6 healthy habits for weight loss

Weight loss is 70 percent diet changes and 30 per cent exercise. If you want to lose weight effectively, it is important to follow a few healthy practices. ‘I’ve realised that the secret to good habits — for nutrition, or anything else — is to know yourself. For instance, some people do better when they give up a temptation all together, others when they indulge in moderation…You have to think about what works for you,’ huffingtonpost.com quoted Gretchen Rubin author of the upcoming book on habits, ‘Better Than Before’, as saying. Below are a few such habits that you can adopt for weight loss. Also read: Mindful eating – tips to master the art.

Stock up on healthy foods: We tend to eat what we buy and keep around the house. It is, therefore so important to stock up on healthy foods. Keep fresh fruit and veggies handy which you can grab and eat easily. Some of it are baby carrots, apples, pears, berries. Buy whole grains instead of white bread products including oatmeal, brown rice, and whole wheat breads. Keep healthy protein options around for instance nuts and seeds, fresh turkey breast, and eggs. Try not to keep soda, cookies, and sugary cereals around. Here are 7 healthy snacks for weight loss.

Eat sitting down: When you eat meals while you are sitting down, you tend to eat more slowly, enjoy what you are eating, and may even end up eating less. When you eat standing, you often do not even realize that you are eating. If you want a scoop of ice cream, instead of eating straight from the pint, place a portion in a bowl, sit down, and enjoy it. It’s also great to eat with others and enjoy the social experience of dining. Here are more reasons to sit on the floor and eat.

Drink water instead of liquid calories: Limiting liquid calories is one of the simplest ways to cut out calories and sugar. Sweetened drinks like soda provide no nutritional value and are just empty calories. Diet sodas also provide no nutritional value, taste too sweet, and do not help most of us lose weight. So why even bother drinking them? Instead, get into the habit of opting for water. They will keep you hydrated without providing any calories. Try drinking a glass of water before eating each meal or snack, and you may just end up eating less. But if do want a change of taste, here are 5 drinks for weight loss.

Snack on fruit instead of chips: It really is pretty easy to eat fruit if you keep it handy. Opt for a variety of fresh fruit in season, and plan for it. So often, we grab a bag of chips because it is convenient. Choosing fruit can also be convenient, if we set it up that way. The trick is to either know where to get fruit if you are out, or to stock it in your fridge, and bring it along if you are going to be out all day. Throw an apple in your bag on your way to work; this will help to ensure that you eat it if you need a mid-morning snack.

Eat a colourful salad or vegetables every day: Eating salads are a great way to get a variety of nutrients without too many calories. The different colours of vegetables impart different nutrients, so it’s best to choose a colourful variety. Here are 5 salad recipes.

Put leftovers away: Leaving leftovers sitting out on the counter signals ‘eat me’. It is so hard to resist temptation when food is just sitting around. Why tempt yourself? Simply store them in the fridge and eat them later as a snack or next day for breakfast. But don’t make this a habit as reheating food too many times can have ill-effects. Here’s how to reheat food.

With inputs from IANS

Photo source: Getty images

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