It is possible to eat whatever you want as long as you adhere to certain rules. Most of the foods you love could potentially make you obese.
However, if you treat your body like a thermostat, you will know when to eat and when not to. The quantity you eat matters most in this dietary approach. You should thus develop habits that enable you to manage the quantity of food you consume.
The idea behind eating what you want is to go back to your intuition. Your body has in-built cues to tell you what it needs.
This article equips you with the tools you require to be able to read these signs. You should also practice mindful eating because that enables you to avoid all the negative habits surrounding food.
Eating What You Want While Losing Weight
1. Eat what you want but limit the quantity
Portion control is the secret behind indulging while maintaining a healthy weight. This does not imply that you need to measure what you eat. It simply means that you should decrease the size of your meals.
In this study, it was shown that if people eat more low-energy foods and less energy-dense foods, they would lose weight.
Reduce the size of the plates you use. Cut your pizza into smaller portions and eat just one slice.
In this program, you can eat what you want but not how much you want. Your fist is a good way of determining portion sizes. Try not to go beyond a fistful of either protein or starch. Nevertheless, you can eat all the vegetables you want.
2. Don’t skip meals
If you avoid eating all day, your body starts to send out warning signals. You’ll feel irritable, shaky, foggy and sweaty. You will also develop cravings for high calories foods. This is your brain’s way of telling you that it needs fuel to survive.
When you do get a chance to eat, chances are that you will eat everything in sight. A person that stays too hungry lowers their blood sugar and raises leptin levels.
3. Choose one calorie-rich food at a time
The truth is not all foods are created equal. Some foods are packed with calories and they increase your chances of adding weight. Pizzas, burgers, cake, cookies, mac and cheese, and ice-cream are typical examples.
On the other hand, some foods are very low in calories. If you want to keep eating what you want, you have to choose only one type of food from the above list. If you had all 6 of them at one go, you will definitely add weight.
Allowing yourself only one type of junk food prevents you from going overboard. It makes it easier to achieve your weight goals.
4. Start with the salad
Change the sequence in which you eat your food by starting with the salad/ vegetables. That way, you feel fuller for longer and eat less.
You’ll also enjoy the benefits of the minerals and vitamins in the low-calorie foods. That decreases the likelihood of filling up on other food groups and skipping the fiber.
5. Avoid emotional eating by tracking your emotions as you eat
The need for mindfulness cannot be overemphasized if you want to lose weight while eating what you want.
You need to take note of the feelings and emotions around food. Some people use food as therapy for their relationship issues, work stress, health concerns, or financial woes. This often leads to overeating and weight gain.
Take note of how you feel before eating, as you eat and after. Are you feeling a craving for one type of food or are you hungry for a variety? Do you feel the sensation of fullness when you eat or binge? After eating do you feel shame and guilt or do you feel fine?
If any of your responses are negative, work on your emotional eating through group support, yoga, positive self-talk and finding substitutes to relieve sadness, stress or other triggers.
6. Remove distractions when eating
If you eat your food while watching your favorite show, it is easy to get carried away. You can gobble up an extra-large packet of crackers if you are absent-minded.
Strive to be mentally present when eating. Remove all distractions like work or texting and only concentrate on your meals.
Focus on the texture, taste and smell of the food. Chew it slowly and pause between bites. This enables you to take note of physical changes in your body and to respond to them.
7. Listen to your body
Your body has its own way of telling you when it needs to eat. Strive to eat only when you are hungry.
Note that the feeling will develop slowly over time rather than suddenly. Then as you eat, keep checking on your feeling of fullness. Stop when you feel 80% full.
Getting totally satiated means that you have exceeded what your body needs. This happens because the feeling of satiety sets in 30 minutes after finishing your meal. Think of food as a source of nourishment as you implement this tip.
8. Stay hydrated
In this study, it was shown that when people are continually dehydrated, their body loses the ability to know when it is hungry. You are thus more likely to confuse thirst for hunger and may end up eating unnecessarily.
If you feel like eating between meals, drink water and see how you feel 10 minutes later. Most times, the urge to snack will disappear.
9. You need minerals and other nutrients
It is important for you to eat a balanced meal if you want to lose weight while eating what you want. If you ate only a bag of potato chips daily, you could lose weight.
However, you would lack the minerals and nutrients needed for proper body functioning. You can easily get all the vitamins and minerals you need by increasing your intake of veggies, fruits, and legumes.
10. Don’t indulge in cravings immediately
Indulging in cravings immediately almost leads to binging. It is a better idea to find a replacement for that sensation.
Perform an exercise, take a nap, read a book or walk around. This will give you sufficient time to process the feeling and let it pass. Even though you can eat anything you want, don’t let it be impulsive.
Plan your indulgences so that they are included in your calorie count for the day.
11. Increase the intensity and frequency of exercise
If you are eating what you want, chances are that you’ll be having more calories in the body than before. You will gain weight if you eat more calories than you consume.
However, exercise can lead to sustainable weight loss as proven in this study. If you increase the intensity and duration of workouts, you are likely to achieve your goals over the long term by offsetting some of your food choices.
If you don’t have time to exercise for an hour, do these 15-minute fat-burning workouts.
12. Select food over drinks
Even if you can eat anything you want, you still have to be careful about what you drink. Some drinks have lots of added sugar. This increases your appetite and makes you want to eat more. Drinks are also less filling than food, yet they may still contain plenty of calories.
When indulging, choose to eat rather than to drink what you want. That way, you will feel full and see no need to keep indulging.
Final Word
You can lose weight while eating what you want. Practice mindfulness and only eat when you are hungry. Wait out your cravings before indulging in them. Stop eating when full, and ensure you get the proper balance of nutrients.
Overall, be sensitive to your body’s signals and act on them.
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