Ways to lose weight without
dieting24 Ways to Lose
Time Your Meals
Set a timer for 20
minutes and reinvent yourself as a slow eater. This is one of the top habits
for slimming down without a complicated diet plan. Savor each bite and make it
last until the bell chimes. Paced meals offer great pleasure from smaller
portions and trigger the body's fullness hormones. Wolfing your food down in a
hurry blocks those signals and causes overeating.
Sleep More, Weigh Less
Sleeping an extra hour a
night could help a person drop 14 pounds in a year, according to a University
of Michigan researcher who ran the numbers for a 2,500 calorie per day intake.
His scenario shows that when sleep replaces idle activities -- and the usual
mindless snacking -- you can effortlessly cut calories by 6%. Results would
vary for each person, but sleep may help in another way, too. There's evidence
that getting too little sleep revs up your appetite, making you uncommonly
hungry.
Serve More, Eat More
Veggies
Serve three vegetables
with dinner tonight, instead of just one, and you'll eat more without really
trying. Greater variety tricks people into eating more food -- and eating more
fruits and vegetables is a great way to lose weight. The high fiber and water
content fills you up with fewer calories. Cook them without added fat. And
season with lemon juice and herbs rather than drowning their goodness in
high-fat sauces or dressings.
When Soup's On, Weight
Comes Off
Add a broth-based soup to
your day and you'll fill up on fewer calories. Think minestrone, tortilla soup,
or Chinese won-ton. Soup's especially handy at the beginning of a meal because
it slows your eating and curbs your appetite. Start with a low-sodium broth or
canned soup, add fresh or frozen vegetables and simmer. Beware of creamy soups,
which can be high in fat and calories.
Go for Whole Grains
Whole grains such as
brown rice, barley, oats, buckwheat, and whole wheat also belong in your
stealthy weight loss strategy. They help fill you up with fewer calories and
may improve your cholesterol profile, too. Whole grains are now in many
products including waffles, pizza crust, English muffins, pasta, and soft
"white" whole-wheat bread.
Eyeball Your Skinny
Clothes
Hang an old favorite
dress, skirt, or a smokin' pair of jeans where you'll see them every day. This
keeps your eyes on the prize. Choose an item that's just a little too snug, so
you reach this reward in a relatively short time. Then pull out last year's
cocktail dress for your next small, attainable goal.
Skip the Bacon
Pass on those two strips
of bacon at breakfast or in your sandwich at lunch time. This simple move saves
about 100 calories, which can add up to a 10 pound weight loss over a year.
Other sandwich fixings can replace the flavor with fewer calories. Think about tomato
slices, banana peppers, roasted red bell peppers, grainy mustard, or a light
spread of herbed goat cheese.
Build a Better Slice of
Pizza
Choose vegetable toppings
for pizza instead of meat and you may be able to shave 100 calories from your
meal. Other skinny pizza tricks: Go light on the cheese or use reduced-fat
cheese and choose a thin, bread-like crust made with just a touch of olive oil.
Sip Smart: Cut Back on
Sugar
Replace one sugary drink
like regular soda with water or a zero-calorie seltzer and you'll avoid about
10 teaspoons of sugar. Add lemon, mint or frozen strawberries for flavor and
fun.
The liquid sugar in soda
appears to bypass the body's normal fullness cues. One study compared an extra
450 calories per day from jelly beans vs. soda. The candy eaters unconsciously
ate fewer calories overall, but not so the soda drinkers. They gained 2.5
pounds in four weeks.
Sip Smart: Use a Tall,
Thin Glass
Use a tall, skinny glass
instead of a short, wide tumbler to cut liquid calories -- and your weight --
without dieting. You'll drink 25%-30% less juice, soda, wine, or any other
beverage.
How can this work? Brian
Wansink, PhD, says visual cues can trick us into consuming more or less. His
tests at Cornell University found all kinds of people poured more into a short,
wide glass -- even experienced bartenders.
Sip Smart: Limit Alcohol
When an occasion includes
alcohol, follow the first drink with a nonalcoholic, low-calorie beverage like
sparkling water instead of moving directly to another cocktail, beer, or glass
of wine. Alcohol has more calories per gram (7) than carbohydrates (4) or
protein (4). It can also loosen your resolve, leading you to mindlessly inhale
chips, nuts, and other foods you'd normally limit.
