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Sometimes it’s easy to get into bad eating and drinking habits, and before we realise it, we’ve packed on the pounds. We want to lose the weight, but with minimal effort, and we don’t want to have to change our lifestyles too much.

Being overweight increases our risks of developing a whole lot of illnesses and disease such as cancers, heart disease, sleep apnoea, arthritis and diabetes.

When we’re young, a lot of us can eat or drink whatever we want and not put on weight. But, as we get older, things change in our lives and we have to pay more attention not to get fat. Most of us are actually overweight. To fix this, we need to start making smarter choices everyday about what and how much we are eating and drinking. Here are some ideas to help.

Idejas un iedvesma

DO I NEED TO LOSE CENTIMETRES?

Being overweight increases our risks of developing a whole lot of illnesses and disease such as cancers, heart disease, sleep apnoea, arthritis and diabetes. So how do you know if you fall into that overweight category?

You can see if you are a healthy size by measuring around your waist. This should be less than half your height. If it’s more, that’s how many centimetres you need to lose.
If you’re sporting a potbelly, you’re at risk of health problems to do with being overweight.
If you feel out of breath walking short distances or walking up stairs it could be a combination of being unfit and overweight.
If you’re too embarrassed to take your shirt off in front of people because of your size, you’re probably overweight.
If you eat at restaurants and take-away stores more often than you eat home cooked meals, you’re at risk of being or becoming overweight.
If you’ve gotten into the habit of snacking after dinner every night in front of the television, you’re at risk of being or becoming overweight.
If you’re reading this page, it’s probably because you’re already thinking it would be good to lose a few centimetres.

HOW DO I LOSE THE EXTRA CENTIMETRES?

It’s going to take a fair bit of will power at first to change your habits, but stick with it – it doesn’t take long to form new habits. It might take a few weeks to notice any changes, but when you start to lose centimetres it’s a great motivator to keep going. Here are some things to try:

Stay hydrated. Sometimes we feel hungry when our bodies are just craving water. Water also helps us digest our food. Carry a big water bottle with you and drink a couple of litres a day.
Quench your thirst with water instead of fizzy drinks and so-called energy drinks. They’re packed with sugar so are hard to resist if you’ve got a sweet tooth, but sugar makes you fat and rots your teeth. If you’re going through a 1 litre bottle of Coke a day, that’s 27 extra teaspoons of sugar you don’t need.
Think about why you’re eating so much. Is it boredom? Is it to make you feel happy? Figuring out the answers to these questions can help you break the overeating habit.
Eat smaller dinners than you normally would. When starting out, some people find it helps to dish up a normal size meal, and then remove a quarter of it. Take that part for lunch the next day.
If you’re in the habit of buying most of your meals, make an effort to cook a meal at home using fresh ingredients a couple of times a week.
Don’t keep bad foods in your cupboards. If it’s not around you’ll be less tempted.
Try putting less sugar in your tea and coffee. It’ll taste bitter at first but after a few days your taste buds will adjust. Try it.
You might want to try getting a calorie counting app for your phone. By entering what food you eat each day, you will quickly identify what foods you are eating that are packing on the pounds.
Exercise will speed up the rate at which you lose centimetres. And it’s good for your heart health too. Check out our I WANT TO GET FITTER section.