Perseverance pays

Try to eat smaller and more frequent meals during the day. Eating food that is light and nutritious 4-6 times a day will actually help you take in less in terms of calories,
writes Anup Deb Nath

THERE are many theories that people will swear work wonders at keeping the fat, inches, kilos etc off. Just as many theories that there are, are the people who can prove most of those theories wrong. It isn’t really the theories that are wrong but the implementation that went off somewhere along the line.

Working out towards a target or a goal and not attaining it can be a frustrating and often defeating experience. While there is no hard and fast rule to get anyone to acquire a fabulous figure, there are certainly ways to make this end come nearer. Often these things are on a hit and miss basis. Something might work for ‘x’ and do nothing for ‘y’ and vice-versa.

Here are some helpful tips to a healthier way of life, ways to make your goals come a little closer than before. Keep these in mind and try to incorporate them into your day-to-day life till they are a part of you. Your goals will then seem to be so much nearer and easier to achieve.

Try not to start your diet with a bang. It is far better to try to slowly and over a period of time lower your total calorie intake in the day. Trying to reach this in a day means a radical change for the body. Which in turn will slow down the metabolism and in the end be counter productive. Lower your calorie intake by as little as 200 to 300 calories initially and then lower it again by the same amount after a week. The lowering should not be more than 10 per cent of your actual calorie intake.

Try to eat smaller and more frequent meals during the day. Eating 4-6 times in a day but food that is light and nutritious will actually help you eat less in terms of calories. Meals that are rich in protein and carbohydrates and low in fat are the perfect solution. This will increase your metabolic rate as well as control your insulin levels in the body.

Try to exercise everyday and ensure that you burn more calories than you consume. Often a 30-45 minute session of aerobic activity 4 to 5 times a week is adequate. Jogging, swimming, cycling, dancing, roller skating and dance or step aerobics are all great ways to have fun and keep those inches off.

Try to substitute what you eat. Most health experts caution you against eating out. Commercial food is high in fat and calories and low on nutrition. But eating out is at times unavoidable. At such times learn to be sensible, select the less fattening and more healthy food like substituting a roast chicken or chicken tikkas for the fattening butter chicken etc. It’s amazing how much you can actually control in terms of calories with a little bit of thought.

Try to incorporate weight training into your exercise routine. Two to three times a week weight training is adequate to maintain your lean body mass and increase your metabolic rate as well. An exercise routine consisting of only aerobics or crash diets often results in losing precious lean body mass. Resistance or weight training helps you build this up as well as maintain your earlier lean body mass.

Drink 8-10 glasses of water in the day. Many people even count their innumerable cups of tea and coffee towards this number. Don’t do that. Water is needed by the body in its natural form and replenishing lost water is very important. Ninety per cent of our body consists of water. Summers actually mean more water as we tend to lose it by sweating and this increases the chances of dehydration.

Try to vary your routine with interval workouts and help your body lose weight more easily. If you vary your routine by doing some anaerobic activity after 10 minutes of aerobic activity, this will benefit your body more as you tend to burn more calories. After 7-10 minutes of jogging, increase your pace to a brisk run and then go back to jogging. These intervals give the body variation and help it burn more calories.

Don’t skip breakfast. Most people who are trying to lose weight tend to skip breakfast, eat a very meagre lunch but fill up at dinner. This is the wrong way to go about it. The best way is to eat a nutritious and healthy breakfast, eat a reasonable lunch and a light dinner.

Try to plan your meals that you eat something light, healthy and filling at the beginning of the meal like a low-cal vegetable soup, or some fruit or salad. This will fill you up partially, leaving you with less of an appetite for the main meal.

Choose a low fat option for cooking your meal. Bake or grill instead of frying and opt for steamed or boiled whenever possible. Small considerations like this will go a long way in keeping the calories reduced.

Food on your plate should never be heaped. Take a single generous sized portion and try not to refill your plate for seconds. Also ensure that the larger servings are of vegetables, protein, carbohydrates and less of fat, or meat. Chew your food slowly when you eat. This will take away the edge of your hunger and tend to fill you up faster as well as help the digestion process. Also, try get up from the table just a little hungry rather than full up.

Don’t only go by what you weigh. Inches are just as good a way to measure yourself by. Often some people have heavier bones and, therefore, weigh more than others of their height. Remember as long as you look good, it’s fine.

Patience and perseverance are the keywords. Don’t expect what came on in so many years to come off in a week. Let it take a little longer to come off and try to ensure that it stays off as well.