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Healthy weight loss
If you’re overweight but don’t want to get stuck in a cycle of fad dieting, listen up. These ideas will help you lose weight the healthy way!
Talk to a doctor.
There’s no point losing weight if you aren’t overweight. And a lot of girls think they’re overweight when they’re actually not. Losing weight when you don’t need to will leave you underweight (duh!), which brings with it a whole host of other health issues. If you are overweight your doctor will be able to give you a target weight to aim for that’s realistic and healthy.
If you can, talk to a counsellor.
If you can’t (they can be expensive!) at least try keeping a journal of your thoughts and emotions around eating and food. You can ban cake and cut carbs all you like - but if the underlying issue of why you allow yourself to become an unhealthy weight isn’t addressed, you’re likely to fall back into patterns of overeating and weight gain. Talking to a friend or adult you respect is a great idea too.
How we eat can be affected by things that might appear to have no connection with food - so make sure you talk about everything that’s on your mind! For more on emotional eating go here.
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We love: Jennifer Hudson! The American Idol contestant and big screen star has been losing weight with Weight Watchers, and doing a great job. Check out her story here
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Be realistic - don’t rush it!
Setting achievable goals is really important. Aside from the fact it’s a lot easier to throw in the towel when things feel beyond us, it isn’t healthy to lose weight too quickly. Pushing yourself to extremes can stress your body and result in an unhealthy cycle of yo yo dieting.
Know your triggers.
If having a whole pack of biccies in the house is going to mean you eat the entire pack in an afternoon - don’t keep a pack of biccies in the house! Actually, avoiding processed snack foods as a general rule is a good idea if you want to lose weight. If you want a snack, go for whole foods like raw nuts or fruit instead.
Tip: brainstorm a list of foods you tend to overeat, and scenarios in which you’re likely to overeat (e.g. when you’re sad/bored/tired). Acknowledging their existence and how you react is an important first step to overcoming these triggers.
Think of your health.
This is about more than ‘getting skinny’. It’s about reducing the risk of multiple health problems associated with being overweight, for e.g. diabetes and heart disease. Not only will eating the right foods, exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy weight keep you looking good, it’ll up your chances of living a long, healthy life - and mean you have lots of energy to make the most of it!
Exercise.
It seems obvious but the best way to get in shape is by exercising regularly and eating a balanced diet. Exercise doesn’t have to be boring either! You could take a dance or yoga class, cycle instead of drive or learn to surf. Once you’re in the habit of exercising regularly (4-5 times a week), you’ll miss it when you don’t!
A few practical tips:
- Eat slowly! You’re less likely to overeat if you enjoy your meal or snack at a leisurely pace.
- Limit beverages. Juice, alcohol and fizzy drinks are pretty calorific. Limiting your intake during a period of weight loss is an easy way to drop calories. Go with water or herbal tea instead!
- Exert yourself. Don’t avoid opportunities to work out - embrace them! Walk to work or school, take the stairs not the lift, hit the gym instead of watching TV.
- Become a conscious eater. Rather than eating mindlessly, listen to your body. Usually it’ll tell you what it needs - and what it doesn’t.
- Give yourself credit. Celebrate the victories!
EDEN (Eating Difficulties Education Network) are a great local organisation that help women deal with eating difficulties of all kinds. Find out more about them here!
Healthyfood.co.nz is also an excellent site for Kiwis looking to eat for better health.
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the advice about listening to your body and not eating mindlessly is great, because so often i just eat out of boredom and not because my body needs it. thanks! Posted by kiwigrl237 "on" 11/14 "at"10:26 PM |
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Wonderful advice  Posted by NzBaybee "on" 08/28 "at"06:30 PM |
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Wonderful advice. Diets are not a good option anyway, coz whatever you lose from a diet you put on that and that again when you stop dieting. Posted by tkennard "on" 08/11 "at"11:58 AM |
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Jennifer Hudson is a total inspiration, I love the way she portrays herself to young girls, she doesn’t hate on her body image she is proud to be herself, which is why I think she’s such a great rolemodel. Not to mention she has an AMAZING voice x Posted by Sugaax! "on" 08/08 "at"01:51 AM |
Best of the rest
