5 Simplet ways to lose weight

So how is that current diet going? I'm sure you have been on plenty and have lost weight only to find it creep back on with a bit extra, that's if you made it through the first week without starving and resorting to binge eating.

I need to clarify a few things - I'm not a dietitian and I'm not an expert on diets, I'm a personal trainer and a normal person. I have dieted on and off for most of my adult life and have lost and gained weight. I'm not overweight or obese, although I feel I would love to be a few kilos lighter. Sound familiar?

Most people I train would like to lose weight. Some are classified as obese or overweight and some are of a healthy weight however want to lose a few kilos. Some are new mums, and some are pre or post menopause and having a bit of difficulty losing belly fat. Many have lost and gained weight throughout their lives, some have lost a huge amount of weight just to regain it.

I've started to look at weight loss in a different way, I've done a bit of online study and attended a few seminars, so this information is not mine, it is what I have learnt from people a lot smarter than me.

Here are a few facts:

• The weight loss industry is a multi-billion-dollar industry.
• In Australia over 63% of adults are classified as overweight or obese; over 70% of adult males are now classified as overweight or obese; over 50% of adult women and 27% of children.
• The prevalence of obesity has more than doubled between 1980 and 2014 (World Health Organisation).
• Eating a healthy diet can help prevent obesity.
• Regular physical exercise helps to maintain a healthy body.

Therefore, if diets worked and then why are we getting fatter and why is the weight loss industry growing. Surely if diets worked then you wouldn't need to try the next one and we as a nation wouldn't be getting fatter!

Diets don't work because we decide to 'go on a diet'. The diet will start on Monday and between Wed and Sunday we will prepare for that diet by eating as much as we can. Hence, we have already added a few kilos. Come Monday we start our diet. We get up and go to the gym and are super keen, eating all the good stuff. We make it through Monday, and maybe Tues and possibly Wed, then because we are starving and feeling deprived, we succumb to those chocolate biscuits. Having done that damage so we think, we go 'what the hell' I'll start again Monday and the cycle continues. Meanwhile we are getting fatter, as we binge and then starve ourselves.

Reducing the amount of calories, we need to fuel our body means our metabolism starts to slow, so when we start to eat more it is sluggish and we gain weight more easily. The starve/binge cycle leaves us fatter and feeling unworthy, useless and depressed, so we eat more 'junk'. Does this sound familiar?

So I said 5 simple ways to lose weight! By simple I mean simple not easy. The first step is to stop dieting!! Yes, you can do it.

1. Eat when you are hungry - check in with your emotions, are you eating because you are hungry or because you are bored, tired, annoyed etc.
2. Eat food that will fuel your body - eat food from the trees, the sea, the sky and the ground. Avoid processed foods.
3. Eat slowly and without distractions - enjoy each mouthful, really taste your food. Turn off the TV, the phone, get away from the computer. Sit down and just eat.
4. Eat until you are 80% full. It's not Christmas lunch where you can't move. It takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain you have had enough.
5. Stop labeling foods as good and bad. Come up with another name eg occasional foods and everyday foods; Knowing you can have occasional foods means you won't need to eat the whole packet as you can have some tomorrow. And by eating those occasional foods slowly you will enjoy them and not need the whole packet.

There are a few other things you should be doing too:

1. Move your body, that's what it is designed for. Any type of exercise is fine, outside in the fresh air is even better.
2. Get enough sleep. Most adults need between 7 hours and 9 hours per night. Lack of sleep leads to obesity.
3. Look after yourself like you look after your loved ones.

I hope this helps. Give it a go, it's simple but maybe not so easy as we need to get out of that dieting mentality and it does take practice, however I'm sure your body and mind will thank you.