For some reason, when you decide to lose weight, you often overhaul your whole life, make drastic, complicated strategies, and end up sitting on the floor two days later with a tub of ice cream in your hand and a look of disappointment on your face. This “diet mentality” emphasises the “no pain- no gain” approach to weight loss, which makes the whole thing seem so painful and intimidating that you might as well not bother.
However, there is a real strength in simplicity. Simple weight loss changes, which are based on wellness principles, are easy to apply to your life and much easier to stick with than your average diet. So rather than take the extreme, take-no-prisoners approach to weight loss, look after your wellbeing and stick with the basics. The truth is, you don’t need to traumatise yourself to lose weight, but, actually, the more pleasant it is, the more weight you will lose.
Firstly, try keeping a food diary. This will enhance your awareness of all the different food decisions you make each day. It’s best to write down in the food diary as soon as you eat something, so you might like to keep one on your phone. If you leave it until the end of the day, you can forget certain things, such as snacks. Speaking of which, take a look at your work space and around your home. Are there any tempting treats sitting there, taunting you? Hide them! The appeal of junk is often in its convenience, and so you’re less likely to want or even think about unhealthy snacks if you can’t get to them easily.
When it comes to meal times, cut down your portion size by a small amount, say 5-10%. It may only be a case of putting half-a-handful less pasta in the pan, but over a few weeks, this alone will make a remarkable impact on your weight. Another small change you can make in this department is to remove one “bad” food from your life. You might be tempted to do a clean sweep and throw out everything, but this rarely works. Just pick one food that is hard to resist once you start, and stop buying it.