Five Simple Steps to Help You Lose Weight and Feel Great!

Struggling with your weight? If so, you’re not alone. According to a recent Government report, 63% of UK adults are above a healthy weight. Half are living with obesity, but a few simple changes can make all the difference.

Here are five things you can do to help you lose weight and feel energised – getting you ready to do all the things you really want in 2024.

1.    Eat regularly and often. 

Avoid skipping meals. Going for long periods of time without eating leads to overeating and makes you much more likely to reach for less healthy foods. I tend to recommend three main meals and two small healthy snacks every day. It’s all about the right foods at the right time in the right amounts.

It's important to note, losing weight is not about deprivation. I want my clients to feel full and enjoy what they are eating. This is the key to success and long-term sustainable change.

2.    Eat Carbs, Protein and Fat as every meal and snack.

Avoid eating just carbohydrate-rich foods on their own, for example, toast with honey or jam, croissants, pastries, bagels, sweets or chocolate bars. Make sure you’re always including protein and healthy fats in your diet to fill you up and keep you satisfied for longer. The addition of protein and fats will also curb sugar cravings, meaning you are much less likely to overeat and graze throughout the day.

Good sources of protein include eggs, dairy, lean meat, pulses (lentils and chickpeas), tofu and soya.

Nut and seed butters (peanut, almond, cashew and tahini) are a quick and easy way to add healthy fats and protein to your meals and snacks. Try rye bread with peanut butter for breakfast and berries with almond butter as a snack. Tender stem broccoli or asparagus drizzled with tahini (made into a simple dressing) is a delicious and healthy way of serving vegetables. Make sure you always buy unsweetened nut and seed butters.

3.    Eat breakfast!

What you eat at breakfast sets you up for the rest of your day. So, choose healthy carbs, protein and fats at breakfast to keep your blood sugar levels stable and set you up for good glucose stability for the rest of the day.

Try plain unsweetened yogurt with berries, nuts and seeds (for example, pumpkin, sesame and sunflower). There’s nothing wrong with a savoury breakfast either. Poached eggs with smashed avocado, grilled tomatoes, wilted spinach and mushrooms are an energy boosting start to the day!

4.    Eat the right carbs.

The more processed carbs we eat (crisps, biscuits, cakes, pastries), the higher our blood sugar rises. The body’s response to this is to produce insulin, the fat storage hormone. The more insulin you have circulating in your body, the more sugar cravings you get and the more likely you are to store it as fat, particularly around the middle.

So, ditch the crisps, biscuits, cakes, and pastries and swap white foods for brown. Choose wholegrain pasta or bulgur wheat, brown rice, rye bread or brown sourdough instead of the white versions.

Vegetables can be a good source of carbohydrate too as they include fibre that reduces the rate at which sugar is absorbed by the body, stabilising blood glucose levels, aiding weight loss.

Choose sweet potato, new potatoes (particularly left to cool), carrots, squash, pumpkin, beetroot or peas as your carbohydrate. Perhaps make them into a soup? A great winter warmer!

5.    Change the order of carbohydrate, fats and protein when you eat. 

Eat your vegetables, healthy fats and protein before your carbohydrates. The order makes a huge difference by filling you up quicker, helping to stabilise blood sugar levels, reducing cravings and shifting stubborn pounds.

If you’re a busy person, struggling with your weight, confused about what to eat, know that you are not alone. Part two to follow next month!

Book in for a complimentary 15-minute discovery call so that I can learn more about your health issues and give you my initial thoughts on how I can help you to lose weight and feel great without feeling hungry.