5 Easy Ways to Lose That Extra Weight

Millions of us struggle with excess weight.  We try to diet, we want to exercise more, but it never seems to work.  Maybe the approach you are trying is just not easy enough.  That’s right, I said easy.  I used to knock myself out trying to get to the gym, when I don’t even like that kind of exercise.  Now I park a little further than I have to everywhere I go, take the stairs when I can, and go the long way to get places.  That’s my new exercise routine.

I found out that if I make it easy for me, do things I either actually like or at least don’t mind doing, then I don’t really even think much about it, habits just form.  I know losing weight may not exactly be easy, but stop making it so hard!  Find things you can do with minimal effort – and give these 5 things a try to start, they really work for me!

Breakfast Can Be The Start Of Something Sweet – and Slim

What if I told you that you could eat dessert for breakfast?  I know, it flies in the face of almost everything I’ve ever thought, too.  I used to try to start out lean and mean, no carbs, lots of protein.  And it would work – for a while.  Then I’d start to feel deprived, and eventually I would just eat whatever, gaining back any pounds I had lost.

Turns out, I am not alone.  And there is a science to why it happens.

Our metabolism is active and strong in the morning more than it is during the rest of the day.  Eating something sweet with breakfast means you have all day to burn off the calories and carbs, and are much less likely to be craving them later in the day.

If you don’t believe me, how about this: in a 32 week study [1] of almost 200 obese people, half of them ate a 600-calorie breakfast that was balanced with protein, carbs, and a sweet treat.  The other half ate only 300 calories, and low carb foods at breakfast. Both groups consumed the same amount of calories each day. And about half way through the study, they had lost very similar amounts of weight.  But then it happened.  The low carb group started to snap, feeling deprived (sounds just like me), and regained 2/3 of the weight. The sweet treat 600-calorie group, however, not only did it not regain any weight, it kept losing more. By the end of the study, participants in the 600-calorie group were – are you sitting down, because this is impressive – on average 40 pounds lighter than the other group.  As soon as the 300-calorie no sweets group hit that halfway mark in the study, they started to gain back most of what they had already lost.

Professor Daniela Jakubowicz, with Tel Aviv University, notes that trying to avoid one food group like sweets entirely can end up making you crave them with intensity and feel addicted to them, the reverse of what you were trying to do.

A slice of yummy cake with your morning bacon and eggs?  Yes, please!  Oh, and did I mention that the 600-calorie group that consumed the sweet treat kept the 40 pounds off longer?

When you are on a weight loss journey it’s important you enjoy food, especially breakfast. Weight loss coaching can teach you how to achieve that. Erin, one of Donna and Tora’s clients, said it right: “I am pleased to say that after 8 weeks I now enjoy breakfast…”

Eating Chocolate is a Diet “Do”

The rich, dark, chocolate goodness so many of us crave is now scientifically shown to help keep you thin.  Studies have been done from a number of different aspects, and all the findings support that regular chocolate-eaters actually have a lower BMI (Body Mass Index, the number that shows where you are on the normal-overweight-obese-morbidly obese chart) than those who don’t eat it, even though by eating chocolate they may be consuming more calories per day, along with more fat.

Dr Beatrice Golomb, of the University of California at San Diego, said the findings [2] are great news for people who eat chocolate already, and for those who have been holding back on the chocolate habit, you can now start eating it with a clear conscious.

Chocolate also offers a number of additional health claims, including being rich in antioxidants, particularly dark chocolate, although the study Dr. Golomb references showed that any type of chocolate had similar effects as far as eaters having a lower BMI.

Lean With Green Coffee Beans

You have probably read that coffee helps you lose weight. What you have probably never heard is that green coffee helps you lose much more weight!  The coffee you know and love with the delicious smell and dark color is what you get after you roast the beans.  Before that, coffee beans are green, and have little taste except being bitter.  But the heat of roasting destroys the very thing that can help you lose weight – a chemical called chlorogenic acid that might help you process sugars and fats better, with less weight gain and actual weight loss.

An April 2012 study [3] found that participants lost an average of 10.5% of their body weight doing nothing different than taking green coffee supplements three times a day before they ate main meals.

This Isn’t Your Mother’s Meal Replacement

I can remember my mother choking down some kind of awful liquid meal as she tried to dodge the chub club.  It was not an appealing thing to watch, and I certainly never wanted to try one.

But now, meal replacements come in a variety of really good flavors and types, most focusing on lower calories and higher protein.  And a study [4] by Cornell University shows if you just use a calorie controlled meal replacement shake for your lunch, you will lose weight without changing anything else you do. The reason you will lose weight if you replace one of your meals with a commercial meal replacement is simply due to the “portion control” effect. You just end up eating less food. The dietary composition or the brand of the supplement does not matter. It’s just the fact that it helps you practice portion control that matters. As Dr Levitsky said: this is “losing weight without dieting”! Easy? Definitely.

More Protein on the Plate, Less Fat on You

A great body of scientific evidence [5] points to this conclusion: People who take 15-30% of their calories from protein, eat less than people with a lower protein intake. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a study that showed participants lost more weight when they reduced their fat somewhat, increased protein and ate close to half of their calories from carbs.  As a result, that plan dropped their daily calories by over 400 on average, and helped them lose weight and keep it off.

Some people might follow a ridiculously high protein diet, excluding all other food groups, but that doesn’t make sense for very long. How much protein should you eat? You can safely eat about 35% of your calories from protein sources – and it will help you feel more satisfied. This comes down to up to 1 gram per pound of body weight.  And feeling more satisfied means your hand isn’t into the cookie jar nearly as often.

The bottom line on losing weight usually comes down to picking behaviors and practices you can actually do – no matter how much weight something can in theory help you lose, you won’t lose it if you lose interest.  Find things you think are easy to do and don’t feel like a big effort, and you really can just let those unwanted pounds melt away without a lot of sacrifice.

About Matthew Denos

I’m biologist who follows the ongoing research in nutrition and weight loss. In my blog, I talk about how to find good diets that actually work. I also interview people who have had success with weight loss, and write reviews of programs and websites that encourage a healthy way to live. I’m fascinated by new research that shows that natural products may hold the secret to safe and fast weight loss. In this age, where diet pills and fad diets abound, it is encouraging to know that natural product, such as ground green coffee beans or chocolate, could support your weight loss goal.

References 

1. 1.     Meal timing and composition influence ghrelin levels, appetite scores and weight loss maintenance in overweight and obese adults. Steroids. 2012 Mar 10;77(4):323-31.
2. 2.     Association between more frequent chocolate consumption and lower body mass Index. Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(6):519-521
3. 3.     Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, linear dose, crossover study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a green coffee bean extract in overweight subjects. Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2012;5:21-7.
4. 4.     Losing weight without dieting. Use of commercial foods as meal replacements for lunch produces an extended energy deficit. Appetite. 2011 Oct;57(2):311-7.
5. 5.     The significance of protein in food intake and body weight regulation. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2003 Nov;6(6):635-8.