Weight Loss Without Dieting

Weight loss without dieting can best be summed up in one word: Switch!

The secret to losing weight without dieting is to switch the majority of your diet to less calorie dense foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes. Most diets are top heavy: people eat too many fats, meats, refined sugars and empty calories, and very little fiber, fruits, and vegetables. By slowly switching the proportions around you will begin to lose weight and feel better permanently. The best part is that you will lose weight without feeling hungry, tired and deprived!

Here are the steps to losing weight successfully without dieting.

Give up the idea of a quick fix. Think lifestyle change not diet. The reason diets fail is that they are not sustainable in the long run; they don’t teach you to make permanent changes. You will go right back to your old eating habits and regain the weight. Weight that is lost quickly is weight gained back quickly. Slow changes to your eating patterns become permanent changes. These changes add up to significant, and permanent weight loss.

Just 100 calories (something not noticeable) less a day equals one pound of fat lost every 35 days. That’s 10 pounds lost in a year, or 20 lbs. in 2 years! That’s fat lost permanently, and painlessly! If you ate 200 calories less a day, and exercised the equivalent of 200 calories a day, you would drop 4 pounds a month. That would add up to almost 50 lbs. in a year or 100 lbs in 2 years without dieting!

Make one small, simple change every week or two until that one change becomes automatic. Too many changes at once guarantee failure. Slow change is the best change.

Think like a detective. Do a diet inventory. Where are all the extra, unnecessary calories in your diet?

Let’s start by looking at your fluid and beverage intake first.

Do you drink sugared soda?

Switch to diet soda.

Then slowly cut down the diet soda by replacing one soda a week with water until you are only drinking one soda or less a day! Depending on how much soda you drink just this one change can result in 10, 20, 30 lbs. loss in a year!

I don’t recommend more than one soda a day even if it is diet. Why? Because diet sodas cause sugar cravings! Artificial sweeteners send a signal to your brain that it is receiving sugar. Your brain then sends a message to your pancreas to release insulin. Insulin causes you to crave carbohydrates. You then begin to crave junk!

Do you put cream or milk in your coffee? Two tablespoons of cream equals 120 calories. Two tablespoons of half and half equals 40 calories.

Do you drink frappaccinos, or lattes? A latte contains at least 215 calories, all from the milk! Two lattes a day equals 430 calories, that’s almost 50 pounds a year!

Switch to nonfat milk or better yet, drink your coffee black.

Learn to love coffee and tea, preferably the decaf kind. This will take some getting used to. It takes about 15 days until your taste buds acclimate to a change. So go slowly.

If you use a large amount of sweetener in your tea and coffee switch to an artificial sweetener first. Then slowly cut back on that until you can drink coffee or tea without any.

Do you drink whole milk? Just by switching to 1% milk and drinking one 8 oz glass a day you will lose 5 1bs. in a year!

Do you drink fruit juice or smoothies? Switch to water.

Drinking at least 8 glasses of water will keep you hydrated and feeling satiated. Many times we think we are hungry when all we need is water. Drinking plenty of water helps your kidneys and liver function properly. One of the main functions of your liver is to metabolize and break down fat. Help it do its job by drinking plenty of water.

Do you love your evening cocktails? Alcohol is nothing but empty calories and it's immediately converted to sugar in your body; it is then converted to fat. Alcohol also acts as a diuretic in your system and flushes water as well as nutrients out of your body. A regular beer is a 150 calories, a 6 oz. glass of wine is 120 calories, cocktails are even more. Regular night's out with the girls or guys can really add the pounds to your body. An occasionaly cocktail is fine, but as a daily practice you are looking at diet disaster.

What about smoothies or meal replacement beverages?

Smoothies or protein drinks can be good if you’re in a hurry; they are certainly better than nothing. I don’t advocate using them as a meal replacement on a regular basis. Why? You will find yourself feeling hungry quickly afterwards, and then you will eat more. You will eat far less if you get your calories through real food and not through beverages.

As you can see just implementing these changes alone can result in a major weight loss. Just by eliminating the sources of empty calories in your diet, you can lose weight without dieting or feeling deprived.

My next article will explore other sources of unnecessary fat and calories.

My Top Ten Best Tips And Tricks
Starting A Weight Loss Program
Healing Emotional Eating

Interested in weight loss coaching? Contact Catherine for a free consultation!

SBI!