There are all kinds of diets to lose a few pounds. But it can also be different. Check out these 5 healthy and responsible ways to lose a few pounds responsibly and healthily without following a diet. What suits you?
Which method suits you? Do the test!
Don’t start with all 5 methods but choose 1 to try out. Check here which method has the most effect for you. How? Give each question a different number between 1 and 5, with 5 being the most appropriate for you.
1. Do you think: I ate chips, so then the damage is already done and I can take some more. Tomorrow I will really start eating healthy!
2. Do you quickly succumb to a sausage roll when you smell the smell?
3. Do you have a sedentary profession or is your hobby binge-watching series?
4. Do you often eat your meals with a knife, fork and your phone?
5. Do you often have a very tasty appetite around 11 in the morning, 4 in the afternoon or 8 in the evening?
The outcome
Which question gave you the highest score? Then that is the method with which you can probably lose a few kilos.
A = methode 3
B = method 2
C = method 4
D = method 5
E = method 1
1. Eat less often
Don’t just eat healthier, but also eat less often. Dietitian Michelle Bisschops: “Many people eat too little food during the main meals, which makes them hungry in between. But it is precisely those snacks that often contain a lot of calories, while they are barely satiating. So focus on three full-fledged main meals. This prevents a snack attack.”
Another advantage is that your body then has time to digest the food properly. This reduces the risk of gas, heartburn, bloating and irregular bowel movements.
That’s how you do it
Divide your daily calorie intake over the three main meals. Make sure every main meal consists of fiber-rich carbohydrates, proteins and healthy fats: this composition satiates the very best. Take, for example, wholemeal bread or pasta, vegetables, fruit, brown rice, olive oil, unsalted nuts and seeds, fish, legumes.
For whom?
You can benefit greatly from this method if you regularly have more than six meals a day. If you love snacks or have a strong need for them. But also if you tend to eat too little rather than too much during a meal. And it can help to think about food less often, because instead of six or seven times you eat only three times a day.
2. Know your external eating triggers
If you give in to external food stimuli, you are not eating because your body needs it, but your head (mental appetite). For example, you see someone opening a bag of chips or you smell the smell of sausage rolls at the station and you spontaneously feel like it.
Dietitian Michelle: “The next time you spontaneously get hungry, ask yourself: am I really hungry (my stomach grumbles)? Or have I actually just eaten? Learning to feel the difference can help you become more conscious about food and make healthier choices.”
That’s how you do it
If you know what your food triggers are, you will be less overwhelmed by them in the moment and you will be more resistant to them. And that saves about 500 calories per day.
Do you eat to celebrate, to comfort yourself or to postpone an annoying task? Then you suffer from an emotion trigger.
Do you get hungry when you see someone else eating or catch your eye? Then there is a visual eating trigger.
Does the smell of fries already make your mouth water? That’s an olfactory trigger.
Are you unstoppable when you hear the crack of a bag of chips? Then you are sensitive to an auditory trigger.
TIP: Think about when you are usually confronted with your eating triggers. For example, you always pass a chip shop on your way home. If you think about this consciously, you can resist the eating trigger more easily. And be prepared: make sure you have an apple in your bag for emergencies, for example.
For whom?
This method is recommended if you have all kinds of food triggers or are regularly confronted with them. For example, because there is a large pot of licorice in sight at the office, which you can regularly see colleagues grabbing in.
3. Let go of black and white thinking
Michelle Bisschops: “You don’t lose weight eating one salad and you don’t gain weight from one chocolate either. That one snack may be 300 calories to your body, but to your mind it seems like everything has failed. After that, there is a good chance that you will punish or soothe yourself with even more unhealthy food. In other words, with black-and-white thinking you promote emotional eating and overeating.”
That’s how you do it
This method is similar to intuitive eating. You eat normal portions, emphasizing varied, fresh and healthy ingredients. Such as whole grain products and various vegetables. But this approach also means that you don’t punish yourself harshly after a snack moment. This prevents you from eating even more, the ‘what the hell effect’.
