12 Ways to Loss Weight

By Sandi Thompson –

Did you see the article in the Los Angeles Times about the grim data on U.S. obesity rates? It’s scary! There is only one U.S. state with an obesity rate of under 20% – barely. Colorado squeaked in at 19.8.

Compare that to Mississippi with a rate of 34.4% which means over a third of their population is not just overweight but downright FAT.

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What to do? Here are a dozen simple tips to take the scale in the other direction.

1. Slow down and chew your food. Quit inhaling it. Give your stomach time to signal your brain that you are full. This takes about 20 minutes. We have lost the pleasure of dining and exchanged it for gulping.

2. Put your fork down between bites. This really slows down your eating and allows you to savor your food.

3. Eat fruit between meals instead of grabbing a latte and a cookie. Plan your snacks from mid-morning and mid-afternoon by packing along some nuts, a piece of fruit, maybe some crunchy carrots and a piece of cheese. A stroll at this time of day helps get your blood circulation going and that’s a good thing if you have a desk job.

4. Stop drinking anything about 20 minutes before a meal. This creates a better environment in your stomach for digestion. If you have to drink with your meal, take small sips. Better digestion means more nutrients are absorbed. You may experience fewer cravings.

5. Go for a walk after dinner. This doesn’t have to be a race. A family walk after loading the dishwasher can take pounds of the scale and inches off your waist. Aim for 20 minutes. It’s okay to stop and smell your neighbor’s flowers, but keep going.

6. Step up your exercise gradually. Start by parking further away at the grocery store, the office, etc. Go for the parking place that allows you to stretch your legs a bit, not the one right beside the door. Over time, this little change pays off.

7. Leave temptation on the shelf at the store. If you want a treat make it healthy like a piece of fruit. Keep the ice cream, cookies, candies, cake, chips and crackers out of your home and you will have a better chance of losing weight.

8 .Open your mind to new ways to celebrate success. Instead of a big night out and a huge meal to congratulate yourself, how about tickets to a concert, a play, an overnight trip, a sports event or something else that doesn’t center on food. Heck a new pair of shoes always floats my boat!

9. Scan the buffet line before filling your plate. It is easier to make better choices that way.

10. Aim for feeling full instead of stuffed when you get up from the table. One way to do this is concentrate on eating greens like salad or cooked vegetables along with protein and pass on the starches like potatoes, rice and bread.

11. Keep yourself hydrated. We often mistake thirst for being hungry. Try this for a week: instead of grabbing a cup of coffee in the morning when you first get up, have a glass of water. Try an 8, 12 or 16 ounce glass. Sip water throughout the day, aiming for 8 glasses of water.

12. Read labels and make good choices. Keep the grams of sugar in packaged foods to 7 grams or less per serving. It’s often the sugar in our food that keeps us fat, not just high fat foods. Sugar seems to fuel our appetite for even more sweet foods. Wean yourself off sweets and you’ll see the pounds disappear.

Sandi Thompson is trained and certified as an nutritional therapy practitioner, NTP, by the Nutritional Therapy Association, located in Olympia, Washington. The organization was founded by Gray Graham. Check out their website, to learn more.

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12 Ways to Loss Weight
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