Tips to Trot

Tips to Trot
How to make weight loss easier

I wanted to make these more specific, so I read some articles to confirm them before posting them here. You're welcome to skim through the details and read the highlighted words instead.

1.  Eat dairy. Dairy decreases the body fat stored in your cells by roughly 69%, and also raises your body's core temperature. It has protein as well, which will help you feel full for longer. Just be sure to choose low-fat products (as opposed to cream).
2. Run. 'Weight-bearing' exercises strengthen bones, and any exercise burns calories.
3. Walk. Park your car farther from building entrances and always take the stairs. 
4. Avoid purchasing any food in bulk, no matter the price difference.
5. Organize your kitchen. The more lovely and organized it looks, the less you'll want to disrupt it. 
6. Plan your meals. If you have a problem with binging, chances are that you've forgotten how to tell whether or not you're hungry... or often ignore your hunger pangs until your appetite overwhelms you, causing you to binge. If you eat on a schedule, you can control things better.
7. Don't weigh yourself excessively. Weight fluctuates with water and such, so it won't give you an accurate picture. Set a date to record your weight instead. 
8. Don't drink alcohol. It will hurt your ability to make good food choices, and hangovers will always make you crave carbohydrates and greasy food. 
9. Do not take laxatives. Your body will become dependent on them, which will make you very constipated in the future. Everybody poops eventually. You don't need laxatives to do so. You need apples and probiotics (probiotic pills can be bought at grocers and drug stores).
10. Eat your food from a blue bowl or plate. Studies show that we tend to avoid eating blue foods, because the color is synonymous with mold, poison, and other distasteful things.
11. Pay attention to your portions. Your stomach is about the size of your fist, so your meals needn't be larger to fill you. 
12. Eat soup. Contrary to popular belief, water only stretches the stomach (fills you) for a short period of time. Soup, however, can fill you about an hour longer than solid food can.
13. Go to bed hungry.  I haven't tried anything more effective than this.
14. Fidget. Don't sit still. Jiggle your legs.
15. Eat spicy foods. The capsaicin in peppers decreases appetite and raises body temperature... which increases one's metabolism by 8% for roughly two hours. Black pepper, in particular, helps to dissolve fats.
16. Use cinnamon. Cinnamon improves your body's response to insulin, which helps it break down blood sugar.
17. Every time that you have a craving, force yourself to wait for thirty minutes. If you still crave food after the time has past, then you're legitimately hungry. Have some food.
18. If you can't fight yourself, binge on berries. They're high in fiber, which is very filling. They are also quite low in calories, so you can eat mass quantities of them without damaging your progress too severely.
19. Play a video game. I always lose weight when I'm hooked on a video game, because I forget to eat. As odd as it sounds, I've heard similar testimonials without asking.
20. Educate yourself. If you're familiar with the calorie content in your food, you'll be more likely to make good choices. 
21. Stay hydrated. It's nearly impossible to exercise whilst dehydrated, and very dangerous for your heart. 
22. Be creative. Paint, draw, or make crafts. Keeping your hands busy helps to quell the anxiety, and being creative takes a lot of thought... requiring a lot of goal-oriented concentration. 
23.  Freeze your food. I keep my fruit in the freezer so that it has to thaw a bit before I can eat it, which gives me time to decide whether I really need to eat it or not.
24. Do something with numbers. One of my favorite ideas that I've read, is to go outside, lay on the grass, and count the leaves stemming from the branches of a tree. Counting has a very ritualistic effect on the mind, making it a cathartic process. If you have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, however, working with numbers will only cause further anxiety.
25. Take a 'Before' picture of yourself (at the beginning of your weight loss journey) and tape it to your bathroom or bedroom mirror.
26. Eat before going to the store for groceries. The theory that people buy more fatty food whilst hungry has been both tested and proved. If you don't want to eat, try to at least have some caffeine. 
27. Don't sabotage yourself. One bought of overeating won't make you gain weight. Do not tell yourself: "I've blown it, so I may as well eat the kitchen." That's retarded, and you know that. 
28. Know your 'safe foods,' and know your 'binge foods.' The easiest way to become familiar with what your brain craves irrationally, is to put yourself on a diet and then slowly return back to your normal eating. As you ease out of it, add two or three foods back into your diet each day. If one of them sends a binge-signal to your brain, then it's a binge food.
29. Take your vitamins. Being malnourished will make you crave food for nutrition (often high in fat), as well as a plethora of other serious health problems (for instance: anemia and hair loss).
30. Get a job that requires you to move around. You'll burn a lot of calories, and usually won't have much time to eat nor dwell on food. Just avoid the food industry (or risk reeking of food every day).
31. Eat before going to work. It can be difficult for many people to eat in the morning, but you'll be much more mobile, alert, and motivated if you do. In turn, you'll lose more weight from working.
32. Don't eat past seven o'clock. Your metabolism is slowest at night.
33. Create a website or keep a journal to record your progress. Make worksheets for yourself to fill out weekly, asking questions like: "Was this week successful toward my goals? What went well for me? What went badly?"
34. Keep a food diary. Be aware of what you eat. Myfitnesspal is a good tool to use. It's an online support community as well. 
35. Go outside. Being in a different environment gives your mind something else to focus on.
36. Get enough (not too much) sleep. Both extremes lower your metabolism significantly and cloud your mind. 
37. Go to sleep early. It's easy to overeat at night.
38. Drink green tea. It contains antioxidants which help fight infection, and it raises the metabolism. 
39. Stay healthy. When your body is run-down, it signals your brain to eat carbohydrates and other simple foods that produce energy ('pick-me-ups'). Keep hand sanitizer around the house.
40. Find a friend for support. It helps to stay motivated when you have someone who is encouraging you and holding you accountable.
41. Remove yourself from the couch, and embrace your goals.

 

I wanted to post this as a blog entry, since it's easier for some to read posts rather than pages. I hope that it helps!