How To Lose Weight Without Starving Yourself

So you've tried everything to lose weight. You've tried doing some exercise, but who has the time to stuff themselves into a jogging suit every morning for a crack-of-dawn run, and miss that blissful extra half-hour curled up in bed? You tried a crash diet - well that failed as well. Two minutes after you decide to stop eating, the unbelievable craving for hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows overwhelms you.

Frustrating, isn't it. The second you even think about dieting your stomach groans in despair and you're left standing in a pool of your own saliva.  Well, no worries. There's a way to fix it.

Now, this method can take a while, but trust me, it's better than wasting your life resisting adding sugar to your coffee or telling yourself that cake and chocolate is evil and must be avoided. It can be difficult to get into the pace of things at first, but it works.

Why Are You Overweight?

First of all, it helps to identify why you have gained these extra pounds in the first place. It could be one or more of these factors, or it could be another reason.
Boredom
A surprisingly large number of people pile on the pounds simply because eating is the most exciting thing in their life they can look forward to. Do you have an exciting and action-packed life? Do you have a career you enjoy and a passionate love life? Or do you often find yourself at home with not much to do? It can be easy to snack when doing nothing else, or to munch on biscuits or crisps when watching the telly. I'm not saying you're boring, obviously - but eating can fill in a lot of time, as well as filling your stomach.
Low mood
When we have high levels of stress, our bodies produce what's known as GAS - and no, not the gross kind. GAS or General Adaptation Syndrome is when our adrenaline kicks in - our natural defence mechanism to tackle threat, our Fight or Fight response that is thought to have existed in humans - or all animals, for that matter - for centuries. When the GAS starts - sorry, no pun intended - adrenaline flows through our bodies and blood flow is directed away from the organs and to the muscles, ready for action. However if this happens too often, when we're very stressed, the GAS can stop, and we effectively "crash". We're left with no energy and crave high-energy foods with lots of sugar, fat and salt to keep us going.
Lack of motivation
Many may just think - why bother? So you're a little overweight, that's fine. And it is fine. But if you're serious about losing weight, then you need the right motivation. Success is 90% attitude and 10% skill. If you really want something, there's no reason why you shouldn't get it!


So how can you lose weight? Here are some tips.

Keep Busy

It may seem obvious, but if you spend your time doing something constructive then your mind won't be wandering to food all the time.  If you have a job that involves lots of hard work, then work hard at it and try to enjoy it at the same time.

Get a hobby.  Do you like painting, writing, gardening, singing?  If you like something, don't be afraid to try it out.  Imagine how good you'll feel once you've created a beautiful picture on a canvas, or planted a row of tulips in your garden, or written a novel!  Serotonin, or the "feel-good" hormone, can be produced from small successes like these and even contribute to losing weight.

If you keep your body and brain busy, you won't be thinking about food.  If you're really involved in something you may even feel less hungry - try it out!  You'll be doing something constructive so you'll feel good about yourself, you'll be eating less without making yourself miserable, and depending on your hobby you'll even be getting a bit of exercise!  Gardening, for example, can be exhausting.  You know you've done well if you're smiling and sweating!

Stay Happy

Go out with your friends, spend time with your family, spice up your love life - all these also keep you happily busy, give you that serotonin boost you need, and helps you shred the weight with blissful effortlessness.

Social contact with people you like makes you happy - and there are tons and tons of things you can do with your favourite people to keep your mind full of happy thoughts.  Holidays, days out, even small activities like bowling or shopping can burn your calories.  Think about all the things you have wanted to do in your life.  Have you ever fancied abseiling or bungee jumping?  Swimming with dolphins?  Or maybe it's something small like watching the perfect sunset on the beach?  Life is too short to be unhappy.  And happiness can help you lose weight.

Cook Your Own Food

An alarmingly large amount of people do not cook their own food.  Takeaways and restaurants are fine once in a while but again, be sensible about them.  A like a KFC and I barely eat it once a month, but when I do... well, don't get me started.

Cooking is easier than it looks, and believe it or not, it's fun!  Cooking is another hobby loved by hundreds and you know exactly what you're eating.  If you can't cook, then learn!  There are lots of cooking programmes, books and internet resources you can choose from to get started.  In the long-run, buying ingredients to cook your own food is often cheaper than takeaways anyway.

You'll learn about different herbs and spices, how to cook different meats, all about different sauces and dressings - it's so exciting!  If you try and have vegetables with every meal too it can help improve your diet.  A psychological study has shown that eating fruit and vegetables every day can even improve your self-efficacy - which is having confidence and feeling good about yourself!  And don't forget, vegetables can be delicious too if cooked correctly!  If you're used to canned stuff, chuck the tins away and boil your own!  Explore different flavours and you'll find you might even love the healthy stuff more than the unhealthy stuff.

Exercise Is OK Sometimes...

Of course, this won't solve all your weight problems.  There are certain weight issues that can be difficult to shake off that can't be solved just through keeping busy.  An important and effective way to keep motivation up is to set yourself goals.

Set up a diagram or a table of your plan.  Set realistic goals - many people make the mistake of setting the bar too high and end up giving up easily.  If you want to start doing exercise, then firstly set yourself up for once or twice a week at the Gym, or alone at home.  Work out how you'll exercise - are you going to do Yoga on a sports mat or lift weights?  Will you play weight-losing games on the Nintendo Wii or go jogging with your friends?  It's all up to you - it's your body, and you know how it works best.

Once you get into the flow of doing exercise once a week, set the bar a little higher.  Make it twice a week.  Then three.  Three is a sensible place to stop - make sure you do it at times when you don't have work or important appointments.  Make sure there are no distractions, and that you can relax and enjoy your exercise.

Weight scales can be cruel, but remember exercise doesn't just help you drop weight, it can turn fat to muscle.  So if you check your weight and it hasn't dropped by much, don't despair.  Your hard work might be making you stronger as well as thinner!

Finding the right kind of exercise for you can be daunting, but there are hundreds of different kinds out there.  If you're not into tracksuits and trainers, then don't worry.  You could try swimming, a sports game like badminton or basketball, Yoga or Judo or even things that aren't particularly exercise-orientated like cleaning or sex.  Cleaning is thought to be a fantastic workout, and if your home is clean, you'll feel better too.

The Worst One Of All... "Eating Sensibly"...

I stand by what I said about life being too short.  Cake, crisps, coke and chocolate are all wonderful and should be eaten - they were designed to be eaten, they will be upset if they are not eaten.  However we shouldn't be silly.  These things should be treats, not the normal snack of every day.

Your favourite sweet or chocolate can be a treat for after your exercise.  Munch on it happily, savouring each bite, and tell yourself you've worked hard and you deserve it.  Treats seem so much better when you know you've earned them.  If you have work to do - coursework, homework or work work, then think of the Mars Bar waiting for you in the fridge for when you've finished.  It can be difficult at first, but willpower is key.  You have to want this, and in time, it will work.

This way, you'll drop weight, stay happy, and live more of life without worrying about calories.