Making Small Changes to Lose Weight: Does that really work?
By: Lynda Edwards
It sure does, and it can work for you. Even very small changes in lifestyle or habits can help you accomplish great things in many areas of life. Why not also with your efforts to lose weight?
So, what kind of changes? Any that don't threaten the status quo, as small changes often do not. That way, you'll feel much less resistance to each change than you might otherwise do. They simply won’t feel like much of a change (or, in this case, sacrifice).
Making the Changes
Where do you think you'll start? With your diet, perhaps? There's a place you could make some gradual small changes to lose weight. For starters, why not check out how your protein stacks up against your carbs? If you've researched the subject of nutrition, you probably understand the benefits of bringing your protein, carbohydrate, and fat ratios into a reasonable balance.
As a kick-off, you might start keeping track of the protein and carbohydrates you consume. Simply monitor what you eat for a few days, just to get a clear picture of your eating patterns. For example, if you discover that you're putting down only about 15 grams of protein a day, but over 150 grams of carbohydrates, you have a great place to start.
1. More protein. Let's assume, then, that you decide to work a little more protein into your diet, while also eliminating some of the carbs. In the beginning, perhaps you decide to go for a 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein. That would certainly beat the example above. But how much protein would be right for you?
Madelyn Fernstrom, a "Today" contributor and director of the Weight Management Center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, recommends that you aim for around 0.4 grams per pound of body weight. In the absence of a calculator, use this quick and easy formula.
Simply divide your weight (let's say 140 pounds) by 2 and then subtract 10, which gives you a protein target of approximately 60 grams of protein per day. Quite a jump from the hypothetical 15 grams you were consuming before, no? But you're doing small changes to lose weight, so you perhaps decide to shoot for 30-40 grams instead.
The trick is to set small goals that lead you to your goal gradually; that's so much easier than trying to do it all overnight. Here's how implementing those changes might look on an average day. We'll use breakfast as our example, since it so often sets the tone for the next 8 to 10 hours.
2. Fewer carbs. If your breakfasts generally consist mainly of simple carbs, you have another obvious "small step" to take: cutting back on bread products. Don't eliminate all of them at once; you don't want to boomerang. Just cut back gradually. Instead of a giant muffin or a bagel every morning, for example, try substituting a smoothie (milk/yogurt, fruit, and protein powder blended together) now and then. Do this just two mornings during the first week. And enjoy that energy boost you get on both those days!
For the second week, try adding in another lower-carb breakfast. Maybe you brew up some oatmeal, which you might have with fruit and some lean sausage or bacon. Although oatmeal is a carbohydrate, it's a much more nutritious complex carb and is also reputed to lower cholesterol. If you’re still hungry, have some yogurt (if it's not the kind that’s full of sugar).
In week three, add another protein-rich breakfast, such as an egg and lean-sausage sandwich. (Or have some low-fat cheddar cheese with fruit.) Although a breakfast sandwich takes longer to prepare than a toasted bagel, you're getting so much more. If a sandwich has more calories that you want, make it open face. Or ditch the bread entirely and whip up a two-egg omelet instead.
3. Some exercise. By making similar small changes to your other meals, you'll find your protein-carbohydrate ratio more balanced and yourself losing weight. Although the weight loss will be gradual, it will also happen. Particularly if you make what for you may be a third change: walking five or six days a week for at least thirty minutes.
So, three small changes to lose weight, none of them that hard. (Except for the walking, if you lack mobility. In that case, maybe work out with weights instead.) When you take this kind of small-steps approach to weight loss, the pounds are far more likely to stay off than if you'd used a crash diet. And life is a lot more fun while you’re losing them, both for you and for everybody else!
Lynda Edwards gives more suggestions for making small changes to lose weight on her site at Do-One-Thing-Now.com.
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