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Adopting a healthy lifestyle is the key to weight management. This includes knowledge about nutrition and exercise, a positive attitude, and the right kind of motivation. Personal motives such as better health, increased energy, self-esteem, and personal control increase your chances of weight management success over a prolonged period.
Keep control over things which are mentioned below to help modify your behavior and lead a healthy lifestyle,
Home Environment
- Eat only while sitting down at the kitchen or dining room table. Do not eat while watching television, reading, or working.
- Keep unhealthy foods out of sight. Have low-calorie foods ready to eat.
- Have healthy snacks such as cut fruit, vegetables, or nuts.
Work Environment
- Do not eat at your desk or keep unhealthy snacks at your desk.
- If you get hungry between meals, plan healthy snacks and bring them with you to work.
- During your breaks, go for a walk instead of eating.
- Do not work through meals. Skipping meals slows down metabolism and may result in overeating at the next meal.
Mealtime Environment
- Fill half of your plate with vegetables, a quarter with protein, and a quarter with starch.
- Use smaller plates, bowls, and glasses. A smaller portion will look large when it is in a little dish.
- While fixing your plate, limit portions of food to one scoop/serving or less.
Daily Food Management
- replacece eating with another activity that is not associated with food.
- Wait 20 minutes before eating something you have cravings for.
- Drink a large glass of water or diet soda before eating.
- Always have a big glass or bottle of water to drink throughout the day.
- Avoid high-calorie add-ons such as cream with your coffee, butter, mayonnaise, and salad dressings.
Eating behavior
- Eat slowly. Remember it takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to send a message to your brain that it is full. Do not let fake hunger make you think you need more.
- The ideal way to eat is to take a bite, put your utensil down, take a sip of water, cut your next bite, take a bit, put your utensil down, and so on.
- Take small bites and chew your food well.
- Stop eating for a minute or two at least once during a meal or snack. Take breaks to reflect and have a conversation.
Physical activity
- Make exercise a priority and a planned activity for the day.
- Get an exercise buddy. Go for a walk with a colleague during one of your breaks, go to the gym or run.
- Always take the stairs all the way or at least part of the way to your floor.
- If you have a desk job, walk around the office frequently.
- Do leg lifts while sitting at your desk.
Have a Healthy Attitude
- Make health your weight management priority.
- Be realistic. Have a goal to achieve a healthier you, not necessarily the lowest weight or ideal weight based on calculations or tables.
- Focus on a healthy eating style, not on dieting. Dieting usually lasts for a short amount of time and rarely produces long-term success.
- Think long-term. You are developing new healthy behaviors to follow next month, next year, and for over a decade.
