The Sprout

5 Things: Losing Weight

Posted by Sam (Sub-Editor) from Cardiff - Published on 23/01/2012 at 10:12
4 comments » - Tagged as Food & Drink, Health, Sport & Leisure

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Yn Gymraeg

Hey guys we’re starting a new strand in 2012 and it’s called 5 Things. Basically it is five tips on how do to something, learn something new, avoid something or how to dig yourself out of something. It’s advice and knowledge and generally useful stuff.

As with all things on theSprout, we want you guys to get involved and contribute your own 5 Things as well but I’ll kick things off with something possibly topical after recent seasonal excesses - losing weight.

I better put in a disclaimer: These tips might not work for everyone and just to cover my behind, this is my advice and not theSprout’s and I’m not saying everyone has to lose weight, it’s just that if you want to here’s some tips, but if you’re happy then great. I should probably put a link into the eating disorder section too. OK so here goes…

1. Eat Breakfast

Bit of a ‘duh’ moment but if you don’t, you’ll feel ruddy hunger later and the problem will be that healthy food on the go is not always easy to find (ever seen an apple in a vending machine?). If you’re in a rush, grab some fruit or a (sensible) cereal bar as you bolt out of the door.

2. Eat Veg

Fill up on low-calorie, high-fibre fruit and vegetables (peas, spinach, peppers, pumpkin, apricots, grapefruit, strawberries) rather than white bread and so forth. Filling foods will satiate your hunger without weighing you down.

3. Eat Slower

I have no science to back me up on this but I find that if I don’t cram my face with food and calm it down, I tend to eat less. Using chopsticks rather than standard cutlery will help with this.

4. Exercise

Yeah I had to stick it in but I’ll say this - do exercise that you enjoy. Crank the tunes up and dance your socks off. Go ride a bike somewhere scenic. Do step-aerobics while watching telly. Don’t try and run two miles or join a gym straight-away if you’re not used to exercise, ease yourself back in to it.

5. Don’t Expect Instant Results

Unfortunately losing weight takes a lot longer than putting it on so don’t feel down if the scales tell you something you don’t want to hear. For sustained and sensible weight-loss you’re looking at losing between 1/2 and 2 pounds every couple of weeks. That might not sound that much but when you think that a pack of butter is a pound then in reality it is.

Good luck! If you have any tips please post them below. I look forward to reading them and your 5 Things on other subjects.

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