The #1 way to lose weight

Have you put on a bit of weight over the winter or during a stressful time in your life? As a result you may not be feeling comfortable in your own skin at the moment, and losing two or three kilos would do you some good. Luckily, Doctissimo is on hand with all the advice you need for losing weight right...

You can lose those extra kilos easily on two conditions: change your dietary habits and increase the amount of exercise you do. If you don’t do any exercise at the moment, you don’t necessarily have to start playing a sport. A daily walk or a quick swim every week can be really effective.

Note that if you want to lose five kilos or more, you should consult a doctor or a dietician as you will need some kind of medical supervision.

Key principles

To lose weight, you need to stick to some key principles:

• Give yourself time, at least a month for losing two or three kilos,
• Plan for when you are likely to get the munchies and when you get tired,
• Stick to your diet from the start,
• Avoid vitamin and mineral deficiencies,
• Don’t take medication for slimming and avoid products labelled as “diet”,
• Make sure eating is still a pleasure!

Set yourself some rules and stick to them!

Changing your diet in order to lose weight means you need to reduce your calorie intake slightly, cutting down on fatty foods and fast burning sugars. Above all, you need to get into healthy habits (have a look at our “Guide to Healthy Eating”) by sticking to a few simple rules.

• Don’t skip meals, especially not breakfast which should be substantial. Have a light meal in the evenings.
• Don’t eat anything between meals. If you get hungry, drink a large glass of water, a coffee or a tea without sugar. Drink before meals too, and when you are eating.
• Include carbohydrates in every meal: pasta, rice, potatoes or bread. These will fill you up and give your body the energy it needs, as well as providing it with fibre. On the other hand, the foods which often accompany carbohydrates should be avoided; like sauces, butter, cheese, crème fraîche, etc. You should eat carbohydrates by themselves or with fat free and sugar free seasoning.
• Avoid all fizzy drinks.
• Avoid spirits and beer. You can continue to drink wine, preferably red, but stick to just one glass a day.
• Avoid eating out as it is really difficult to eat healthily if you don’t cook meals yourself. Restaurants are sometimes a viable option, but it is tricky at friends’ houses. If you cook a hearty meal for your friends, make sure you limit your portion size and don’t go back for seconds!
• Choose lean meat and eat poultry (without the skin), fish and shellfish rather than red meat.
• Be careful of hidden fat: avoid all meat dishes with rich sauces, charcuterie with a high quantity of fat, creamy side-dishes like potato gratin, chips, chocolate, confectionery, cakes, ice cream and sugary snack bars.
• Eat vegetables as much as you like and in all forms: raw, cooked or in soups.
• Eat two pieces of fruit a day but no more.

The best ways to cook food healthily:

• Grill or roast your meat.
• Grill, bake or microwave fish, or cook it in foil.
• Steam, braise or microwave vegetables.
• For the seasoning, you can make light sauces easily. Add a little oil, butter or cream, then use lemon juice, yoghurt, a stock cube and soy sauce to give your food real flavour, along with some aromatic herbs and spices.

Determination is the most important thing!

You will lose weight by respecting these simple rules for healthy eating and also through choosing foods which are low in calories. This means it is a good idea to become familiar with the nutritional values of a few staple foods, so you always know what you are eating.

It all comes down to your determination not to give in to temptation. The first week is often the hardest but that first kilo you lose will make it worth it! You are allowed to slip up every now and again, as long as this is not too often. It is up to you to find the right balance without constantly cracking and then feeling frustrated with yourself. If you don’t stick to the diet, you risk falling into a cycle of compulsive eating, feeling guilty and depriving yourself of food making the whole process counter-productive, taking you further and further away from your objective of losing weight!

Dr Béatrice Sénemaud

Copyright © Doctissimo 2012

Posted 23.07.2012

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