First of all, if you want to lose weight, then you have to do it for good reasons. Doing it for bad reasons can decrease your motivation and confidence in yourself. A bad reason to lose weight is to appease the people around you, especially the people who make cruel comments and jokes about your weight. It's a bad reason, because such people will never be satisfied by the way you look and will always expect more of you to the point that you will lose your own self-dignity as a human being. In this day and age, too many women are bombarded with images in the mass media about the ideal woman with the perfect body, even though this image is unachievable through natural means. (I think my attachment to my parents has made me a bit immune to the mass media's deleterious effects, as I have never had a real eating disorder, and I always eat a wide range of food.)
A good reason to lose weight is to manage a disease/condition you already have or prevent a disease/condition that you are going to have due to your family history and genes. Make sure that you are losing weight for the right reasons! That's the only way to lose weight safely and keep it off for life. I believe that obesity is a disease, and like many chronic diseases, it can be cured with food, not pharmaceutical drugs.
In order to lose weight, you want to focus on LONG-TERM goals. You need a diet that can last you for LIFE. This diet must bring you all the nutrients to live a long life and see your children and grandchildren. This diet must be traditional, meaning that you will pass down this lifestyle to your descendants. Why do so many fad diets fail? So many fad diets fail, because they are lacking in nutrient(s) or they are focused on the individual's vanity instead of lifelong well-being.
1. Avoid ALL Processed Foodstuffs
Processed foodstuffs tend to have excessive amounts of sugar, food coloring, food additives, and food preservatives. The food is made to look good and taste good and be convenient at the expense of nutrients. To control more of what you eat, it is best to avoid as much processed foodstuffs in your diet as possible, even the so-called "healthy" or "low-fat" ones. Something that is low in fat may be high in sugar for flavor, and such high levels of sugar are detrimental to health, overriding any nutrient benefit out of it.
2. Avoid ALL Kinds of Added Sugar
You can find added sugar in anything these days, especially in processed foodstuffs. You can find it in sauces, condiments, "healthy fruit snacks", "fruit juices", packaged entrees, restaurant food, fast food, etc. To avoid any kind of added sugar, it is best to read the Nutrition Facts label. If you recognize a form of sugar on the label or see something you don't know how to pronounce, then it's best to avoid buying that product.
3. Do Manual Housework
It takes a lot of energy and time to do manual housework. Instead of using the dishwasher, clean the dishes manually. My mother used to say that "dishwashers don't have eyes". She means that a dishwasher can't tell whether the dishes are actually clean. Only humans have eyes and know where the grease and grimes are. So, if you wash the dishes by hand, the dishes will be clean, and you get your dose of physical activity. After using a paper napkin to wipe your mouth, you may wet the napkin, wring it dry, spread it out, and place it on the floor. Then, you use your feet to polish the floors clean. Another work-out right there. Gardening (including tilling the soil, pulling weeds, carrying buckets of water to the plants, and harvesting the fruits of your labor) and mowing the grass are also big energy-consumers. With proper housekeeping of your own home, you don't need to give yourself a specific time to do mindless exercising!
4. Detoxify
It is important to remove the toxins from your former diet. You may consume aloe vera leaves or mung bean soup. The flesh of aloe vera may be too bitter to handle, so I'd highly recommend mung bean soup. Please do not add sugar of any variety in the mung bean soup, because added sugar is something you want to avoid. It is a toxin.
5. Eat Until You Are Full But Not Uncomfortable
You should eat until you are full. Just not uncomfortably full. If you feel like you have to vomit, then you likely have eaten too much. Learn from the experience, so you would know how much food you can handle next time.
6. If You Live With Someone, Learn How To Share Food
If you live with someone, you may be inclined to hog all the delicious and better-tasting food. Yeah, I know steamed eggs are very tasty. Because it's so tasty, you may want to suggest it to your eating pal who is sitting right next to you. That way, the eating experience will be a more social, communal experience. This can give more time for your brain to react and tell you that you are full. That way, you can eat less and be full.
7. Calories Are Not Bad; Never Count Calories
Calories are not bad things. You need calories, because they are essentially energy. Without energy, you cannot do tasks that require energy. Counting calories takes the assumption that calories are bad, and that you should consciously limit the amount of calories. I do not believe you have to consciously limit amount of calories by counting calories. You can just eat until you feel satiated. Counting calories may give off unnecessary anxiety about food.
8. Do Not Use Food To Heal Emotional Pain
Whatever stress we have can have a negative effect on eating patterns. If you are feeling sad, then you should not eat to fill that void. You wouldn't be able to tell when you'd be full and so you may overeat the food accidentally.
9. Focus On Holistic Wellness
I believe that healthy eating habits are the manifestations of a healthy mind, body, and soul. Instead of narrowing down to calories in and calories out all the time, I think more people should take health holistically and improve all facets of everyday life instead of focusing on one part. I believe that people are naturally beautiful when they are healthy, so I reject make-up, form-fitting clothes, perfume, jewelry, and pharmaceutical drugs. Let food be your medicine. If other people reject that, then that's their problem, not yours.
