10 Tips For Successful Weightloss

by Samantha Reardon

Eat Less Fat - Everyone knows that eating less fat helps you lose weight. The only problem is that some people will eat fat-free foods in larger amounts.

1) Eat Less Fat- Everyone knows that eating less fat helps you lose weight. The only problem is that some people will eat fat-free foods in larger amounts. This is not a good idea. Fat-free foods still have calories, and if you are eating more calories than you are burning off you will not lose weight.

2) Exercise- Exercise is a very important part of losing weight and keeping it off. You can't burn calories if you are sitting on the couch watching T.V. You should try to exercise at least 5 times a week, 30 minutes each time. You could also work out for 10 minutes 3 times a day, and it would be just as affective as a 30 minute session.

3) Eat Slowly- This is a very easy technique for weight loss. It has been proven that it takes the brain about 20 minutes to start signaling feelings of fullness. If you eat to fast, you will end up eating more than you need to to be full. Take smaller bites and just try to take at least 30 minutes to eat your meal.

4) Lift Weights- The reason this will help you lose weight is simple. The more muscle tissue you have, the more calories you will burn. Muscle is active tissue and fat is not. This means that muscle will "burn" a good number of calories a day just for it's own maintenance.

5) Remember To Lose Weight SLOWLY- Losing weight fast is not healthy, and you most likely won't keep the weight off. When you are losing weight too fast, you are most likely losing water and muscle and not fat. This is not good because you need the water and muscle to keep your metabolism level elevated. You want a weight loss of no more than 2-3 pounds a week.

6) Keep a Food Diary- Keeping a food diary can really help in your quest to lose weight. Spend some time every day to record what you have eaten and how much, how hungry you were before you ate, and any emotions existent at that time. Keeping a food diary can provide a large amount of self-awareness. It can help to identify emotions that lead to overeating, make you more aware of your portion sizes, and help you discover your personal food triggers. By studying the diary you will probably notice patterns, then you can make some conscious behavioral changes to fix the problems.

7) Eat Smaller Portions- These days the portions you get from restaurants are huge. Just because someone puts a huge plate of food in front of you doesn't mean you have to eat it all. You should always eat slow, and stop eating when you are full, not when you are stuffed.

8) Focus More on Being Healthy, Not on "Getting Skinny"- Studies have shown that trying to be healthier will end up in healthy weight loss. Trying to get "skinny" will usually end up in unhealthy weight loss that will just come back. Try to focus on picking out healthy foods, not foods you think will make you "skinny". It is suggested that you follow the food pyramid for optimal health.

9) Get Support- A big part of long term weight control comes from receiving encouragement and support from others. Look around your area for any kind of weight loss support groups.

10) Find Your Emotional Connection- Most of the time overeating is caused by some kind of emotion. It could be stress, boredom, loneliness, anger, depression, and the list goes on. You should try to learn about your personal eating triggers and then learn how to react to them without food. If you feel that your emotional connection to food is too strong then you can seek help from a licenced counselor or psychologist in your area.