Diet fads come and go, and all of them promise to help you lose weight easily and just in time for summer. But, if you’re exhausted with all the hype, why not just try making a long-term shift in your lifestyle? It’s much easier to just control your dinnerware or learn a new recipe than it is to avoid everything with carbs or only eat what a caveman ate.
Below are our top 5 tips for dieting without even knowing it…
1. Use smaller dinnerware.
Changing your dinnerware can lead to healthier choices. With smaller plates and bowls, servings look larger. This tricks your mind into thinking that you’re eating more than you are. This can help you eat less and eat more slowly (which will keep you from rushing back for seconds).
2. Try a healthy meal delivery service.
If you want to make a change to eating cleaner, healthier foods, it can be a challenge to know exactly what to cook. Trying out a healthy meal delivery service such as Veestro is a great way to learn new recipes and cook with different food. There are plenty of options out there: organic, meat-based, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, paleo and more. Choose the meal service right for your needs and start cooking!
3. Drink sparkling water instead of soda.
Not everyone has a taste for fruity, carbonated drinks, but for those that do, switching to sparkling water is a great alternative. Brands like LaCroix, Pamplemousse, Spindrift and others offer delicious fruity flavors and a crisp, sparkling finish. Kicking that 150-calorie habit while still having something delicious to drink is a great way to jumpstart your healthy lifestyle.
4. Add more fiber to your meals.
Adding more fiber to your diet makes you feel full longer. While you need both soluble fiber and insoluble fiber, soluble fiber increases the feeling of fullness so this is the one you should target. Peas, beans, oats and fruits are great sources for that. Start your day with oatmeal, fruit, and/or whole grain toast and you’ll feel full longer and be less prone to snacking throughout the morning. When that snack temptation does hit, choose whole grain crackers, granola bars or trail mix to quell the urge to snack on high-fat, high-calorie snacks.
5. Get plenty of sleep.
A good night’s sleep does more than exercise your mind, it also helps your body burn calories. A study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that normal sleepers’ resting calorie burn was 5% higher than their tired counterparts. According to a study from the University of Chicago, when you get less sleep, even if you eat the exact same diet as your friend, you burn less fat. Finally, when you sleep more your brain just works better. You’re able to make better decisions about portion sizes and hunger. When you’re not well rested you’re less focused, which can lead to rash decisions about food. So get some more sleep!
Dieting can be stressful, especially when it requires big changes to your lifestyle. That can make it difficult to stick to any diet for long. The above tricks are just small changes to your lifestyle so they are easy to implement into your existing diet. Hopefully this article encourages you to be healthier, even if you aren’t dieting. Most of these changes will help you lose weight, but more importantly they will help you live a healthier and more fulfilling life. And that’s the key to losing weight after all; making healthy changes that you can stick to for the long haul!
