How to lose weight with the gym or cooking.

The decision to lose weight is a powerful and decisive moment. Often the next thoughts are, “how the hell am I going to do it?”

Most will have a plan, a diet or a schedule that will help, support and give confidence to the task ahead. Like all moments of clarity and creativity, deciding to lose weight is an exciting moment, a moment of hope and positivity. But, it is always followed by the long road of reality, the road less travelled, the road with signs of doubt, “is this working? Am I losing weight?”

Like any A to B journey, the trick is to keep going. Do not get distracted and do not go down an old road. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. If you are always engaged in the weight loss process, you will ALWAYS lose weight. It’s a guarantee.

There are many ways to skin the weight loss cat, here are four simple and super effective ways you can help yourself drop the unwanted pounds.

1. Drink water

The simple act of drinking pure water everyday will help anyone to lose weight. You need to drink 1 litre per 25kg of body weight. So, the heavier you are, the more water you should be drinking. If you weigh 80kg plus, you should be drinking more water than someone who weighs 50kg.

Drinking water can increase your metabolism by 16% per day and act as an appetite suppressant. As your brain is made of 73% water, cognitive response and concentration levels are improved massively by consuming enough water. Being more switched on mentally will help you make better decisions throughout your day, which in turn, makes it more likely your discipline with food will hold out.

2. Breathe

Without doubt the cheapest (free) and most effective use of time in a weight loss process is sitting still and engaging in a breath awareness regime. We are all in the middle of super stressful times and when stress is over the curve and a negative emotion, weight gain becomes more likely.

Comfort eating ones way though a family pack of cookies is common. Also, stress messes with your hormones. When we are stressed we secrete cortisol which in turn elevates our blood sugars and can lead to weight gain, in particular around the mid-section of our bodies.

So, sitting still EVERY day and quietly observing our breath can reduce stress significantly. The simple act of breathing slowly in and out of the nose, has been proven to reduce stress and anxiety.

There are a lot of apps to help you in this most effective of mindfulness practices. But, don’t be fooled by the short term hit of 5 or 10 minutes. Commit to at least 20 minutes. This will give you time to truly process the information your brain has to deal with on a daily basis.

Research at The Journal of Medicine and Life found,

“Mindfulness training based on cognitive therapy and appropriate dietary regime had about 97% impact on the weight loss of obese individuals.”

3. Chew your food

The simple act of consciously eating your food will have an impact on how the food you are eating is distributed as energy. And in time it will allow you to reduce the portion size of your meals. Mastication — the act of chewing ones food — is something you can influence by observing when food hits your mouth. Slowing down the chewing process allows the brain time to acknowledge what is happening and prepare the body’s digestive system more effectively.

Studies have shown that chewing 32 times each mouthful is optimal. Chewing food properly has also been shown to reduce the amount of snacking between meals. The more you chew, the less you eat.

A study in 2014 found,

“Food intake in the sessions with 150% and 200% of their baseline number of chews was reduced significantly, by 9.5% and 14.8%, respectively, compared with the 100% session. Increasing the number of chews also prolonged meal duration and reduced eating rate.”

So, the more study participants chewed, the less they ate. Increasing the number of chews also made their meal last longer. 32 chews may seem excessive, but it’s worth a try and it’s unlikely to detract from the enjoyment of your meal. A great tip passed on by my grandmother was, if you put down your cutlery in-between mouthfuls you will slow down the intake of food sufficiently, and naturally chew more.

4. Visualise

Losing weight and getting in shape can often be an uncertain journey. Not really knowing whether your chosen method will work or not, is challenging. So, it is extremely important to be clear of what your goal is and what you want to look like.

As Jack Canfield says in his book The Success Principles, “Some psychologists are now claiming that one hour of visualisation is worth 7 hours of physical effort. That’s a tall claim, but it makes an important point — visualisation is one of the strongest tools in your success toolbox. Make sure you use it.”

Close your eyes and see yourself (x) pounds lighter. How does it feel to walk once you have lost your weight? How do your clothes feel? What does your reflection look like? How does it feel to have achieved your goals?

Creating what we think, happens every moment of every day both on a macro and micro level, we simply choose not to notice. Think of the last time you desperately wanted something and you got it. You were crystal clear about who you wanted to become or what you wanted to have. And it happened.

You have to be crystal clear with weight loss too. Obviously, you need to be realistic and work within your body type and genetic inheritance, but neither of these factors are a reason to fail. If you have old photos of yourself at the weight goal you are aiming for, display them somewhere in the house so you can look at them everyday.

It is essential you see yourself in the future looking and acting the way you want. Integrating positive choices over time will deliver the new you. You simply need to be clear exactly what that new you looks and feels like.

So, ask yourself, “what will I look like in ten years?” The answer can be anything you want. Anything is possible. Simple habitual changes will take time to integrate into your life, but can 100% be done. Small positive steps over time will deliver a new and improved you. So, be clear with what you want and don’t stop working towards it everyday.

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