Are you a stress eater? Do you have the tendency to binge when you’re under a lot of pressure or feeling sad? If eating comforts you, you may not be aware that you are binging on food already when you’re stressed out.
Every time you feel the need to be comforted, your subconscious mind immediately tells you that food will give instant gratification.
Or do you simply love food?
Where Did All Those Extra Pounds Come From?
Before you start on your weight loss program, you should first figure out what your trigger factors are.
If you’re a stress eater, you should also work on how to relieve yourself of stress without resorting to food binges or any other activity that will negatively impact your overall well-being.
If you simply love food, well, perhaps it’s time to cut back on the loving and concentrate on healthy living.
Next, look at your regular diet. What does it consist of? Do you regularly eat chips and dips? Do you have fruits and vegetables in your diet? Are you fond of sodas?
If you answered yes to any of the food choices mentioned, it’s time to cut down on your calorie intake.
How Many Calories Do You Need Per Day?
There are tools and formulas online that can help you determine how many calories your body needs per day. However, to be on the safe side, it is best that you talk to a dietitian, nutritionist or even your physician about your daily dose of calories.
Talk to your doctor about your goal. How many pounds do you want to lose? For that matter, what is your ideal weight? Again, there are online tools that can help you determine what your ideal weight is.
There are several factors to consider here such as your gender, height and age.
Once you have determined what your ideal weight is, you will have an idea of just how many pounds you need to lose in order to reach the weight that’s just right for your body type.
Find Substitutes
Learn how to substitute foods so you still get to eat good food without all the calories. Also, try to eliminate food that your body doesn’t need.
Say for instance, you usually take your meals with one can of soda. Do you know that, on average, one can of soda contains approximately two hundred and fifty calories?
If you drink a regular can of soda twice per day, that’s already 500 calories – unhealthy calories too, because it’s all sugar!
If your goal is to take about 1,200 calories per day, you’ve already wasted five hundred of those on a non-essential drink. Look at all the empty calories you’re taking and eliminate them from your diet.
Cutting down on three C’s will greatly help you achieve your ideal weight: Cakes, Chips and Candies.
The most ideal thing to do is of course to take these out of your diet altogether but if it’s not something you’d want to do, you should at least limit your intake of these.
If you’re craving for a quick snack, instead of reaching for ice cream or chocolates, eat an apple or other fruits. Fruits are nutritional and healthy. They can also help you with your sweet cravings.
Lastly, cut down on the dressing, avoid fast foods as much as possible and prepare your own food as much as you can, too. Take-outs are faster and much less of a hassle but they are also the quicker route to gaining those extra pounds.
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