Three Tips for Successful Weight Loss

Weight loss isn't just about eating less food. Healthy eating can accelerate your efforts in losing weight. The following are three tips to not only be healthy, but also to lose weight quickly.

Enjoy the Foods You Eat

Weight loss shouldn't be a chore. If you believe the only foods good for you are those foods that taste badly, then you're facing an uphill battle right from the start. Instead look at eating as a part of life, and find those foods that you enjoy (and maybe eat slightly less of them). Look to obtain a better balance so that while eating the foods you enjoy, also add some foods that are not processed, such as fruits and vegetables.

You can even start off with just those fruits and vegetables that you currently like and then experiment with expanding to that list, all while looking to maintain a balance between these fresh foods and the foods that may not be the healthiest. Given time, you may find that you acquire a taste for healthy foods.

Try some new recipes. If you don't like raw vegetables, try some steamed ones. If they taste too bland, try adding some spices. You'll find that as you lose weight and get more energy, your body will start craving these better feelings of health by wanting more of those healthier foods.

Believe in Yourself

Belief is yourself is a necessary component to achieving your goal. If you don't believe what you are doing will work, eventually you'll give up. Some people quit and blame it on the food, or blame it on where they live, or that they work too many hours to really eat any good food. But in the end, it all comes down to saying to yourself, "I'm going to do it, no matter what."

Food may be considered an addiction and the best way to break an addiction is a gradual leading away from the addictive habit, rather than a "snap" withdrawal (a "snap" withdrawal is bound for failure). Don't worry as much about those calories, just tell yourself that you're going to eat a "little" less and then supplement the difference with healthier foods.

Eat Smaller, More Frequent Meals

Successful weight loss involves not hoarding food. Your body hoards the food you eat if you have infrequent, large meals. Weight loss success appears to be in eating smaller meals, frequently throughout the day (4-6 meals spread out every couple hours). Although smaller meals doesn't mean 4-6 TV dinners every 2 hours. The successful way is have a regular breakfast, lunch and dinner, and then in-between there's some light snacking, such as a protein bar or meal replacement powder(Muscle Milk from Cytosport is really good for this).

Try to have some fruit and/or vegetables with the breakfast, lunch and dinner. And if a special occasion happens and a piece of cake comes your way, enjoy it without guilt. The key is to be in control and not overdo it ... and don't allow any feelings of guilt to overcome your belief in yourself.

Make sure that you don't starve yourself. If you start to feel extremely hungry, then you're probably waiting too long between meals. You see, your body adjusts to the conditions you place on it. If you wait to eat, then your body will adjust by storing more food from the next incoming meal when you finally do eat. The net effect of the habit of waiting is just as if you ate a large meal, as your body stores more of the food, but you don't get the benefit of eating more food. This is how the downward weight loss failure spiral works (the person eats less, the body stores more of the food, yet the individual feels more tired).

Having four to six meals per day will work if you pace yourself. If you are not hungry when it is time to eat meal number two, the next day adjust meal one so that it doesn't fill you up so much. On the other hand, if you are starving by the time meal two comes around, change meal one so that you are more satisfied (by eating a little more, or adding some healthy fats, or trying some different new foods).

Eating can be a pleasure. It is something we are blessed with and something to be enjoyed. Adjust yourself to eat when you are ready, not when it is time. When you feel it is time to eat, eat something (it's ok to give yourself permission to do so). Strive for that balance to not have hunger pains and also a balance between processed and natural foods. Try this for a few weeks and you'll find that you'll believe in yourself to achieve your goal.

It will happen for you and I'll be so happy for you. Done this way, the weight loss can last you a lifetime, while the health benefits will increase the everyday quality of life for you.

Copyright (c) 2006.