Weight Loss: The Most Important and The Most Neglected Tip

important and neglected weight loss tips

Hello my angels! I wanted to dedicate a whole post to this one tip that is so important if you’re on a journey of weight loss but it is also the most unknown and neglected tip. Not a lot of people know about it because it’s quite a small thing to do but it makes a big difference. I have talked about it in one of my previous posts but I didn’t emphasis how significant it is. It’s one of the tip that health experts swear by so read more to check it out ..

PREVIOUS POSTDiet Mistakes: 7 Reasons You Are Not Losing Weight

So the big tip is all about portion size. Yup! That’s it. It may sound such a small thing now but wait until you try it. You’ll be really surprised with the results no matter how much weight you have to lose. So let me tell you my personal experience with this.

My Personal Experience:

weight loss progress

In my family, we all have a stubborn fat-belly-gene. It’s quite awkward to talk about but I also want to prove how effective it is. So here I was, a 16 year old teenager google-ing how to lose belly fat really fast. And trust me I have tried a lot of things before and none of them gave me a long term result so I was a little desperate. Then I came across this article where they explained the diet mistakes of losing belly fat and that’s where I came across this life-changing tip. So of course out of desperation I tried it out for 2 weeks and it worked wonders. Every morning I woke up with a flat stomach and throughout the day I felt so energized and I didn’t have to starve myself. In fact I ate more meals than an average teen and still had some pretty good toned belly. My friends at school were always surprised by the number of times I ate throughout the day and still maintain a toned body.

Then my final school year came and I kind of started over-loading myself due to all the exam stress. I didn’t gain weight anywhere else but my belly and I was stuck with it again. So after pulling myself together I got back on the portioned plan and after only 2-3 weeks I had my flat belly again. I didn’t even do any intense workouts. I just did some moderate core workouts once or twice a week with no consistency.

Now I workout when I feel like I want to which is twice a week. I eat healthy most of the time and I don’t force myself not to eat junk food. I eat everything in moderation. If I want to eat a muffin I’ll eat it but I’ll keep in mind how much I should eat a certain type of food. Below are some of my recent photos just to show you guys my progress 🙂

SAMSUNG CSC SAMSUNG CSC

So what is the whole deal with portion size?

Basically you’re supposed to eat every meal in a certain portion.

Every important meal like breakfast, lunch and dinner should be the amount of food that can fit in your two palms.

And every other meal or snack time should be the amount of food you can fit in your one palm. The picture below should give you an idea into the portion sizes.

Pay attention if you are actually hungry or thirsty because most of us eat when we are just thirsty. Be mindful to what your body is telling you.

Don’t eat until you over load yourself or feel bloated. Try mindful eating which means you eat without any distractions of T.V or your computer. Appreciate each and every bite and eat slowly taking in every flavor. This will help your stomach digest food easier and quicker boosting your metabolism.

FUN FACT: Recent research has found that when our mind is distracted during a meal, the digestive process may be 30-40% less effective.

This is because if you over-load your stomach, it will take much more energy and time to digest it and if some food cannot be digested, it is stored as fat. But if you eat in smaller portions, not only it will digest faster but you’ll be able to eat much more through out the day without gaining weight because nothing is stored as fat. Every bit of food is broken down and passed out of our digestive system easily and quickly.

FUN FACT: In the 1960s, the average hamburger was 4 oz, the fries were 3 oz, and the drink was 10 oz. Today, the average hamburger is 7.6 oz, the fries are 7 oz. and the drink is 32 oz. A Supersized Value Meal can contain over 2,000 calories – more than many of us need to eat in an entire day! This is one of the main reasons the obesity rates are increasing in the western world.

bagel portions

It’s also important you don’t eat 2 hours before your bed time. You don’t want the food to sit in your belly while you’re sleeping. If you get hungry, just grab a small healthy snack like a small fruit or dry fruits or any food that is easily digested.

How do I control portion sizes and stick with it?

If you are used to eating large portions every day you might find it difficult to stick with this plan. But here are some ways you can easily lose weight and keep your portions under control:

  • Use smaller cutlery. Use a salad plate for your dinner rather than the big dinner plate.
  • When you’re eating in a restaurant, tell the staff in advance to pack half the meal for takeaway. I always do this even though it may be a bit awkward because I care more about my body than what other people will think of me.
  • Eat slowly so your stomach can breakdown the food faster and mindful eating has actually been proven scientifically to help in weight loss.
  • If the mind is focused on more than one task while eating, critical signals that regulate food intake may not be received by the brain. If the brain fails to receive these signals such as the sensation of taste and satisfaction, it may not register the event as “eating”. When this happens, your brain continues to send out hunger signals, increasing your risk of overeating.

  • Include bigger portions of veggies and smaller portions of dessert to avoid binge eating and keep our cravings under control.
  • To avoid the temptation of over eating, pack away the extra food or leftovers in the fridge before you sit down to eat your meal.
  • When snacking or eating desserts, remember to eat only the amount that would fit in your one palm.
  • Only eat when you feel hungry. Otherwise just drink some water or a healthy drink like green tea or lemon and honey water. Avoid super-sized cold drinks or anything you haven’t made yourself like coca-cola, Pepsi and especially energy drinks.

I hope these tips help you in your journey of weight loss <3

If this post helped you please share and subscribe to my blog.

Take Care

post signature

References:

http://www.moneycrashers.com/portion-distortion-control-food-portion-sizes-obesity/

http://www.yummymummyclub.ca/food/eating/mindful-eating-roadblocks#sthash.Pt6PWkEY.dpuf

http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/PDFs/justenough.pdf