Losing weight after delivering your bundle of joy is possible
if you learn to change the way you eat.
The first way to do this is to eliminate the word diet
temporarily from your vocabulary. This is particularly important
if you are breastfeeding. You should consider yourself on a
journey toward healthy eating not dieting. Some women . will be
able to breastfeed successfully without adding any extra
calories to their diet. Be sure that you ask your physician
before attempting this, as you don’t want to affect your milk
supply.
So we are going to talk about creating a healthy eating plan to
help you lose weight instead of a diet. Your motto from here on
out should be to eat healthily. You can and you will lose weight
if you adopt this strategy!
Let’s talk about some simple yet effective strategies for losing
weight via a healthy eating plan.
Portion Size
Portions are out of control everywhere! People have simply
gotten into the habit of eating larger than normal sizes. Most
restaurants now offer servings that are more well suited for
three people than they are for one.
What can you do? If you eat out frequently the first thing you
should consider doing is having your waiter box up half of your
meal. This will prevent you from overeating and allow you to
enjoy your meal without having to worry about packing on extra
pounds.
If you are cooking for yourself, keep this in mind: a proper
portion of protein should be about the size and depth of the
palm of your hand. So, if you want to cook a steak, consider a
steak that is about the size of your palm. Likewise, a serving
of starchy carbohydrate should be about 1 cup, or about the
amount of your fist. Not very much when you think about it is it?
Fortunately you can be a little more liberal when it comes to
vegetables. Eat all the salad you want, BUT don’t pile on the
fatty dressing. Did you know just a tablespoon of your favorite
dressing can pack on more than a hundred extra calories? Try
asking for your dressing on the side, this way you can control
the amount of dressing you will be adding to your salad. You can
even dip a forkful of your salad into your dressing rather than
pour it on top.
Other additions to the traditional ‘salad’ that make it
fattening include bacon bits, cheese and guacamole. Your
traditional taco salad is typically loaded with fatty extras
including sour cream. If you are a fan of the taco salad, avoid
eating the shell at all costs and consider using salsa instead
of ranch dressing, you’ll save several hundred calories.
Consume Enough Water
Many people believe that they are hungry when in reality they
are thirsty. The body sometimes mistakes these two signals. If
you think you might be hungry but have just recently eaten,
consider having a large glass of water and waiting a few minutes.
Did you know that most people walk around in a state of
dehydration? It is true. The best thing you can do to avoid this
problem is drink at least eight large glasses of water per day
(that is 8 to 10 oz of water per glass for all you that are
counting!). If you feel thirsty, chances are you are already
dehydrated to some extent.
Nursing women actually require more water than the average
woman. Triple this if you plan on working out and perspiring.
What does this mean? You should basically plan on having a water
bottle at your side at all times.
Not a fan of plain water? No problem! Consider spicing up your
water with a squeeze of lemon, lime or even orange. There are
also many sparkling waters that are available on the market
today.
Water can also help you lose weight when you drink water with
your meals, which will help you feel fuller and help you eat
less if you are trying to lose weight.
Add Fiber
Fiber is an important part of any diet. Most people aren’t
eating enough fiber. Fiber is not only important for maintaining
proper elimination, it helps keep your colon healthy and can
help you lose weight!
Ok so fiber is important. What exactly is it? Fiber is basically
roughage, or the indigestible materials that are found in
plants. It has no calories and your body doesn’t have the
ability to absorb it. High fiber foods can be either soluble or
insoluble, meaning it can either be broken down and dissolved in
water or not.
Both forms of fiber are actually very important to your health
and digestive system. Fiber can help bulk up your bowel
movements so that waste materials move through your body quickly
and efficiently. This helps maintain your colon health and
prevent constipation.
Fiber can also help regulate blood sugar and may help regulate
blood cholesterol levels. An even better bonus? Fiber can help
slow the absorption of sugar after a meal, and help you feel
fuller longer.
Generally high fiber foods are low in calories. They make you
feel full faster. Here is a list of some excellent high fiber
selections that you should consider adding to your diet:
High Fiber Foods
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Beans
- Popcorn
- Brown Rice
- Whole Grains
- Wheat Bran
- Psyllium
- Barley
- Oatmeal
- Prunes
How can you tell if you are consuming enough fiber on a day to
day basis? You should try to eat at least 20-35 grams of fiber
per day. Most people don’t get even half of this amount in their
daily diet.
One important thing to note here… if you drastically increase
the amount of fiber in your diet overnight, you will experience
some discomfort, primarily in the form of bloating, diarrhea and
gas. Be sure to add fiber to your diet, but do so gradually and
you will avoid these unpleasant symptoms.
