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Never Be A Dumb Weight Watcher Again

Health

Never Be A Dumb Weight Watcher Again

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In my article last week on weight watching and eating well, I explained how we all share a love-hate relationship with food.  Through the example of Melissa, I pointed out how this distorted relationship affects us.

I’m sure those of you who tried to follow the 3-step process of eating whatever you want and still maintaining a healthy weight, must now be wondering if they are walking on the right path.

So, today I’m gonna give out 10 habits of healthy weight watchers, like you, who have mastered this “Art of weight loss (and guilt loss)” and are now enjoying their food, their bodies and their life like no one out there.

Ask these 10 questions to yourself and  know where you stand and how far you need to go.

10 habits of healthy weight watchers

Am I eating everything, from pizza to fries to kale salad?

Why doing this is important?

Everyday and Everything I EatingThe best part of following an intuitive eating lifestyle is that you get to eat everything – no judgement and nothing spared. The only thing you need to take care of is, moderation.

No food is good or bad. So forbid nothing and eat everything.

If you ever face a dilemma (thanks, but no thanks to the millions of researchers defaming sugar and cheese), start thinking on lines of nourishment. Compare what your body needs more today – a sinful taste or a heavenly body. You’ll always have the answer.

Am I eating only when I’m physically hungry?

Why doing this is important? 

If you start have a particular food when dealing with stress or emotional instability, the enhanced glucose level help you feel better. And this can trick you brain into thinking that that  food is your “go-to” when confronted again with a similar situation.

Hence, to stay on track of your fitness resolution, this is one thing where you’d need to consciously and continuously use your will power on.

Eat only when you are physically  hungry and rest of the times, i.e., times of emotional distress, head to the gym, run, walk, or engage yourself in a creative pursuit. Not only would this cut down on your caloric intake but help you burn more and reach your goal faster.eating and portion size

Do I stop eating when I’m comfortably full?

Why doing this is important? 

This is equally important as the step above.

With every bite you take, your hunger levels go down a bit too. At one point, you begin to feel full, but we continue to eat for reasons like, “I like this food”, “I paid for it”, etc. Do not fall into that trap. Leave the bowl and get up from the table once you’re done.

Am I timing my meals properly?

Why doing this is important? 

Never forget: Moderation is the key.

food-clock

Let’s suppose on one day you really want to have a pizza or a chocolate. What do you do? You can have it for lunch for sure. But at the same time you’re scared you might stuff in some empty calories.

So, do it like this: Order a light healthy snack and a pizza too. First have the snack, as this will satiate your hunger. Then pizza will satiate your desire.

Have few bites of chocolate as a dessert. This way you get the best of both worlds.

Takeaway: When you are hungry, you tend to eat more of your favorite food and enjoy it less. On a full stomach, you are better able to appreciate its taste and texture.

Have I discarded my habit of “making-up-for-it-later”?

Food and feelings go hand in hand. When we are emotionally overwhelmed, we eat. And when we are guilty of eating something that affects in a negative way, well, we again eat!

Few people may even try to work out more for that indulgence or restrict themselves to certain foods in an attempt to making it up for the mistake. To follow intuitive eating pattern, one needs to discard this habit.

Why doing this is important? 

Because this makes you overeat in the next meal. So this is what you should do – take up the habit of making up for it earlier. For instance, if you know there is a sumptuous dinner planned later in the evening and you wouldn’t be able to resist from indulging, then have a lighter lunch. Don’t just skip it altogether or exert more at the gym.

Learn the trick to balance and enjoy every party.

Have I stopped skipping breakfast?

In spite of recent shaming of breakfast, I still endorse the fact that one should never miss breakfast, especially a diligent weight watcher.

Why doing this is important? 

Same reason, it is the first meal of the day and first meal
breakfastsince your last dinner, after a gap of probably 10 hours. Skipping breakfast will not only lead you to snack more before lunch and feel ravenous during the lunch hour, it’d also slow down your metabolism. Thus, hampering your weight loss pace.

And haven’t we already agreed on not skipping any meals??

Have I vowed to give myself a treat every once in a while?

Why doing this is important? 

We do not realize it, but the only way to train our brains is by “rewarding” it. Whenever you go about a week of great weight watching, reward yourself with a little treat on weekend. This is in confluence with you intuitive eating as well as help you have your favorites. You’ll be looking forward to a weekend!

But this calls for abstaining those items during the week. Now, this is tricky. We know intuitive eating translates to getting to eat whatever you want. So we stuff our refrigerators with gelato and chocolates? No! This is wrong.diet-joke

Eat whatever you want, but if you feel the temptation during one of those “non-treat” days, vow to walk up to the store and have it there. And even there, do not go for the family-size package. Choose one that will satiate your desire.

Remember, it’s just a temptation, not hunger!

Do I understand the difference between a snack and a treat?

Why doing this is important? 

Snack is something you have to forestall hunger, while treat is something you have for pleasure. Clearly, when you go for treat you’d be ordering a bigger serving size. Nuts, fruits, popcorn are snacks, while chocolate is a treat.

What if you switched these two?

When I said, eat only when you’re physically hungry, I had no intention of shaming snacks. Having snacks is actually good for you as it disallows you to get too hungry. In fact, snacking on your favorite foods can be a good option to control your binge eating habit since, the serving size would be much smaller than a whole meal.

So first understand what according to you is a snack and a treat and then switch their places. You’ll be much happier!

Do I feel I have the right to enjoy my life?

Most people plan their schedules in a manner that they eat to feed their bodies, rather than enjoy their food.

Why doing this is important? 

How do you expect to have a healthy happy relationship with your spouse or partner if you do not dedicate proper time and attention to him/her?people who love to eat

Chuck romance, no relationship will sustain if you do not foster it appropriately. The same is true for you relationship with food.

Do not try to have a smoothie on the go or gulp in sandwich and noodles while looking at the client’s files. Settle down in the chair, take a breather, and give yourself this right and permission to enjoy food.

You are worth it and with all the hard work done in the last 4 hours, you deserve to have a nice quite meal.

Has my weighing scale stopped frightening me?

weighing scale

Why this is important? 

This is one of the primary fears of anyone presented with the concept of intuitive eating: If I’m allowed to eat whatever I want, I will eat everything and will gain more weight rather than losing it.

Well, if you go back to my last post and read how your first few weeks would be like with intuitive eating, you’ll know this stage is inevitable. But you need to get rid of the weighing machine for a few months so that your body has sufficient time to adjust to this concept and your mind learns to enjoy food.

Once both your mind and body get into this mode, you’ll be eating only that amount which your body actually needs. You wouldn’t be afraid of your hunger, your cravings, and neither your weight, since you’d have learnt to live happy.

Happy Eating!bacon and happiness

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