Start a healthy weight loss program

A healthy, self-regulating, body is naturally slim and the way to achieve that is most likely not through the latest miracle crash diet, but by adopting a sustainable and balanced eating plan that soon feels like a natural way of life.

The diet should be made up of plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and healthy fats in order to give the body all the nutrients it needs to function. Adding in exercise will be key to help budge excess weight. The most powerful tool, however, is a mindset set for success!

Attitudes for weight loss:

• Do not skip meals! This does not work in the long-term, upsets blood sugar balance and can lead to afternoon and evening binges. You may lose more weight in the first week than any other as you shed fluid through the first stage of detoxification; our bodies also quickly adapt to changes so you can see different stages of results, a good reason not to weight yourself but rely on how your clothes fit as a benchmark.
• If you must weigh yourself, weekly is a good rule but 1-2lbs a week is the healthiest and most sustainable weight loss. Be kind to yourself, the best weight loss happens steadily and then stays off. Yo-yo dieting is well known to have quick fix results that don’t last as it lowers our metabolism by putting the body into ‘famine mode’.
• This is the beginning, see this diet as a guide to healthy eating, not a fad that you then drop at the end of the four week. Notice what suits you in terms of keeping up energy and reducing cravings and note foods which you like and make you feel good to encourage you to change habits for good.
• As you increase in energy, so you can increase your fuel-burning capacity and will feel more motivated to increase the exercise you need to make the dietary changes work.

Factors that get in the way of the results you want:

• Reducing stress is as an important factor in weight loss as nutrition and exercise – ensure you relax daily and switch off from the world around you. Your body can’t let go of extra pounds if it perceives it is in a danger situation. If you are holding weight around the middle then stress usually has a role to play via the stress hormone cortisol.
• Unknown food intolerances can cause us to hold onto fluids as weight and also see other symptoms like headaches, skin complaints, digestive issues and fatigue. Low thyroid function can keep the metabolism on ‘go slow’ and weight gain is a common symptom along with cold hands and feet, difficulty getting up in the morning and depression.