Sip Smart: Go for Green
Tea
Drinking green tea may
also be a good weight loss strategy. Some studies suggest that it can rev up
the body's calorie-burning engine temporarily, possibly through the action of
phytochemicals called catechins. At the very least, you'll get a refreshing
drink without tons of calories.
Slip Into a Yoga State of
Mind
Women who do yoga tend to
weigh less than others, according to a study in the Journal of the American
Dietetic Association. What's the connection? The yoga regulars reported a
more "mindful" approach to eating. For example, they tend to notice
the large portions in restaurants but eat only enough to feel full. Researchers
think the calm self-awareness developed through yoga may help people resist
overeating.
Eat at Home
Eat home-cooked meals at
least five days a week. A Consumer Reports survey found this was a top
habit of "successful losers." Sound daunting? Cooking may be easier
than you think. Shortcut foods can make for quick meals, such as pre-chopped
lean beef for fajitas, washed lettuce, pre-cut veggies, canned beans, cooked
chicken strips, or grilled deli salmon.
Catch the 'Eating Pause'
Most people have a
natural "eating pause," when they drop the fork for a couple of
minutes. Watch for this moment and don't take another bite. Clear your plate
and enjoy the conversation. This is the quiet signal that you're full, but not
stuffed. Most people miss it.
Chew Strong Mint Gum
Chew sugarless gum with a
strong flavor when you're at risk for a snack attack. Making dinner after work,
socializing at a party, watching TV, or surfing the Internet are a few
dangerous scenarios for mindless snacking. Gum with a big flavor punch
overpowers other foods so they don't taste good.
Shrink Your Dishes
Choose a 10-inch lunch
plate instead of a 12-inch dinner plate to automatically eat less. Cornell's
Brian Wansink, PhD, found in test after test that people serve more and eat
more food with larger dishes. Shrink your plate or bowl to cut out 100-200
calories a day -- and 10-20 pounds in a year. In Wansink's tests, no one felt
hungry or even noticed when tricks of the eye shaved 200 calories off their
daily intake.
Get Food Portions Right
The top habit of slim
people is to stick with modest food portions at every meal, five days a week or
more. "Always slim" people do it and successful losers do it, too,
according to a Consumer Reports survey. After measuring portions a few
times, it can become automatic. Make it easier with small "snack"
packs and by keeping serving dishes off the table at meal time.
Try the 80-20 Rule
Americans are conditioned
to keep eating until they're stuffed, but residents of Okinawa eat until
they're 80% full. They even have a name for this naturally slimming habit: hara
hachi bu. We can adopt this healthy habit by dishing out 20% less food,
according to researcher Brian Wansink, PhD. His studies show most people don't
miss it.
Eat Out Your Way
Restaurant meals are
notoriously fattening, so consider these special orders that keep portions
under control:
·
Split an entrée with a friend.
·
Order an appetizer as a meal.
·
Choose the child's plate.
·
Get half the meal in a doggie bag before
it's brought to the table.
Complement a smaller
entrée with extra salad for the right balance: half the plate filled with
veggies.
Reach for the Red Sauce
Choose marinara sauce for
pasta instead of Alfredo sauce. The tomato-based sauces tend to have fewer
calories and much less fat than cream-based sauces. But remember, portion size
still counts. A serving of pasta is one cup or roughly the size of a tennis
ball.
Go Meatless More Often
Eating vegetarian meals
more often is a slimming habit. Vegetarians tend to weigh less than meat
eaters. While there are several reasons for this, legumes may play an important
role. Bean burgers, lentil soup, and other tasty legume-based foods are simply
packed with fiber. Most Americans get only half of this important nutrient,
which fills you up with fewer calories.
Burn 100 Calories More
Lose 10 pounds in a year
without dieting by burning an extra 100 calories every day. Try one of these
activities:
·
Walk 1 mile, about 20 minutes.
·
Pull weeds or plant flowers for 20 minutes.
·
Mow the lawn for 20 minutes.
·
Clean house for 30 minutes.
·
Jog for 10 minutes.
Celebrate
When you've kicked the
soda habit or simply made it through the day without overeating, pat yourself
on the back. You've moved closer to a slimming lifestyle that helps people lose
weight without crazy or complicated diet plans. Phone a friend, get a pedicure,
buy new clothes -- or on occasion, indulge in a small slice of cheesecake.
