Rather than focusing on how many calories you are eating why look at what it is doing to your body and place the focus on where it should be which is on nutrition not the actual weight loss; typically weight loss is a benefit of good nutrition to those who are overweight. The majority of basic home cooked meals will consist of a range of nutritious and delicious foods. Stop buying fast food, premade or frozen foods which are all highly processed and get back to cooking. Red rice can make a good staple to go along with fresh seasonal fruits, vegetables as well as herbs and spices that can easily be turned into stews and curries. Add a bowl of lentils and legumes to the mix with some free range eggs, fish, or poultry every day and that is pretty much all the nutrition the body needs to function optimally.
You should look at eating the three main meals every day, breakfast/lunch/dinner, and regulate their timing as much as possible, this way the body will learn when it will be getting fueled which will help it to metabolise food more easily. Two sensible snacks should fill in the gaps during the day such as some nuts, fruit, yoghurt, or maybe a small bowl of quinoa. Try to avoid eating late at night, those late night snacks may be hard to resist, try drinking some water first, after the water if you do give in try to keep it a healthy choice.
Impulse shopping while at the grocery store can lead to some poor choices, and when at home we tend to snack on whatever is available, especially when bored or stressed. Try to avoid buying impulse foods that trigger this behaviour such as biscuits, processed foods, packaged chips, cookies, and such. Try to stick to your list and steer clear of those tempting items to just pick up what you came for to keep those items out of your home.
With all of the conveniences brought about in modern day society it is easy to have a variety of foods delivered to you within a matter of minutes, which makes it easy to become complacent and stop packing meals made at home to bring to work/school. But it is worth the effort to promote better health and well being. Try starting with simple ideas and one dish meals such as whole wheat wraps, or salad bowls, and some fresh fruits, veggies and nuts.
Food is not just about eating what is good for you, it is also something you should be enjoying and savouring the smells/tastes of. Don’t deprive yourself as the body needs a bit of everything from carbs to protein to fat. If you try to eat cleanly as much as possible, your body will get used to it over all that processed junk and you will enjoy it. Don’t forget that there are many options for herbs and spices that can be added to foods which will add to and/or enhance the flavours.
Learn your limits and try not to eat to the point of being overfull to avoid that awful feeling of being bloated. Develop a healthy relationship with food by eating in moderation and switching foods up as there are many healthy foods to choose from. Try not to stress over the occasional slip, and just get back on track to improved health and well being. Never forget that not only yes you can do it, but most importantly yes you are worth it.
