Over the years, it has been discovered that the habit and lifestyle of an individual has a lot to do with losing or gaining weight. The ability to stick to a diet plan or the discipline to consistently engage in exercising activities are the major factors that influence weight loss and gain. When it comes to physical health, the biggest challenge people face today is the ability to maintain a healthy weight, and maintaining a healthy weight has to do with mental and physical discipline with dedication. The environment and diet go a long way in influencing the human weight. Sometimes people work out less and eat more, creating an unbalanced ratio. Another line of thought is that while diet and physical activity are certain key issues, there are many other factors influencing weight in people, including environmental toxins and estrogens, the influence of neurotransmitters which are affected by issues such as stress, too much or too little sleep, and even things like the addictive qualities of everyday fast food and snacks.
Over time, tons of people have struggled with the challenges of losing weight either due to lack of consistency or inability to maintain a strict weight loss diet. Over the years, doctors have come up with three simple methods to help people lose weight. These methods are uncomplicated and don’t require anyone to completely alter their lifestyle.
Carbs Control
Eat fewer refined sugars and flour. This is one of the major factors promoting a dysglycemic state after meals that promote insulin resistance, the condition that keeps us from being able to properly lower blood sugar after meals. By far, it is not just the amount of calories that people are taking in but it’s the type of calories they are consuming that is influencing health and weight so dramatically. There is no question; the less sugar and refined flours you can take in, the better it is for not just weight, but also for other conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. The best strategy is to swap out vegetables and fruits for these foods. Instead of eating a couple of slices of bread with cheese, a generous piece of pie, or a large plate of pasta, it is better to opt for a large serving of broccoli, green beans, or other nutrient-dense vegetables. Instead of dessert, eat a piece of fruit.
Healthy Eating Habits
If you do eat high-starch and carbohydrate-loaded foods like pasta, rice, bread, and potatoes, eat smaller portions. Eating about 40 percent carbohydrates leads to much greater weight loss than a higher consumption rate does. Reducing portions and replacing them with leafy foods, include fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. If you eat beef and dairy products, choose lean meats and low-fat dairy foods most of the time. Healthy eating also means not eating too much sugar, fat, or fast food. You can still have a treat every now and then. The goal is moderation, not total withdrawal.
Stress Management and Sleep
Controlling and managing stress is different for everyone. Many people find that eating is their way of managing stress. If you stress yourself out too much, it can be hard to focus on making healthy changes to your lifestyle. Chronic high stress leads to several issues that can dramatically affect weight, like the ability to sleep. It can cause hyperarousal, which is an inverted cortisol pattern. Cortisol should be highest in the morning and should drop over the course of the day, but with high stress, it instead gradually increases over the day, and that will affect the ability to fall asleep.
Sleeping is critical for weight management because when we don’t sleep, we start to become more insulin resistant and we get changes in hunger hormone that makes us hungrier and give us cravings for high-carb foods. At least 7 to 8 hours of sleep is needed for an active mind and for a healthy lifestyle.
“Perhaps you’ve tried adjusting the way you eat in several ways but have largely neglected exercise. Or you’ve embarked on a fitness plan without adjusting your diet and lifestyle to accommodate it. When it comes right down to it, what’s missing in most weight loss plans is balance and synergy. The key is knowledge, hard work, and dedication.”
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