First thing's first: you have to purge your pantry from things that are not beneficial for your weight and health. This doesn't mean you have to throw it all out (although you should, if you can). It's OK to keep a little stash for cravings but keep it as small as possible. If you're against food waste, use these things in moderation and avoid restocking when you go grocery shopping.

Check Your Pantry

White carbs have similar nutrients to whole carbs, except for fiber. Although this seems minor, fiber helps keeping you full and managing the sugar intake, because it's processed slower by the body.By eating whole carbs, you will avoid sugar peaks. Whatch out for:<ul><li>White bread and buns</li><li>White pasta</li><li>Baked goods containing white flour and/or refined sugar</li><li>White rice</li></ul>

White Carbs

There is no greater harm in canned food, as long as they are canned naturally. Food that is canned in oil or syrup have extra calories that add little to no benefit to the food itself. Watch out for:<ul><li>Fish and vegetables canned in oil</li><li>Fruit and fruit pulp canned in syrup</li><li>Meat canned in glazes or oil</li></ul>

Canned Food With Oil Or Syrup 

Despite what you might think, breakfast cereals are not your friends. An actual daily dose is way less than you might imagine (usually around 1/3 of a bowl) and it usually comes with lots of sugar, even the fitness versions. Go for some oatmeal or chia pudding instead.

Breakfast Cereal

We usually see drinks as a minor problem. Usually a cup doesn't seem to have that many calories (usually 50-100) so it couldn't hurt, right? But when you add up the calories of the drinks you had during the day, it ends up being a lot. This is also true for ﻿fruit juices.

Sodas And Sugary Drinks

Savory snacks are usually very nice to have. Despite that, they usually have a lot of things that will make your health hurt:<ul><li>Refined carbs</li><li>Salt</li><li>Trans and/or saturated fat</li></ul>This cocktail of ingredients will make you want to binge on them. It will also add up calories quickly and make you retain water, thus increasing bloating and water weight.

Savory Snacks

Seems obvious, doesn't it? Candy has a lot of sugar. Refined sugar.The problem with refined sugar is that it is addictive and causes crashes after a while. This can put you in a loop where you consume sugar, then crash, then need more sugar to keep functioning properly. Of course there's always sugar free candy, but be aware these can have laxative effects.

Candy

We all heard "an apple a day keeps the doctor away". That's not 100% false, but should be taken within context. Back when this saying first appeared, vitamin deficiency was common and vegetables were harder to access than fruit. Vegetables have vitamins and fiber, same as fruit, but they also have a lot less sugar.

Prefer Vegetables Over Fruit

Many times, we feel hungry when in fact we are dehydrated. Water helps you feel full and avoid hunger for a while.If you struggle to drink water, try tea or a sugar-free water flavor sachet. Give it a try!

Add In Some Water

Yes, we know, five small meals and all that. The problem with this is that it gives you a bad relationship with food and doesn't let you learn how your body feels when you're actually hungry. This makes it harder to know when you're physically hungry or emotionally hungry. If you're not hungry, it's OK to postpone that meal for a while. But make sure you have access to something healthy if the hunger hits later.

Eat When You're Hungry

If hunger hits at an unplanned time, you'll likely end up getting a less healthy snack. We've all been there, a savory puff pastry, a slice of cake from a bakery, a sandwich from the supermarket, a bag of chips... The reason why we do this is because the less expensive, readily available things that are easy to eat on the go are usually unhealthy. To prevent this, pack something healthy. Some nuts, a protein shake, a whole bread sandwich... Whatever suits you better. Also, don't forget to take a water bottle with you. Remember, hunger might in fact be thirst.

Pack A Healthy Snack

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Preparing yourself to lose weight without effort

First of all, you are a human being, don't forget that. Your body needs nutrients and nothing will change that. Your hormones will fluctuate. Your humor will change. Keep that in mind when things go south.

Losing Weight Consistently

I used to say "at this rate, I should weigh X by X". This was, obviously, setting me up for failure. I would reach the date sometimes and, for whatever reason, I wasn't at my desired weight. This would mess with my head and make me feel like I was failing and, therefore, there was no point because ﻿﻿I couldn't do it. On the other hand, planning daily targets is much better. I will not eat candy today. I will get up and workout. I will drink water. The difference between these is that daily targets depend solely on you. Weight goals do not.

Set Daily Targets, Not Weight Goals

Ok, so, you went out. You had a few drinks, asked for doubles and dessert and had a large soda to go with it. Now you're in your bed thinking about how much you ate and how you destroyed your diet. This is called catastrophising. Rephrame this idea. Think about it: how likely is it that you actually ate enough to not be able to lose weight anymore? That's pretty unlikely, isn't it? Truth is, you will keep losing weight, unless you stop trying. Demoralizing because of a bad day will make you more anxious and sad, and odds are you will overeat due to that. Just relax 😊

A Day Is Not A Lifetime

When someone asked me for the first time "Are you hungry or just thirsty?" I was mad! ﻿ ﻿Of course I was hungry! I felt like I needed food. Truth is, I was so, so wrong. Our body can easily mistake hunger for thirst. This happens because you are dehydrated and the body tells you you need food, since food has water. Next time you feel hungry little after eating, try to have a glass of water instead!

Hungry Or Thirsty? 

One of the first things you need to learn is how to tell emotional hunger apart from actual hunger. If you're wondering if your hunger is emotional, ask yourself:<ul><li>Did it come suddenly? </li><li>Am I craving something specific? </li><li>Am I planning to eat a lot even after I'm full? </li><li>Am I focusing in specific flavors, textures or smells? </li><li>Is my stomach feeling empty or making noises? </li></ul>If you answered yes to the first four questions and no to the last, you're emotional eating.

Eating With Your Stomach VS Eating With Your Brain

And now you're asking "how will I track my progress then?!". Well, the scale isn't your friend if used too much. I used to obcess about the scale: every single morning at 7am I'd take a pee, undress, weigh myself and record the result. Every time I saw a raise in the number, I'd go crazy. This, of course, will cause you stress. Stress will make you overeat. Overeating will make you gain weight. See the cycle here? Aim to weigh yourself once every two weeks to a month. Meanwhile, there are other ways to check your progress. Are your clothes looser? Do you climb stairs better? 😊

Ditch The Scale

Losing weight is a long run. If you want to lose a couple of pounds for an event, that's one thing. But losing a big amount of weight will take time and have a lot of ups and downs. Don't aim to lose weight fast. Aim to make the changes required and to fit them into your lifestyle. A crash diet will help you lose some quick pounds, but it won't keep them off because it's an unsustainable lifestyle and eating pattern.

It's A Marathon, Not A Sprint

Sometimes we try to find clothes that will fit our ﻿next ﻿size, so that we don't have to buy again after we lose weight. This is a huge mistake. I'll-fitted clothes will not compliment you in any way. You will feel worse and like your hard work isn't paying off. That is very demoralizing and will only curb your progress.

Buy Clothes That Fit Your Actual Size

We all have stuff that weighs us down (pun unintended). Maybe you eat fast food at lunch because of your schedule. Maybe you snack late at night because you had an early dinner. Maybe you skip that protein shake because you can't reach the shelf. Write up everything that you can't do and the reasons why. Then, think about what you can do to find solutions for the root of these problems. Remember to check your list and update it from time to time: more anchors will come eventually.

Find Your Anchors

Losing weight is difficult. It changes everything in your life and makes it sometimes hard to keep up with the world. While I was losing weight, I came up with some tips to help me out.

Preparing yourself to lose weight without effort

11 things I found out while losing weight

Tita Carvalho