How To Lose Excess Weight Safely, If You Are Overweight
One thing, though Calories do matter. In fact, they're everything. The KINDS of calories you ingest and how much of them tend to dictate. I lost 50 lbs. by simply limiting my caloric intake to a certain amount depending on what I did during the day. If I did a cardio workout, I had 1500 calories; if it was weights, it was about 1250. I kept the fat calories and sugars low, too. You do need energy, of course, but everyone would be shocked at just how few calories we really need to be perfectly functional.
If you don't eat, you'll lose weight. If someone dropped you on a desert island, you will have invariably lost weight in a week, simply because you haven't ingested any calories. :)
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myTake Owner
+1 y
On a desert island, if you don't ingest any water, then you will die within a matter of days. Water is more important than food supply. I suppose you can drink your own urine as a source of water, but water will still be wasted through your sweat glands and feces... and you don't want to eat feces. The most important thing to do on a desert island is to secure a fresh water and food supply.
As for losing weight, I never keep track of them. I just change my habits and eat less than what I usually do. I also cut out processed foods and any type of added sugar. Once you cut down processed foods and added sugar, losing weight is remarkably easy and effortless.
"I also cut out processed foods and any type of added sugar. Once you cut down processed foods and added sugar, losing weight is remarkably easy and effortless."
You slashed calories by a lot doing that. A ton, in fact. You also cut out a lot of bad calories your body didn't need.
If you eat more calories than your body requires, you will gain weight. If you eat less, you will lose weight. This is why the calorie dictates.
I still believe counting calories is too confusing. In my culture, I eat communally. I used to eat a whole bowl of white rice and then I cut that to a tiny fraction. I also load up on vegetables as my main source of carbohydrates. Eating less rice is a good thing, because I don't have to go for a second of vegetables to accompany the rice. So, I just eat one bowl, and I'm full. Meat is limited to 1-2 pieces or a whole chicken drumstick.
Actually Fathoms I'm gonna call you out on this one. You shouldn't LIMIT your calories. You should how many calories you require for your height, and age. If you don't eat enough calories your body will think you're starving and start storing caloric intake as fat cells to ensure it has reserve energy. Restricting your caloric too much is unhealthy and can make you gain body fat. Also there's a difference between weight and fat. Muscle tissue weighs more than fat cells so you can WEIGH more than normal and be perfectly healthy. The matter of how much body fat you have is what you should be looking at. I'm 6" 3' I should weight about 150-185 lbs according to the CDC. I weigh just over 200lbs but I am far from obese or fat. Just some food for thought. (Get it? :D )
@ThatJarHead I still believe that diet is an important part of fat weight. The best way to a good diet is to eat less processed foods and eat less added sugar and eat more fruits and vegetables and legumes. You can only eat so much of those things. They have no message, which causes you to overeat or gain weight. And the amount of sugar in fruits/vegetables/legumes is quite small, so if you eat the same amount visually (a plateful) of fresh fruits/vegetables/legumes as you would for fast food, then you would substantially reduce the amount of calories.
There should be more articles like these around which motivate people in a natural way & not through some short term diat plan or stressing them to count calories in & out.
Instead of a long winded article, you wrote it exactly to the point, that's the reason I liked it the best.
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myTake Owner
+1 y
Agreed. The biggest problem with counting calories is that it does not work for people who tend to eat communally. It only works for people who eat individually. People who eat communally tend to share the same food. The dishes are placed at the center. It's extremely tedious trying to count calories, because the dishes are home-cooked using raw ingredients and no added sugar/coloring/preservative/additive. I believe a change of habits is the key.
Next, I will write an article talking about the faults of the NutriSystem diet, with the same kind of arguments in this myTake.
I knew about NutriSystem, because I stumbled across it at the supermarket. It was so expensive ($50 for a week's supply for one person; my parents don't spend that much in a week on groceries, and the food is shared; so the high cost is probably due to the additional service fees), and my first impression of the box was, "Does it really have food in there?"
I looked it up online on YouTube. TBH, I found the videos quite amusing. Here are people who are trying to lose weight, and so they order these boxes with food to have a regular caloric deficit per day. I believe that NutriSystem is faulty, and I will explain the faults in a future myTake.
I don't believe in detoxifying, in the sense of consuming special foods and teas. I think you already detoxify your system if you reduce processed food. One step farther is to try to follow a vegan diet for a period of time.
I am one of those people that counting calories helps me. It enables me eating a variety of foods, eating more on some days and less on others, it keeps me accountable to myself. I don't bother to measure everything, I mostly do portion control.
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myTake Owner
+1 y
Yes, that is possible. Vegetables and fruits help the body cleanse itself as well as nourish. I would not recommend a vegan diet, though. Instead, an ovo-lacto vegetarian diet may be more suitable and healthier than a meat-free vegan diet.
I never count calories. It gives me a headache. I personally prefer eating a variety of different foods within the fresh vegetable and fruit category. I just eat more vegetables and fruits. 95-99% of my plate must be plant-based, minus staple food.
