Lahore: If you want to lose weight but know full well you can’t keep up with a crazy fitness fad and celebrity crash diet — you’re in luck. Studies show that, contrary to popular belief, tiny modifications to your daily routine can be just as effective over time. Being too strict with food or exercise raises the risk of binging or quitting entirely, research suggests, even if you enjoy a short burst of motivation at the start of a restrictive plan.
One pound of fat equals 3,500 calories, so to lose roughly half a pound per week, you only need to burn or skip out on roughly 250 calories per day, the equivalent of one glazed Dunkin donut or a large latte from Starbucks. Keep it up for a year and you will have lost more than 20 lbs.
Natural Home Remedy for Weight Loss and Tummy Fat (Urdu)
The average person burns off 250 calories by walking at a leisurely pace for just 45 minutes — easily incorporated into a daily routine by taking the stairs over the elevator and parking slightly further away from the store entrance.
Eating on small plates can help reduce weight
Besides running on a treadmill for hours to cut down unnecessary fat from your body, using smaller plates can also be highly effective. Previously, a lot of research has been conducted to see whether small portions help in reducing fat or not and new research conducted by the Cornell Food and Brand lab examined all these prior research projects together and found that overall, smaller plates can help reduce consumption under specific conditions.
Fill up on veggies and berries
Vegetables and berries are chock full of fiber which makes you feel fuller because they are digested at a slower rate than foods lower in fiber. The high water content in fruits and veggies also helps keep you feeling full for longer, which discourages snacking on caloric or fatty foods. And they provide a gradual release of energy into the bloodstream, keeping blood sugar levels stable.
Fruits and vegetables pack another health punch – potentially warding off chronic diseases like cancer and heart conditions. Broccoli, for instance, is packed with sulforaphane, a compound that helps flush out cancer-causing toxins and calms inflammation that can lead to cancer. And blackberries contain high concentrations of anthocyanins or antioxidants that protect you from conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and various forms of cancers.
Don’t eat when the sun goes down
Eating too late at night or too close to bedtime is a risk factor for weight gain. It doesn’t help that the snacks we often reach for at night are the least healthy ones that pack a lot of empty calories. Nutrition experts encourage people to eat consistently nutrient-rich foods while the sun is out with the heaviest meals reserved for earlier in the day.
Late-night meals interact poorly with the body’s circadian rhythm, the 24-hour internal clock that regulates myriad bodily functions including sleep, digestion, and metabolism. The internal clock synchronizes bodily functions with the rising and setting of the sun.
‘If any of us eat a large indulgent meal close to bedtime research does suggest we’re just not going to get high-quality sleep because our bodies are so busy metabolizing that food that they can’t rest,’ Pelc Graca said. The recommended window for eating includes the hours when the sun is out, which mirrors the body’s internal clock. Eating beyond that window is associated with a higher risk of developing heart disease, prediabetes, and obesity.
Many people struggle with late-night snacking, Pelc Graca said, ‘and they kind of have the ‘treat yourself’ mentality. They’re like, it was a busy workday, the kids are in bed. Let me break out the chocolate-covered almonds and the wine and the cheese and crackers and all of this.’
And when those cravings hit, you don’t need to deprive yourself. That deprivation actually increases the risk of a regrettable binge.
