How To Really Lose Weight Without Dieting

It's a question that most of us have if we've been on one diet after another for many years and are looking to become naturally slim - how to really lose weight without going on yet another diet?

I think it is important to give yourself a break first of all. Dieting for years and years has created a certain mind-set that needs to be adjusted and just like any other habit, this takes time and patience to get right. It is easy to become frustrated when we don't do everything perfectly and this can create a strong temptation to jump back on a diet where we feel comfortable and safe - at least until we realise that it is not working for us yet again.

What a lot of ex-dieters don't understand is that it takes perseverance to make new permanent changes. Yes, you can learn how to really lose weight and become naturally slim, but you have to put some work in up front to get you there. So here is one simple tool that can help you take some positive steps forward?

It's called tracking...

Now if the thought of tracking your food makes you want to run for the hills - I don't mean counting calories, carbs or fat grams, I mean noticing and understanding what is going on when you want to eat and whether it is true hunger or in response to something else.

I would start with a simple page with the following column headers:

• Time
• Am I hungry?
• What do I want to eat?
• Did I stop when I was satisfied?
• How am I feeling?

Tracking is so revealing and once you identify certain triggers, you can start working on each of them individually. As you master one area, you move on to the next and will soon start seeing results.

For example: Let’s say you get an urge to eat a lot at around 3pm every day at work and you track your eating and discover that you crave something sweet. This is great information because now you can start asking yourself some questions about this such as:

• Do I want food because I am hungry?
• Do I want food because it's a habit to eat around this time?
• Do I want food because it is putting off doing something else that I don't want to do?
• Do I crave something sweet because work or another area of my life isn't feeling so sweet right now?
• Are certain emotions making me feel like eating?

Once you get some answers, you can then start looking for different ways to deal with them. It may be that you need to pack a healthy snack to avoid that afternoon dip or that something at work is difficult so eating gives you a break from it? It is only when you start identifying the root cause that you can make a decision to do something different.

If you notice a certain pattern, I would focus my efforts into changing this one only until you feel you have conquered it and started making some permanent new habits - maybe saving a healthy snack if you feel you energy levels dip or taking a regular mid-afternoon walk to get you away from your desk for 10 minutes.

Once you have that one mastered, you can move onto the next, and the next...until one day you will see that the results are starting to happen naturally.

You will soon learn how to really lose weight without dieting when you use this method as you will be focusing on the habits rather than the food. After all, if it were just about knowing what food to eat or not eat, you wouldn't be reading this in the first place! Tracking really is a simple but effective tool that can help you on your quest to become naturally slim by understanding challenging areas and helping you to make some permanent changes.

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