Simple No-Cost Steps Towards Weight Loss

Losing weight doesn't have to be expensive, exhausting or time consuming. A few simple common sense steps can often give you a head start towards your weight loss goal. Here are just some examples.

Eat slowly and chew thoroughly

This simple adjustment may be surprisingly effective in reducing your food intake. The reason is that when you eat in a hurry you tend to consume more food than your body needs. The feeling of hunger is controlled by the brain. The brain senses when the nutrients from food get into your blood and switches off the feeling of hunger. However, the food needs to be digested and absorbed before it can get into your bloodstream. When eating in a hurry, you don't give food enough time to get absorbed and act on your brain to quench hunger, so you end up consuming more than you need for satiety. Eat slowly, chew thoroughly, take time to enjoy your meals. This way you will consume less food but absorb more vitamins and minerals from it. If during a meal, you find that you are not hungry anymore but there is still food on the plate -- stop.

Do not eat late at night

Do not eat late at night, especially within 2-3 hours of going to bed. During sleep the body's metabolism slows down. Less calories are burnt and much of the food goes in storage as fat. Make dinner the smallest, not the largest meal of the day -- you need sizable meals before your main daily activities, not after.

Watch less TV

Several clinical studies demonstrated the link between excessive TV watching and being overweight. When watching TV, the energy expenditure is low, and viewers tend to have high calorie snacks. Cut your TV time as much as you reasonably can. Even better, replace part of your TV time with exercise or outdoor activities. If some shows are 'must see' for you, do some light exercise while watching them.

More water, less sodas

As simple as it sounds, drinking a lot of water makes you eat less. However, sodas are not a good substitute for water. Regular sodas contain a lot of calories. Diet sodas are low in calories but contain an artificial sweetener aspartame that stimulates hunger.