Tips for Adding Fiber to Your Diet
- Eat fresh fruits and vegetables rather than juices.
- Keep the skin on fruit and be sure to eat it.
- Choose unprocessed foods over processed ones.
- Select whole grain foods when possible.
One additional note here… it is important to increase the amount
of water you are drinking as you increase the amount of fiber in
your diet, again to ensure proper digestion and to avoid
uncomfortable symptoms.
Sugar and Sugar Substitutes
Is sugar really bad for you? In a word, yes! Sugar isn’t really
bad, but it certainly doesn’t provide you with any nutrients or
high quality vitamins and minerals. Most people have trouble
losing weight because their diets are jam packed full of sugar.
Sugar is in everything, particularly foods that have been overly
processed. Think sugar isn’t in the Chinese take out you ordered
the other night? Think again! Sugar serves one purpose when you
are trying to lose weight… it packs on calories!
Eating too much sugar will also help disrupt your blood sugar
levels, causing your blood sugar to rapidly rise and fall again,
which (you guessed it) will help contribute to weight gain by
making you hungry more of the time.
So what can you do to reduce your intake of sugar? First and
foremost you should work to eliminate the amount of processed
food that you eat. Whenever possible you should be consuming
foods that are in their natural state. This includes plenty of
lean meats, fruits and vegetables. Anything that comes in a box
that is microwaveable is a processed food item.
Even pre-made pancakes are processed! Have you ever looked at
the ingredients on the side of the box? You will undoubtedly run
into ‘sugar’ at some point or another. Many cereals also contain
large amounts of sugar.
Make your own pancakes if you can with flour, milk and eggs.
Another thing you can to do help facilitate your weight loss is
start reading labels. If you read before you buy you are less
likely to add things to your cart that are high in calories due
to added sugar.
If you have a sweet tooth, you might consider sugar substitutes.
Some popular selections include Splenda and NutraSweet. Some
people also substitute honey for sugar. Honey is actually a
better choice than sugar because people tend to use less and It
is low in calories.
Eat Slowly and Thoughtfully
Far too many people eat while they are on the go. Even more eat
while they are watching television.
This is actually one of the number one things you can do that
will sabotage your diet. Time and time again studies have shown
that people tend to eat more when they eat in front of the TV.
Why? Well for one you are eating absentmindedly.
So what can you do to avoid mindless eating? First and foremost
turn off the television. If at all possible you should strive to
sit down and enjoy your meal whenever possible.
Now, we certainly understand that you have a new baby, and are
very busy. Baby’s needs usually get addressed before mommy’s.
However, EVERYONE has ten minutes in the day where they can slow
down long enough to eat. When you eat it is important that you
do so thoughtfully.
The first thing you should do is actually inhale your food.
Smell it. Simply smelling your food sends signals to your brain
that you are fulfilling your biological need to eat, and will
help trigger your satiety signals when you are full, helping
prevent overeating.
The next thing you need to do is actually chew your food. Take a
bite and chew your food thoroughly. In the hub to get things
done most people don’t actually chew there food, they inhale it.
Chewing your food thoroughly will help saliva break down the
food you are eating and help you feel full faster. People who
actually chew there food tend to fill up much faster than those
that don’t.
You should also learn to enjoy your food. Savor every taste.
Take note of the texture of the food you are eating. This is
what is known as mindful eating, and like chewing your food, it
will help you avoid over-eating because you are paying more
attention to what you are eating rather than simply gorging
yourself.
Pre-Cook Meals
Any experienced mom will tell you the value of pre-cooked meals.
Meals you cook ahead of time are meals that are readily
available when chaos breaks lose and you no longer have the time
to cook a proper meal for you and your family.
Consider taking one day of the week to prep a bunch of meals for
that week. If you pre-plan you meals, you have time to ensure
that everything you are preparing is cooked in a healthy, low
fat and high nutrient manner.
If you have never been much of a cook in the past, consider
purchasing a low fat cookbook and trying out a few recipes.
There are many versions out there that offering easy cooking
recipes for people on the go.
Any meals you prepare ahead of time you can break down into
single serving or multiple serving sizes and place in the
freezer for later consumption.
How does pre-cooking help you lose weight? If you have meals
prepared ahead of time, you are less likely to order a pizza or
some other unhealthy food on the spur of the moment because you
don’t have a lot of time to prepare a full meal.
Pre-cooking meals will also enable you to better control portion
sizes. You can decide ahead of time how much food is the right
amount, and keep track of the caloric content of the foods you
are preparing.