Best Ways to Lose Weight

Losing weight is on everyone’s mind. A lot of people want to be slimmer, healthier and happier. But why is it that most people can’t seem to lose the weight? Or worse yet, why is it that after they lost the weight, they gain it all back, and then some? Read on, and learn how to get rid of the fat once and for all.

Make it a Habit

What is a habit? A habit is something that you do without thinking. It is second nature to you. It is effortless. When you make healthy eating a habit, you don’t have to worry about gaining or regaining the weight. So then how do you establish a habit?
Psychological research indicates that it takes 21-30 days to establish a new habit. So for 30 consecutive days target a habit that you would like to change. For those 30 days, eat perfectly without breaking that rule. For example, if you want to get rid of your habit of drinking beer when watching TV, do that for 30 days.

After the 30 days have passed, congratulate yourself. You’ve established a new habit. You probably no longer even want the beer.

But be careful. Pick only one habit to do for those 30 days. To get rid of all your bad habits may take a year or more. And it will be worth it, because you’re in this for the long run. It may take the year to get rid of the bad habit, but this will be an investment that will last you the rest of your life (which is hopefully several decades).

Eat Slowly

As you eat, your stomach expands. This is called “gastric distension.” That’s how you know you are full. Unfortunately, it takes your stomach 20 minutes to let your brain know that you are full. So you may be full after 10 minutes of eating, but you won’t know it for another 10 minutes, all the while thinking that you’re hungry.
So eat your entire meal over the course of at least 20 minutes. Eat slowly, and put down the knife and fork between each bite.

What do you do after 20 minutes if you still don’t feel full? Then you really aren’t full. But if after 20 minutes, you feel full, simply stop eating.

Cut Down on the Bad Food to Once Per Week

One of the reasons people often fail their diet is because they believe they can never have the foods they love again if they are to stay slim. That’s just not worth it.
Simply cut down on the food that you know is bad for you to once per week. On that one day a week, have a blast. Enjoy that pizza, ice cream, and (dare I say it) McDonald’s. But only once per week.

Tell Other People

Tell other people about your goals. Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your coworkers, tell strangers, tell everyone.
The more people know about it, the more social support you have. Additionally, most people really dread public embarrassment. Imagine you told the world that you’re going to lose 20 pounds in 3 months. Let’s say you’re 2 months into your plan, and each one of those people asks you how your plan is going, wouldn’t you be embarrassed to say “I haven’t lost a pound”?

Don’t underestimate this. The more people you tell, the more powerful this is.

Get Paranoid

Measure your weight and/or body fat every 2 weeks. If you see increases, get paranoid. Remember what it was like when you were fat, unhealthy, and unhappy? That’s what will happen if you let those 2 weeks accumulate into 4 weeks, then 8 weeks and so on.
As a personal story, I went from a soft looking body to a completely shredded 6-pack. That was 5 years ago, but the 6-pack is still there. Why? I firmly believe that it is my paranoia that has kept me on track.