Want to Lose Weight? Don’t Eat Less, Eat Right: 5 Foolproof Tips to Know

Here are a few things to remember to help you lose weight, and not your mind.

Practice mindful eating and moderation this new year. 

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As the year is about to end, it's a good idea to get some facts about nutrition and weight loss right, to ensure that you don’t make the same mistakes next year, and actually reach the goal of a healthier body in 2023.

Read on for a quick refresher on nutrition facts that you must have right.

Learn to Choose Right

Losing weight (and getting healthier) ceases to be difficult the moment you decide not to diet, and go instead on a diet correction plan, where the focus is on identifying the shortcomings and then rectifying them.

It is important to really enjoy the weight loss journey for it to sustain.

I never tire of telling people not to diet, instead I ask them to go back to basics, do a habits audit first, figure out what they are doing right already, and where they are wrong and then pick and choose which wrong habits they are willing to put in order.

I believe in a process that delivers long term health and weight loss, not a quick loss and then regain scheme, which actually messes up your body and metabolism big time. It is important to own up to the importance and responsibility of getting healthier, and embark on the process with doable changes that can help change first the mindset and then the health quotient in a big way.

Moderation Works

Eat everything but definitely practice balance, variety and moderation.

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I believe giving up some food totally is the most difficult advice to follow and stick to - which is why I never suggest this. Instead of looking at foods as good or bad, take a non-diet approach.

I am an eternal optimist; that’s how I function. Plus my years of practice have taught me that saying a blatant, rigid no (to a food) does not work, it only goads people to cheat, so a better way is to ensure that good habits crowd out the bad ones.

Don’t give up foods that are calorific, simply cut them to size. So eat everything but definitely practice balance, variety and moderation.

For example, instead of deciding to stop eating the bread pakora in the evening during the office tea break, a better idea would be to factor in a healthier version of a bhelpuri (or a fruit chat) there, you’ll be happy, and the purpose will get solved too.

much-neededmuch needed fuel (energy) they provide to get us through the day without feeling lethargic and down in the dumps. And they are important to provide not just satiety, but also numerous essential nutrients like the B vitamins that we need to keep our metabolism humming along properly.

Besides, banning them from the diet might just create havoc with your hormones, and a severely protein rich diet might add load on your kidneys and cause trouble.

Do not ban eating carbs from your diet in a day. 

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Don’t Obsess Over Your Calorie Count

Don’t get obsessed with calorie counting, but focus your energy and attention on our nutrient intake. That is because all calories are not the same!

I believe that it’s not just the number of calories, but also the quality of calories you are eating that matters. So instead of calorie counting, it is better to be calorie aware, and following the simple method of replacing the good food with the bad - works.

If we eat mindfully, and stick to the basic principle of everything in moderation, the calories will just take care of themselves.

One Golden Tip

Stop standing on the scale.

I strongly believe that weighing scales are overrated. The digits flashing there do not define us. Tell me, do we walk around with xx kgs plastered on our forehead? We don’t, right!

Stop checking your weight every day.

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We walk around as a sum total of who we are: our abilities, our personality, the kind of person we are, and yes, how we look  (and how much we weigh) is just one part of this equation.

Just one part, so give it just that much importance.

Depend instead on other parameters like your mood, energy levels, absence of bloating, the glow of health and happiness on your face to decide if you are doing fine.

Don’t weight yourself more than once a week, and that too with just a regulatory mindset, not a punishing one.

So, stop worrying about weight, and start caring for yourself in a nurturing way. Rest, everything will fall in place by itself. But if you want one concrete one: begin drinking more water. Very often when you think you are hungry, you are possibly simply dehydrated and your body is demanding water, while you feed it a vada pao.

(Kavita Devgan is a nutritionist, weight management consultant and health writer based in Delhi. She is the author of Don’t Diet! 50 Habits of Thin People (Jaico), Ultimate Grandmother Hacks: 50 Kickass Tradition)