How to lose weight: 6 tips to help you lose weight

There is no such thing as ‘one size fit for all’. Everyone’s bodies are different and they need individualized interventions to lose weight. But there are some common healthy tips that everyone can follow to lose weight. This article will bring you 6 steps that helps to lose weight.

Tip 1: Do not skip breakfast.

Breakfast is an important meal of your day. If you skip breakfast thinking that you could lose weight, it will not happen. Because you will feel more hungry after skipping breakfast and you will end up eating more than usual.

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Following is a healthy and simple breakfast recipe that you can have.

Oats and banana breakfast bar

Morning is a busy time for most of us. This granola bar is a healthy breakfast that you can grab and go in your mornings. Following is the recipe.

Recipe for 6 granola bars
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

Rolled oats – 150 g
Ripe medium size bananas – 2
Melted butter/ melted canola spread- 60 g
Any type of dried fruits – 120 g
Pumpkin seeds – 40 g
Sesame seeds – 40 g

Method:

First preheat the oven to 200 C (gas mark 6).
Mix the oats , dried fruits and seeds together in a bowl.
Then pour the melted butter.
Mix well until the oats are well coated.
Then in a separate plate mash bananas with a fork until it become a pulp.
Then add the oats mixture to mashed bananas and mix well.
Spread the mixture on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
After cooled cut them into bars and put them in a air tight container.

Tip 2: Eat at regular times.

Eating your breakfast, lunch and dinner on time will help to burn calories at a faster rate. Also this will also control the temptation to snack on unhealthy, high fat and high sugary foods,

Tip 3: Eat more fruits and vegetables

Eating more of fruits and vegetables will help to protect from many diseases. They also contain very little carbohydrates and they are packed with vitamins, minerals and fiber. If you can fill your tummies with fruits and vegetables you will have less temptation to eat unhealthy snacks. It is important to eat 5 portions of fruits and vegetables per a day ( 5 A Day).

Following amounts represents 1 portion of fruits and vegetables.

5 A Day Fruit portions

A portion is 2 or more small fruit. (ex: handful of grapes)
A portion is 1 piece of medium sized fruit (ex: 1 apple, banana, orange)
A portion is slice of a large size fruit. (ex: 1 slice of papaya, 1 slice of melon, 1 large slice of pineapple or 2 slices of mango)
A portion of dried fruit is about 1 heaped tablespoon. (ex: raisins). But note that dried fruits can contain high sugar. Try to substitute dried fruits for fresh fruits as much as possible.

5 A Day vegetable portions

2 broccoli spears or 4 heaped tablespoons of fresh vegetables such as spinach, green beans, carrots is one portion
3 heaped tablespoons of cooked vegetables, such as carrots, peas and cauliflower is one portion
3 heaped tablespoons of beans and pulses such as kidney beans and chickpeas is one portion. But Make sure to take only one portion of pulses or beans per day

Note that potatoes, yams cassava and plantain are not counted for 5 A day. because they are starchy foods and not vegetables.

juices and smoothies can also be counted for 5 A day. But make sure to have maximum of 1 portion of Unsweetened 100% fruit juice, vegetable juice and smoothies per day. 1 portion of this equals to 1 small glass or 150 ml.

Tip 4: Be active

Other than the daily diet , being active plays an important role in losing weight and also in maintaining the weight in healthy range. Exercising provides us with lots of health benefits. You cannot lose weight only with diet. Combination of diet and exercise will help you to achieve this goal.

following are some guidelines for physical activities that can be done by adults;

It is important to be physically active every day.
Do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity a week.

Moderate intensity exercises will help you to burn fat in your body effectively. Following are some examples of moderate intensity exercises( If you want to determine the intensity of your activity then, try to talk and sing while doing the activity if you can talk but you cannot sing during activity, then the intensity is moderate);

brisk walking
water aerobics
riding a bike
dancing
doubles tennis

Examples for vigorous intensity exercises are;

Jogging or running

swimming fast
riding a bike fast or on hills
walking up the stairs
sports such as football, rugby, netball and hockey
skipping rope.
aerobics
gymnastics

you can also do a mix of moderate, vigorous and very vigorous intensity activity.

Tip 5 : Drink more water

Drinking water can make your stomach full. Some times all you need is a glass of water to be full but, you can confuse this as hunger and will end up eating more.

It is important to drink about 6 to 8 glasses of fluid a day. These fluids can be water lower fat milk and sugar-free drinks including tea and coffee.