The holidays are over and I’m glad I didn’t gain weight, I didn’t get bloated, I didn’t have any spondylitis attacks. I only had personality attacks. I have formed several routines that help me in my weight maintenance effort, after losing weight. I detail these routines below, maybe they help you too.
I keep a food diary
The food diary I started keeping helps me a lot. Writing down everything I eat and drink makes me eat consciously. You know what it’s like to say: I only eat once a day, or very little, I don’t know why I’m gaining weight. But you forgot the pretzel you nibbled on the way to work, the donut your office colleague served you, the bag of chips eaten with nerves while you waited for the subway, and the list goes on.
Writing down everything you eat makes you aware of everything you put in your mouth. When you eat the chocolate candy offered by someone you will think: “oops, I will have to write that in the diary”. You will see that slowly you will reduce the number of nonsense eaten in vain, and this will be felt on the scale. This is just one of the methods that helps me lose weight without being hungry or frustrated that I only eat boiled broccoli.
I am having portions of food on my plate
Another method that helps me lose weight and then maintain my weight is to control the amount of food I eat. Some people put everything on the table and keep putting it on their plate until they are full. The problem is that satiety is felt 20 minutes after you eat. Until then, you feel that you are not full and continue to eat. I make my portion on the plate. That’s how I know how much I eat and what I eat. I can properly regulate nutrients: protein, carbohydrates, lipids. I mean, if I want french fries, I don’t fill my plate with french fries and put a little tomato next to it, but I put a handful of salad and a few potatoes. I eat balanced, small amounts of anything. And I can enjoy a cookie as a dessert.
Fixed meal times
Another habit I have been implementing for some time that helps me lose weight and then maintain a normal weight is eating at fixed hours. After a few days of eating at fixed hours, the body gets used to it. I’m not hungry until lunchtime. Some recommend 5 meals a day, 3 main meals and 2 snacks. I say it’s possible without snacks. Nutritionists say that it is best to have 5 hours between meals and 14 hours between dinner and breakfast the next day. I get along best with this, so my meals are at 7, 14 and an optional snack at 18. I eat anything, but only at these hours.
When I lost weight and thought I was invincible and not fat again, I ignored the meal hours and quickly gained a few pounds. Now I’m looking for food wisdom I lost somewhere.
I take food allergies into account
When I started eating gluten free I noticed that although this was not the purpose of giving up gluten, I started to lose weight. Slowly but steadily, I reached the weight I had dreamed of all my life and failed to reach. Without the slimming diets that had unnecessarily tormented my youth, without giving up sweets, I just eliminated gluten. I didn’t understand why at that time.
A year ago I went to a functional medicine doctor and I understood what it is the problem with food allergies. She gave me an endless list of foods I shouldn’t eat anymore. Of course, I ruffled my feathers when I felt that someone was trying to limit me, but I began to pay attention to my body’s reactions when I ate forbidden foods. And I noticed that one of the reactions was to gain weight immediately.
I did this experiment, repeated several times: I weighed myself the morning of the day I ate a large amount of the forbidden food, then the next morning again. I had 1kg and a half more, which means 3% of my weight. The conclusion was that the foods we are allergic to, in addition to known effects, such as diarrhea, brain fog, bloating, fatigue, make us fat. So you can safely eat a slice of gluten-free cake.
Exercising, exercising, exercising
Now I’m going to talk about exercising. It can be in many forms, it is important that the form you choose to practice to like, and it fits you, and it does not cause you pain and you can easily integrate it into your life. It is important to get up from your chair or sofa and move. Vacuuming and washing dishes does not count. I chose to dance and walk. I go to dance classes regularly, but I also play music at home and I pretend I’m Fred Astaire. I take long walks, daily in summer, less often in winter. I like to watch the sunset in the park and walk the deserted streets, and I turned that into my reason for moving, listening to music, podcasts, or audiobooks, or just enjoying the quiet.
I consume sugar in moderation
Let’s take a closer look at the sensitive “sugar” topic. You will read everywhere: “Sugar is your enemy”. Everything we eat contains sugar in one form or another, and if you break a mulberry from the tree in the field, it has sugar, and gramma’s strawberry, and bread, mustard… everything. Is it okay for you to have in your subconscious mind that you are fighting the “enemy” every day? Feeling guilty about enjoying a cookie? I say this: you don’t have to fight with sugar, because it is stronger than you and you really need it, but it would be good to learn to master it and use it to your advantage.
Gradually reduce the amount of sugar in your coffee, use raw sugar instead of refined sugar, make cakes and cookies at home by reducing the amount of sugar in recipes, do not use commercial sauces, gradually your taste will adjust and you will continue to enjoy the sweet taste, but with a reduced amount of sugar.
Eat consciously, eat what you enjoy, do not take ad litteram everything that is written on the net, go through your personal filter, open your mind so that you can change your diet to your advantage without undergoing too much stress. That helps losing weight! Be smart!