I don't entirely agree, you can eat honey as I do everyday, what's important is to not go overboard with it, I add 1 tbs in my tea for breakfast it's about 17g of carbs and 60 calories which is fine if you don't eat a lot of carbs and try to eat less than 100g a day.
Also calories are still important if you don't eat low carb and even when you eat low carb you can still overeat.
Other than that I agree👍🏼
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myTake Owner
+1 y
It's not about fatness/obesity/overweightness. Everyone thinks all the diseases are caused by obesity. In reality, they are not. I believe that there is sufficient evidence to conclude that sugar is toxic and can harm fit people as much as fat people. A new WHO guideline recommends adults and children reduce their daily intake of free sugars to less than 10% of their total energy intake. A further reduction to below 5% or roughly 25 grams (6 teaspoons) per day would provide additional health benefits. The liver has to deal with the extra sugar somehow and treats it like any other toxin.
Fruit, on the other hand, is sweet, but it carries mostly water and fiber, making it very low in glycemic load. It also carries nutrients.
Carbohydrate-rich potatoes and whole wheat bread made at home without added sugar and rice are actually good for you; they give you energy, because they break down into glucose.
I believe low-carb diets are among the fad diets I said in the beginning.
I believe that people would do well with fiber-rich sources. Dietary fiber is essentially indigestible sugars. Many fruits have a buttload of fiber, making the absorption low, so it's no wonder that many fruits are quite low on the glycemic load, despite having a lot of sugar.
Fiber can also regulate the digestive process and prevent overeating. You just can't overeat, if you eat a buttload of fiber at every meal. Also, very watery home-made soups made with raw ingredients without added sugar, preservatives, additives, colorings are very filling, because the water fills you up. Soups like that can help deliver your water needs for the day. :D
The final point is the most important one of all! Focusing on wellness is the key to overall health, including weight management.
Mental, emotional and spiritual health are very much ignored in the weight loss process. Too much stress and mental strain about counting calories consumed and calories burned, etc.
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Anonymous
(36-45)
+1 y
My ex boyfriend was 36 stone and I would like to say its the main thing for anyone losing weight is will power - I was larger when younger and lost weight with slimming world and kept it off for 15 years and a pregnancy.
But he despite all the help and support he has had off many people including professionals never maintrains or acheives a significant loss. And won't accept it is a psychological issue as well as physical
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myTake Owner
+1 y
504 pounds? 8O
How does he move around? What does he do for a living? What does he eat everyday?
He was/is quite able I haven't seen him for nearly a year! When we first met I was like his diet chef i made him breakfast, lunch, dinner healthy snacks until 3 weeks in, a friend randomly mentioned they'd seen him in a local eat all you want to takeaway at lunchtime! I was gutted after all my hard work to support him in something he wanted to do.
I know from personal experience of you want to do it you will and no one and nothing will stop you so I supported him from a distance and suggested rather than sitting and complaining to me to see a professional which he did but he just couldn't commit to a new way of life and thinking!
I wasn't bothered about the weight as he was who he was but at 37 and having that weight there's bound to be health issues eventually!!
He hid what he really are so he would eat the meals I cook and God only knows what he ate when out and about!
I used to eat at home for breakfast and dinner, which included staple food and maintained my weight. But my lunch food was eaten at school. My parents told me that I could only buy $10 worth of lunch, but I knew even greater than $5 was too much. So, I usually just bought one meal. I think the love for my parents regulated my diet.
I lost 20lbs in a year from just eliminating junk foods such as soda pop, chips, cookies and other sweets. the only exercise I did was walking daily. I'm still loosing but slowed down a little, so I need more exercise for a 65 yr old guy.
But the main thing here is if u actually stay away from sweets, breads, chips etc. you will loose some weight.
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myTake Owner
+1 y
Definitely. I've watched a documentary about how a low-sugar diet can easily help you lose weight or shed pounds off your belly.
Calories most certainly do matter, more than anything in fact. Also sugar IS at toxin like EVERYTHING is a toxin, Vitamin C is a toxin, water is a toxin. Lastly "detoxs" do nothing, they are just hippie nonsense and have no medical benefits.
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myTake Owner
+1 y
The main purpose of detoxification is to help the liver cleanse the body. Vegetables and fruits, but especially the vegetables, have a lot of antioxidants, which can help the body in the detoxification process. You need to get rid of the junk from the processed food. This will help your body lose weight, because some of those junk are lipid-soluble, and your body wants to hold onto the fat so that it doesn't poison itself.
Detoxes are frauds from Hollywood. Your body natural takes away toxins with your liver. Calories do matter. Thats the only way overweight people will loose weight.
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myTake Owner
+1 y
Fruits and vegetables are important. They help your body clean itself with a ready supply of antioxidants.
Yes, calories do matter. It's the excessive concern of calories-in-calories-out that may not be helpful for everyone.
Also, commuting on a real bicycle is a work-out and a more productive exercise than sitting on an exercise bike, especially if you live in a hilly area.
Completely eliminating processed food and added sugars in your diet can easily cut down 20 pounds. Along with cooking home-made meals with real food and doing housework. Soon, you'll be 150 pounds in no time! :D
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