There are major life events that women go through – for example, going on the contraceptive pill, pregnancy and menopause – that bring their own weight challenges.
Gaining weight isn’t inevitable, though. There’s plenty you can do to combat weight gain as you go through different life stages and as you age. But turning to diets and the ever-so-popular four, eight and 12-week online weight loss programs isn’t the answer. Science has proven that these only accelerate weight gain, not reverse it.
Start with these five simple tips:
1. Weigh yourself just once per week
Body weight fluctuates enormously from day-to-day and therefore it is important to just monitor the trend over time. Weekly weighing is best – pick the time and day that you prefer and record your weight each week.
2. Eat more, not less
Dieting has led us to believe that we should be restricting the volume of food we put into our body. However, when you deprive yourself of food, your body shuts down by lowering its metabolism. Instead, you should be focusing on eating more food – plenty of nutrient-rich food will help speed up your metabolism and help you with your weight loss goals and prevent weight regain.
3. Impose ‘diet breaks’ every second month
New research has shown you can prevent your body fighting itself and prevent weight regain by losing weight in short 4-week intervals using the Interval Weight Loss method. Every second month you should aim to maintain your weight from the month before to prevent your body working differently. When you lose weight with diets and the ever-so-popular 4, 8 and 12-week online weight loss programs, your body fights itself – your appetite hormones change, telling you to eat more, and your metabolism drops so you burn less fat. This is why you regain the weight you lose.
4. Retrain your brain
We have a very hard time saying ‘no’ to our favourite foods, however, foods that are naturally high in sugar and fat, such as avocado, nuts and fruit, release the same feel-good pleasure response in the brain as processed and fast food. Surround yourself with these foods to avoid the temptation of going to the vending machine or visiting your favourite take-away outlet.
5. Don’t count calories
Counting calories is a complete waste of time. Your body is far smarter than calories in versus calories out, and many nutrition labels and calorie-counting apps are not accurate. Take nuts and vegetables, for example, 20% of the calories from nuts are not absorbed in the body and these are the very foods that will help on your long-term weight loss journey, not hinder it.
For more information, visit www.intervalweightloss.com.
This story was originally published on The Carousel.
