eating fewer calories and moving around is the best way there is to get smaller.  Get off your butt and walk around a bit more than you have been.

4.  Despite adverts online, there is NO way on this earth you can lose all your excess weight and end up skinnier/lose all your stretch marks/skin flaps/become more attractive/look younger, etc. etc.  These are adverts featuring slim models.  You CAN improve yourself and how you look, but treat yourself gently.

5.  Accept yourself as who you are.  You might be overweight/obese/super morbidly obese:  but you need to accept yourself for who you are first.  We only get one life.  DO NOT waste your life being blooming miserable because you are overweight.  If you want to do something about it, do something about it.  

6. Stick to your plan.  There is another disclaimer here:  losing weight is a science-y thing.  Your body will adjust slower than you'd like.  It will alter ways in which it processes things.  Your body needs certain levels of different things to function.  Some of them are vital, some of them are unnecessary. 

7. Stop having 'treats' that are edible.

8.  Find out which foods trip you up.  For me it's bread.  If there is white bread in the house I want to eat it.  And chocolate.  And sometimes crisps.  I find it hard to be a grown-up about these foods at times.    (And chips.)

9.  When I stick to my daily plan and go to bed having stuck to it completely, I feel fantastic.  When I trip up and act like an idiot, I feel dreadful.

10.  Always have something in the house that you can prepare and eat in a short space of time.  There will be days where life trips you up (sudden trip to casualty with someone, getting you home at 11pm and you having not had anything to eat since breakfast / delayed drive home on motorway..you home a few hours late and you drive past several take out places on your way home.)  For me this is microwave brown rice and baked beans.  This is a pretty easy way to avoid wasting money and health on takeaway food. 

11.  Ensure you get the folk who hang around you on board with support for you.  If they are going to walk around with spare biscuits or full-sugar cola it's going to be much harder keeping to your plan.

Do you have advice to add to this?

Have you lost weight and there is a way you would recommend?

FMxx