Weight has been an issue for me for the last 25 years. Only in the last five I’ve started to understand how to deal with the problem. For most people, losing weight is not a medical condition (although there are exceptions to this). The keys to losing weight are simple.

1. Chew less. When I first read this statement, I was thinking about the “chew your bite 40 times” that I had heard in grammar school. The truth is that when I sit down to eat, I simply eat too much. Chew less means don’t eat so much.

2. Eat off smaller plates (or bowls). This will force you to eat smaller portions and will also trick your brain into thinking it’s getting more food.

3. Take your time. Eat smaller bites and take time in between each bite. It usually takes the “full” message from your stomach about twenty minutes to reach your brain. (I wonder if this is because all the blood and energy is being used to digest).

4. Make meal time an experience. Put out the nice linen. Light a candle. Play some mood music. Enjoy each and every meal instead of shoving anything into your mouth and calling it done.

5. Stop before you are full. I call it “first date” eating. Only consume as much as you would on a first date – or an amount about the size of your palm.

6. Get moving. You have to burn more calories than you take in, and movement is the way to do that. Make it your goal to walk just 10,000 steps per day.

7. Build muscle. Muscle will burn more energy than fat. The stronger you get, the more weight you can burn off with less effort.

8. Don’t ever give up. If you slip, start again.

9. Start now. If you wait until tomorrow then you will continue to wait until tomorrow.

10. Treat yourself. If you complete deprive yourself of chocolate then you won’t be able to think of anything BUT chocolate. When you are hungry, enjoy a small amount of your favorite food, but don’t go overboard.

Losing weight doesn’t have to require lots of charts and graphs. With just a little common sense, some self control and some get up and go you can work and live your way to a thin and healthy life without diets. The steps to losing weight are simple – now if they were only easy, too.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 11th, 2007 at 5:28 pm and is filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.