Is weight loss one of your goals for 2009?
If so, these 10 simple steps will help you:
- Drink a glass of water first thing each morning. Before you even get out of bed, drink a full glass of water. As well as hydrating your body and giving you more natural energy than a cup of coffee will, starting the day off like this will give your metabolism a kick start, making it more efficient at burning calories for the whole day.
- Never eat in front of the TV. Daytime and evening snacking while watching television is contributing greatly to many people's weight gain. It's a dangerous habit because you're not concentrating on the food you eat - your attention is on the programmes you're viewing. How often have you got to the end of an evening and wondered where the whole packet of crisps or bar of chocolate went?
- Drink a glass of water 20 minutes before meals. This will reduce your appetite and give your metabolism another boost.
- Serve meals on smaller plates. Our minds expect a meal to fill a plate, and many people won't leave the table until their plate is empty, so switching to smaller plates has several benefits. Remember, after a meal you should feel comfortably satisfied, not painfully full.
- Eat meals at the dining table. Turn off the TV, put away the tray that allows you to balance your dinner on your lap, and set the dining table. Get rid of distractions and concentrate on the food you are eating. Really notice the smell, the different textures, the colours.
- Chew each mouthful 20 times. Granted, I don't know who you live with, but I'd guess that nobody is going to steal your food if you don't eat it super fast. Savour the taste of the food that you have spend your money purchasing and your time preparing.
- Put your knife and fork down after each mouthful. Once you place food in your mouth, set your knife and fork down on the table and concentrate on the mouthful you are enjoying. Most people are too busy getting their next mouthful on their fork to concentrate on the food already in their mouth!
- Stop eating pudding. There are generally two kinds of people in the world - those who eat pudding each day, and those who don't. Seriously. Pudding is usually a habit you either develop or don't, it's rarely eaten because people are still hungry. If you've finished your evening meal and are honestly still hungry, you'll be much better off having some fruit or cereal than a high-calorie dessert.
- Don't go food shopping hungry. Make sure you do your food shopping after you have eaten. This greatly reduces the chances of you adding countless items to your trolley because you 'fancy' them. If you know you don't have the willpower to go shopping without buying junk food (even after dinner), shop online.
- Always have a shopping list. For the man or woman without a shopping list, supermarkets are dangerous places. Before you know it, you end up doing the "we'll just go down every aisle so we don't forget anything"... which usually leads to a trolley full of non-essentials and something important like toothpaste being forgotten.
