tips to succeed in weight loss

If youre losing weight but not as fast as youd like, dont get discouraged. Dropping pounds takes time, just like gaining them did. Experts suggest setting a realistic weight loss goal of about one to two pounds a week. If you set your expectations too high, you may give up when you dont lose weight fast enough. Remember, you start seeing health benefits when youve lost just 5% 10% of your body weight.

When youre sleep deprived, your body overproduces the appetite stimulating hormone ghrelin but under produces the hormone leptin, which tells you when youre full. Getting enough sleep may make you feel rested and full and keep you from doing unnecessary snacking.

Were so used to super sizing when we eat out that its easy to carry that mind set home. To right size your diet, use a kitchen scale and measuring cups to measure your meals for a week or two. Use smaller plates and glasses to downsize your portions. Split restaurant servings in half making two meals out of one big one. Portion out snack servings instead of eating them directly from the container.

Alcohol contains empty calories: a five ounce glass of wine has 125, a bottle of beer about 153. Because our bodies dont use those calories well, they usually get converted directly into fat. If you enjoy an occasional drink, consider a compromise. Enjoy your favorite alcoholic beverage on weekends only, with just one drink for women per day, two for men.

Sugar free food sounds like a no brainer for weight loss. But it can be a problem if you think you can then have a large order of fries or a big dessert. Upsizing the fries adds nearly 300 calories to your meal. If you eat more calories than you burn, youll gain weight.

On average, the National Weight Control Registry enrollees burn about 2000 calories per week through exercise. Thats a lot they get about 60 90 minutes of moderate to high intensity exercise daily. The most popular exercise is walking, and they average 5 6 miles a day.

By learning what size portion you need to eat to feel not hungry any more as opposed to feeling stuffed you can trim your food intake significantly. Portion control strategies include using smaller plates, serving your food in the kitchen rather than having serving dishes at the table , and using meal replacements such as protein shakes, bars or frozen meals.