In the Netherlands, approximately half of the residents are overweight. Many people are dieting heavily for this reason. This does not seem to be the solution, because the percentage of overweight people has increased rather than decreased in recent years. If dieting is not the solution, what can you do to lose weight successfully?
Contents
- Intuitive weight loss
- How does it work?
- Intuitive eating
- summarizing
Intuitive weight loss
Most people combat obesity with a diet. But this is the last thing you should do. Dieting makes you fat!
What appears to work much better is intuitive weight loss. This is losing weight by listening to your body. The motto of intuitive weight loss is: Stop dieting, start eating and trust your intuition. You will then automatically reach your natural weight.
In our Western consumer society this is something we have forgotten. We eat for all kinds of reasons, but we no longer listen to our stomach. Only when this kn ort indicates that food is needed is it time to eat. However, we often eat when we are not hungry. That’s the start of getting fat.
Children are very good at eating intuitively. They will automatically indicate when they are hungry. When they have eaten enough food, they can make this very clear. We have forgotten that, but fortunately we can learn this again.
This means that we are not going to diet, but that we are going to look at the causes of our eating behavior. We tackle these causes . This will change your eating behavior and help you gain weight. The focus is no longer on food or standing on the scale, but on your way of life. It is no longer about self-control but about simply listening to your body.
How does it work?
Intuitive weight loss is not a diet where you lose a lot of weight in two weeks. It’s a different way of life and it takes time to get used to it. Please take the time to go through the steps below and familiarize yourself with them. The goal is for you to simply listen to your stomach again to know how much to eat.
Stop dieting
This is the very first agreement you make with yourself: You no longer have to go on a diet! You do not have to eat a prescribed amount of food that you actually dislike. You also don’t have to weigh yourself every day to see if you are already lighter.
A diet does not work and leads to frustration. Moreover, you quickly feel guilty if you indulge in something tasty, while this does not have to be a bad thing. Yet there is sometimes a great temptation to diet because you want to become slimmer quickly. Remember that dieting only works temporarily and will eventually make you fatter. Also remember that the yo-yo effect is more harmful to your body than a few kilos too much.
Looking for the cause
Secondly, it is necessary to find out why you eat a lot. You should always tackle a problem at its root cause. Otherwise you are only dealing with the symptoms and the problem will persist or come back. This also applies to obesity.
Start tracking what you eat. Make a schedule for two weeks. In this diagram you put:
- The type of food you consume
- The amount of food you consume: for example, 1 slice of bread, 1 tablespoon, two cups
- The time you eat: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks in between
- The reason why you eat: This is, for example, boredom, busyness, hunger, emotion and the like. Make it as concrete as possible for yourself. Read through the causes of obesity to see what is going on with you.
- After two weeks you will have a clear picture of your habits and patterns in your eating behavior.
A plan
Once it is clear to you what the causes of your obesity are, you can draw up a plan. List the causes of your obesity and ask yourself for each point how you can change your eating behavior.
Then set goals for, for example, the next two or three weeks . Set realistic goals that are easily achievable for you. Don’t tackle everything at once. Remember that you will gradually get used to new habits. Some examples:
- I only eat when I’m sitting and not doing anything
- I exercise for half an hour 3 times a week
- I’m going to eat two pieces of fruit every day
- I only eat when I feel hungry in my stomach
- I only drink one glass of soda a day.
At the end of the period, see whether your goals have been achieved. Review the goals regularly to remind yourself and internalize them. If you have not achieved a goal, that is no problem. Start working with fresh courage to achieve it.
Eat healthy and regularly
- Eat every 2 or 3 hours: If you don’t eat for too long, you will become very hungry. You will then often eat too much. After 4 hours, the previous meal is usually completely digested. It is best if you have already eaten something. When you eat regularly, your body becomes adjusted to this. You eat less at a time and your digestion continues to function properly.
- Choose healthy foods: Choose fruit, whole wheat bread, vegetables and drink enough. Some fats or sugars are not a problem at all as long as they are in moderation. Start with small changes and gradually replace all unhealthy or incorrect food with healthy food.
- Don’t skip breakfast: Breakfast gets your body working. If you skip this, you will not have enough energy for the day and your body will miss several hours of combustion.
- Ask yourself if your stomach is hungry or your head. Main hunger is wanting to eat even though you are not hungry. It is eating from emotion or habit. Stomach hunger is the real hunger. You haven’t had anything for a while and your stomach is growling. When you are hungry, you can eat whatever you want and as much as you want until your body signals that you are full. However, you do not have to eat immediately when you are hungry. First feel how strong your appetite is and what it does to you. This way you discover when you really need food. You will also discover when there is actually another cause for wanting to eat.
- Eat consciously! Choose what and how much you will eat. Don’t be distracted by other activities.
- Eat slowly: This way you will feel better when you have had enough and your digestion will also work better.
To move
Choose something you enjoy doing and that you enjoy. Then you will last much longer. Do not exercise to lose weight, but for pleasure and to feel good about yourself. Make sure you have a challenge in your sport. Your body gets used to exercise. By asking a little more of your body, you become stronger, more energetic and slimmer!
Also keep yourself busy outside of your sport. Whether it’s moving or not. Discover what you find satisfaction in and what keeps you busy. When you are doing something you really enjoy, you are not thinking about food.
Intuitive eating
Once you have completed all the previous steps, you are well on your way to becoming an intuitive eater. Intuitive eating may mean that you sometimes eat a lot and sometimes little, but it certainly does not mean that you can just eat as you please. It will take some discipline at first to listen to your stomach and not other motivations for eating.
By the way, you are welcome to have something tasty. Most of all, enjoy that! Take your time to eat and enjoy and stop when you feel you have had enough. You will find that it becomes much easier to refuse cookies or other treats. Simply because you experience that you are not hungry at that moment. And if you are hungry, have the cookie. Then you will be less hungry later and you will eat less.
Don’t be too negative
Don’t compare yourself with the ideal images that appear in film and on TV. We don’t all have to be like that! Be satisfied when you feel good about yourself.
summarizing
Losing weight intuitively is actually very simple about eating the way we should eat again. It is eating without being influenced by our affluent society. It is enjoying food without overdoing it. It feels good about yourself and it is the end of frustrations about weight or food. It therefore not only affects your weight, but your entire well-being!
read more
- Successful weight loss: Never diet again!
- Successfully lose weight by eating slowly!
- Overweight: Public disease number 1
- The Bodyband: home fitness for a healthy body!