Weight Loss Tips

Weight loss tips

The three big ones:

1. Eat a low-fat diet with good amounts of protein and low GI carbohydrates
2. Exercise 5 times a week for at least 45 minutes
3. Keep a positive outlook

These weight loss tips deal with the nutritional, physical and mental factors involved in any weight loss plan. Commit to long-term healthy eating for a healthy life. Use goals to help you. The following are tips to reduce fat content when cooking.

To reduce fat content in recipes:

• Use lower fat varieties of milk and yoghurt
• Use whipped low fat ricotta with a dash of vanilla, honey and skim milk instead of whipped cream
• For cheesecakes, use low fat cream cheese, low fat cottage (blended so that it’s smooth) or low fat ricotta
• Instead of sour cream, use reduced fat yoghurt or cottage cheese blended with a little skim milk and a drop of lemon
• For cakes and muffins, use nut oils (almond, macadamia) instead of butter. The fat content can be reduced again by replacing half the oil with apple or banana puree
• Use less oil – around a teaspoon – when cooking. Use a small amount of stock or water to stop food from sticking
• When roasting vegetables, place vegetables on baking paper and spray lightly with olive/nut oil
• Try baking or grilling rather than frying using light spray of olive/nut oil
• Instead of mayonnaise, use low fat yoghurt in salad dressings, or for sandwiches, use nut butters, avocado, tahini, hommus, mustards, pickles
• Use filo pastry instead of puff and shortcrust. For pastry recipes, use olive/nut oil instead of butter

Exercise keeps you healthy and helps you lose weight. What kind of exercise should you do? The best is the one that's easy for you to do and best fits in with work, study and family commitments. I find that the easiest exercise for me is walking and jogging first thing in the morning near where I live. I find that exercising at any other time is more difficult.

Sometimes I go to the beach to jog along the water line - this is the most invigorating for me. It doesn't matter that hundreds of others are exercising on the beach as well. What matters is that I'm doing it and I'm feeling good about it.

Vary what you do to keep your motivation up - try swimming, cycling, skipping, or team up with someone for tennis or squash (not if you have weak knees and ankles). Even better find an activity that combines socialising and exercising, such as dance classes, drumming, or orienteering. How about learning to surf, body boarding, skating, skiing.

Anything is possible, ask yourself if you're allowing it to. The mind and body are intwined - tune into yours.

The final weight loss tip is to ENJOY!
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