Simple changes that lead to huge weight loss
Your environment may be sabotaging you
Your environment may be sabotaging you
Your environment may be sabotaging you
Dr. Sandra Hassink has been studying childhood obesity for more than 30 years. And the most important thing sheâs learned â applicable to kids and grown-ups alike â is this: âAll the willpower in the world,â she says, âcanât overcome ."
In other words, to lose weight and keep it off, you have to adjust your world so itâs not constantly tempting you. , put your environment on one.
âYou canât make good health decisions if your environment is always working against you, because then you have to be on alert 24-7,â said Hassink, founder of the Nemours Weight Management Clinic in Wilmington, Delaware. âYou get tired. Things come up. Itâs hard to [be successful] without creating a healthy environment in the first place.â
Check out these tips from Hassink and other weight management experts:
1. Do a Sunday evening junk-food dump.
Like lint on a black sweater, unhealthy foods and snacks can accumulate in your home without you realizing it.
Pie from the church bake sale, caramel popcorn from the Boy Scouts, a pork-kraut roll from Mom. And before you know it, youâre shoveling it into your mouth. Start the workweek fresh by taking a few minutes to rid your kitchen of junk food and shake the airline stroopwafels out of your briefcase.
âItâs amazing how much food can creep in,â Hassink said. If you donât have the heart to toss Momâs signature dish, just divide it into smaller portions to freeze and reheat later. And donât get doggie bags at restaurants anymore â unless theyâre actually for your dog.
2. Trim down your social media âfeed.â
Facebook could also be insidiously filling you out. If certain friends and family members are constantly sharing food videos and decadent recipes, their posts could be fattening up your space.
âHow much time are you spending on those posts? Take notice if you find yourself getting hungry just looking at them,â Hassink said.
If you are, then hide, snooze or unfollow the worst offenders. Likewise, trade all those craft breweries and barbecue joints you follow for sites that deliver positive reinforcement, like healthy eating accounts.
3. Tweak your grocery list.
A common belief is that eating healthy costs a lot. Not true, says Dr. Adam Drewnowski, director of the University of Washington Center for Public Health Nutrition.
Research shows that the healthiest diets â ones rich in fruits, vegetables, fish and nuts â cost only $1.56 more per day (thatâs $10.92 per week) than the least healthy diets â processed foods and meats, refined grains.
In fact, stocking your world with nutritious choices neednât cost anything extra. Swap the 10 bucks youâre currently dropping on cold cuts, bread and chips for a pound of fresh strawberries ($3.99), an avocado ($1.50), a bag of romaine ($2.60) and two single-serving containers of Greek yogurt ($1 each).
Drewnowski calls this an âeconomic intervention,â a conscious spending of $1.56 a day on healthy foods instead of fattening, carb-filled ones that will pay off with gradual weight loss.
4. Declare war on one junk food each month.
Diets fail because so many of us make too many changes too suddenly and try to do it all on their own. So try getting everyone in the family to agree on voting one junk food out of the house each month.
Eliminating sugary drinks is an obvious place to start. âSugar-sweetened beverages add a lot of unnecessary calories to our lives and they are not nutritious,â said Hassink.
If anyone balks at the idea, suggest tapering consumption week by week. Then next month, after youâve lost your taste for sweetened beverages (and you will), boycott another unhealthy food. The support of other people makes it easier.
5. When traveling, book a room in a pedestrian-friendly part of town.
Whether youâre on the road for business or vacation, youâll get more exercise and burn more calories if you skip the car rental and stay in a hotel or Airbnb in the center of town, where you can safely walk everywhere.
âNutrition and activity are not just sideline things we do, but health-building or health-losing activities,â Hassink explained. âEvery decision you make about eating and activity is a health decision.â
6. Call the hotel help desk.
Request that the minifridge in your hotel room be emptied before check-in. This removes any possibility that youâll give into temptation and wake up in a bed full of Toblerone wrappers and tiny liquor bottles. Pack (or shop for) your own healthy snacks instead and pop them in the fridge.
7. Renting a car? Go compact.
When you step up to the reservations counter, ask the representative if you can be downgraded. Thatâs right. A bigger rental may increase your risk of supersizing your meals and drinks on the road, because itâs simply more comfortable and convenient. Think about it: If the cup holders can easily accommodate a Big Gulp, so can you.
8. Never let your fridge become empty.
It sounds counterintuitive for weight loss, but the moment this happens is the moment you become more likely to go order from your favorite take-out spot. So keep that refrigerator at least looking full, says Judy Simon, RDN, of UW Medicine in Seattle.
Buy enough fruit, vegetables and lean meats to last for the week, shop twice a week or set up regular delivery with your local supermarket. Or simply pull your food to the front of the shelves to create an illusion of plenty.
9. Change your commute.
If you often succumb to temptation and stop for, say, a Grande CaffĂš Mocha at Starbucks on your way to work, consider changing your route. That drink, even when made with 2% milk, has 360 calories, 15 grams of fat, 44 grams of carbs and 35 grams of sugar.
Add a blueberry muffin and youâve just turned breakfast into a gut bomb. Keeping your kryptonite out of sight will make it less convenient to pull in and indulge there.
10. Parental-control yourself.
Donât spend your weekends or evenings watching the Food Network or programming with lots of food and beverage advertising.
When the food shows and ads are streaming, the temptation to overeat tends to increase, says Hassink. Try watching something less food-centric (or leaving the room during commercials) and see if your cravings donât subside.
11. Find a âsafetyâ restaurant.
Every meal canât be home-cooked. Occasionally lifeâs challenges will force you to order takeout. But donât let that decision be impromptu. Instead, do your homework ahead of time and pick a âsafetyâ restaurant or two near home with some nutritious choices, or at least a cook willing to broil instead of fry and who knows what âlight cheeseâ really means.
Think of this spot like your grandparents viewed their local diner, but healthier. Researching tip: Eliminate any place with the word âloadedâ on its menu.
12. Manage the candy stash.
To keep from filching Easter baskets or Halloween treats, buy candy just one day before the holiday. Buy only as much as needed, and then immediately get rid of leftovers. The less time sweets linger in the house, the less likely youâll be to eat them.
And above all, never volunteer to be the parent who loans their garage to the Girl Scout troop for cookie storage. No one needs a literal garage of temptation.