The following article is reprinted here courtesy of Honora Lee Wolfe, Dipl. Ac. and editor at Blue Poppy Press. Below you'll find 8 time-tested tips to help you hold the line on weight gain, which is especially important when your health conditions are specifically related to overweight or at least worsened by excessive weight.
1) EAT breakfast. In fact, regular meals and even some minimal healthy snacking helps us all to prevent the “starve-then-feast” phenomenon that can sabotage dieters. Whole grain cooked cereals, poached or soft-boiled eggs, or fresh, room-temperature or cooked fruit are a great start to the day.
2) TAKE TIME when you eat all meals. It takes about 20 minutes for your brain to register that you are full, so when we gulp down our food, we can eat more than we need without knowing that our body has had enough. Try chewing more slowly, put down your fork between bites, have a conversation, and savor the textures and smells of the food while you are eating them.
3) FEELING hungry between meals? Bite into a pickle or suck on a lemon slice. Neither one has any significant calories and the sour taste curbs appetite. If you don’t have either of these in the refrigerator, brush your teeth when you feel hungry and see if that short-circuits the urge!
4) POST a list of around-the-house or artistic projects on the refrigerator door (and a couple of other places around the house as well). When you need dieting-discipline tackle a project instead of eating. This helps you ride out the cravings.
5) START with a smaller amount than you think you can eat…and use smaller plates whenever you can. This fools your eyes into thinking less food is more.
6) PLAN your exercise in the morning if you can. After fasting overnight, more than half of the calories burned will come from stored fat, which is better for weight management than burning the carbs you ate for lunch when you work out at night. (Of course a walk before breakfast AND after dinner is not a bad idea either!!)
7) REMEMBER that a good aerobic workout will burn calories during the workout and for several hours afterward.
8) DRINK lots of water before and during a party where you will be drinking alcohol. It will fill you up, lessen your chance of a hangover, and make you feel full so that you eat fewer canapés or cookies!
You may also want to check out Juliette Aiyana's book on Chinese Medicine & Healthy Weight Management for more great tips!
