Besides questions on dating and sex, "How do I lose weight?" is the most popular question AskMen.com receives.
Two major factors are key in shedding inches off your waistline: a proper diet and a good exercise regimen. You can read more on how to improve your exercise routine and apply some easy nutrition tips, such as the ones below, in our fitness tips channel.
Improving your eating habits doesn't necessarily mean that you'll have to undergo draconian deprivations and scrutinize your diet for every calorie that is over the limit. Simply make a few minor adjustments in your eating habits and watch them payoff within weeks. Here is AM's guide to dieting made easy.
Slideshow: 7 Tricks to Staying Thin
Dieting Made Easy
The good thing about these dieting made easy tips is that you can lose weight without letting all of your snack-eating friends know that you're watching your food intake. Furthermore, the next time you go out on a date, she won't be turned off by thinking you're a pickier eater than she is for requesting the low-calorie menu or your salad dressing on the side. Read on, follow these simple weight loss tips and watch your waistline undergo some noticeable improvements.
1. Choose juices with pulp
Most of us don't like drinking water all day long. We find that it lacks flavor and that it simply doesn't quench our thirst as well as soft drinks or juices do. So, if you're a big juice drinker, replace pulp-free fruit juice with juice that is rich in pulp. The reason is simple: Juice with more pulp will fill you up more quickly than processed juice. Becoming full faster means that you'll consume less juice by day's end, thereby reducing the amount of excess calories.
Pulp is loaded with fiber, an essential nutrient that your body not only needs, but will make you feel a lot more full throughout the day. More pulp can also help prevent insulin spiking, which usually results in an energy crash that comes from strained juices. As a rule of thumb, drinking juice with extra pulp will reduce your total juice consumption by one-fourth.
2. Choose whole wheat breads
The same principle can be applied to bagels or bread. Instead of buying white bread, stick to whole wheat. The added fiber in whole wheat bread will kill your appetite quicker than if you were eating white bread. Therefore, instead of eating two portions of the processed version of the bread, you might only eat one, resulting in a cut in your caloric intake. Products containing whole wheat are also believed to keep blood-sugar levels stable over a longer period of time. To make this dieting made easy tip even more effective, cut your portions in half and eat them over a longer period of time.
3. Cut the cheese content
Most of us bring our lunches to work and the most common thing we pack in the old lunch bag is a sandwich. So, if you are eating five sandwiches a week, it's important to cut the calorie and fat content in each sandwich, without killing its taste. Here is a little trick that will help you do just that: Cut the cheese content.
Instead of using slices, include shavings (shredded cheese) in your healthy sandwich. You will cover the same surface area of bread, however, you'll be using much less cheese.
The same principle can be applied to salads, or cheese can be melted on to add flavor to other foods. Simply reduce the quantities used by opting for shredded cheese rather than slices; in the long run, you will consume a lot less calories and fat, which will, in turn, reduce your weight.
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4. Measure what you eat
It's true that sandwiches aren't the same without mayonnaise, but men usually like to spread a lot of mayonnaise on their bread. The next time you prepare a sandwich, measure the amount of mayonnaise you actually add to the sandwich. That way, you can actually see how many grams of fat you'll be eating with each sandwich. You'll quickly see that those servings will get smaller and smaller and before you know it, you'll want to switch to a lighter brand of mayonnaise.
This minor change to your eating habits will really make a noticeable difference in your weight, while keeping the taste differences to a minimum. Please remember that these little tips can also be applied to margarine, butter and all kinds of cheese. This is a simple tip that will make dieting easy.
5. Cut out the bread
Finally, when you're at a restaurant and the waiter places the basket of bread on your table, try to toss it aside. The worst thing every man does is eat half the basket before the meal arrives. Take, for example, someone that eats three slices of bread each time he goes out to eat. These three slices can add as much as 200 calories to the entire meal; and if your meal consists of 1,000 calories, you just added 20% to it.
Bread is processed carbohydrates and the insulin release the bread triggers tells the body to store the extra calories as fat. Thus, to keep it simple, try to stay away from all types of bread as much as possible, especially later in the day.
Small Changes, Big Results
As you can see, these weight loss tips won't complicate your life. The only thing they will do is help you shed a few pounds by the end of the month.
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