The advantage of this method is that you do not deny yourself anything. An unhealthy snack every now and then fits in well with a healthy diet. It may sound crazy, but just by giving yourself permission to enjoy a potato sometimes, the urge for it is less. The charge is then off. And you learn to distinguish between which snacks are really worthwhile for you and which are not. This makes it easier to listen to your body.
TIP: Repeat to yourself: I eat what my body needs and what is nourishing.
For whom?
This method can help you to impose less strict eating rules on yourself, to be more gentle with yourself when you do eat something tasty and to break free from the diet-thinking, where you can only eat healthy.
4. More active lifestyle
It is healthier and more responsible to make your lifestyle more active than exercising extra once a week and spending the rest of the time sitting.
Rick van Kempen, fitness manager: “The more active you are during the day, the better it is for your fitness, fat percentage and the speed of your metabolism. Your metabolic rate is not linked to your age but to your fitness.
The better your metabolism is, the lower your metabolic age is and the healthier your body is. You can often have this measured at the gym, for free.”
Step-by-step plan: this is how you make your lifestyle more active:
STEP 1: Find a nice exercise form
Stop moving because you read here that it is healthy, but look for an exercise motivation that comes from within. Maybe you don’t like fitness, but do you love to dance? With an internal motivation it is much easier to maintain.
STEP 2: Find a buddy
If you arrange to go for a walk every Tuesday and Thursday with someone, the barrier to canceling if it rains is higher than if you went alone. A buddy can be a friend, but also a sports instructor with whom you make agreements.
STEP 3: Think of 2 concrete goals
Concrete goals motivate more than when you say: I want to lose weight. Think of a short-term goal and a long-term goal. For example, the end goal is that you want to lose 4 kilos in 6 months. The short-term goal might be to go swimming with a friend every Tuesday and Thursday.
Tip: Challenge yourself. Check your smartphone how many steps you have taken and aim for 10,000 steps daily, for example.
STEP 4: Invest in your health
Reward yourself after each goal achieved with something new that makes moving even more fun. Did you manage to run 4 kilometers? Treat yourself to glitzy trainers or socks.
STEP 5: Keep going
Fitness manager Rick van Kempen: “It takes about two to three months before a new lifestyle or behavioral change has become a habit. Once more movement is ingrained in your system, it feels more like a miss if you skip it once. Do you skip once? No problem of course. But pick up the activity again quickly, because the longer you delay, the harder it will be to start again.”
For whom?
Um, who isn’t?! But do you have a sedentary profession or hobby? Or do you want to feel fitter and more positive? Then go for this step-by-step plan to activate your lifestyle in a fun way.
5. Eet mindful
The digestive process already starts in your mouth. So the better you chew, the easier the further digestion process is and the more nutrients your body can absorb. And also not unimportant for the slim line: when you eat less rushed but relaxed, it causes less stress, which in the long term can ensure that your body stores less fat in your belly.
That’s how you do it
Turn the meal into a relaxation activity that you take 30 minutes to do. Make sure you completely relax your body 5 minutes before the meal. Chew more often, preferably 25 times (or more) on each bite and eat at a slower pace.
Dietiste Michelle: “Recently I made a delicious risotto that I had taken all the time for. The quiet cooking made me relax. And because of all the nutritious ingredients I was quickly satiated and satisfied (mental satiety). That’s how mindful eating works. The same serving would have been less satiating and satisfying if I quickly tossed some ingredients together and ate it in 10 minutes. And there is a good chance that I would get hungry again an hour later.”
Tip: Choose 1 part per meal from what you eat with all your attention. For example, 1 piece of apple from the salad. Watch it closely. What do you smell, feel and taste? Also nice: set the timer for how long it takes you. This way you get better at eating calmly and with attention.
For whom?
This method is suitable for those who lead a hectic life, who are sleep deprived, often do several things at once or do not really take the time to eat. But also if your love handles could be a little less.
Text: Esmir van Wering
Foto: Getty Images
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