The longest-running study on the link between short sleep and weight gain followed about 68,000 women for 16 years. It found that women who slept 5 hours or less per night gained about 2.5 lbs. (1.1 kg) more, on average, than those who slept at least 7 hours per night, over 16 years. In addition, those who got 5 hours or less were 15 percent more likely to become obese during the study period than those who got at least 7 hours of sleep.
65. Have Water On The Plane – While alcohol, sodas, and juices are tempting, these sugar-filled beverages are full of empty calories. Instead, opt for still water, sparkling water, unsweetened tea, or black coffee on the plane. Staying hydrated can also help decrease your symptoms of jet lag if you’re crossing time zones, so you have more than one good reason to drink water.
“This is an adaptive system,” adds David Allison, PhD. “For every action there’s a reaction; that’s a law of physics, not of biology, but it seems that it also works in biological systems. This is why we often overestimate quite radically an effect of a particular treatment.” He points out that public health campaigns that, for example, urge people to take the stairs instead of the elevator or go on a nightly stroll – or, for that matter, even eat fewer calories – are unlikely to work, since they may fail to take into account the body's compensatory mechanisms that can totally counteract the effect.
Refined white breads are simple carbohydrates that your body processes as sugar, and can really hinder your weight-loss efforts. Whole grain bread, on the other hand, is chock-full of slimming fiber and can help you feel fuller, longer. Just be sure to read your labels. “If the ingredients at the top of the ingredient list read sugar, sucrose, fructose, corn syrup, white or wheat flour, these foods contain mostly simple carbs and should be limited,” Rebecca Lewis, RD, told Eat This, Not That! in our article for 20 Secrets for Eating Bread Without Getting Fat. “A food is only considered a whole grain if the first ingredient on the packaging says, ‘whole grain’ or ‘whole wheat.’”
Considering that only 1 in 10 Americans meet their produce requirements, it’s pretty safe to say you need to eat more veggies. And no matter what food philosophy you subscribe to, veggies are a big part of the program. Vegetables have a lot going for them: They fill you up for very few calories, and they flood your body with the nutrients it needs to fight diseases, like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers.
14. Learn Kettlebell Swings – The kettlebell swing is an incredibly effective exercise that builds power, core strength and stability, and awesome grip strength. Additionally, it induces a powerful metabolic effect making it a great exercise for weight loss, especially fat loss. Learn how to do this exercise with perfect form to get the most out of every rep. Kettlebell training can burn 20.2 calories per minute while jogging burns half the calories.20
Eat a variety of veggies every week. Each day, you should eat about 2 1⁄2 to 3 c (590 to 710 mL) of vegetables. Go for all the veggie groups, which include leafy greens, starchy vegetables, legumes, and red and orange vegetables. You don’t have to eat vegetables from each group every day, but you should consume a minimum amount of each group weekly.
Avoiding salt doesn’t mean your food has to be bland. Experiment with using different herbs and spices. Try adding fresh cilantro and cumin to grilled fish, lemon and rosemary to chicken, or ginger and Chinese five spice to tempeh or beef. Pick up some spice blends from your local market to help add more spice to your life… just read the ingredients and make sure there’s no salt added.
It's easy to overdo it when you're eating something delicious — and that's why it's good to focus on foods that will force you to slow down. "Slowing down can help you check in with your hunger levels. For that reason, I love snacking on 100-calorie packs of in-shell pistachios," Gorin says. "Shelling the pistachios helps you slow down your snacking, and the shells leave a visual cue to remind you of how much you've eaten. Because you're more in tune with what's gone into your mouth, you may be less likely to have extra servings." In one preliminary study, people snacking on in-shell pistachios ate 41% less calories than those who ate the shelled version.
1 Reference for 5%: Blackburn G. (1995). Effect of degree of weight loss on health benefits. Obesity Research 3: 211S-216S. Reference for 10%: NIH, NHLBI Obesity Education Initiative. Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults. Available online: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/ob_gdlns.pdf [PDF-1.25MB]
Just like being underweight isn't healthy, losing it too fast is unhealthy, too, especially if you're on an extreme calorie deficit. "The American College of Sports Medicine recommends one to two pounds of fat loss per week," said Jim White, RD, ACSM, owner of Jim White Fitness and Nutrition Studios. Although people who weigh more can lose weight quicker, if you are feeling tired, dizzy, or irritable, or dropping as much as five to 10 pounds a week, then you might be losing weight too fast.
20. Take The Stairs Every Time You Have A Choice – If you have a choice, challenge yourself to take the stairs instead of an escalator or an elevator. This gets your heart rate up and works your muscles more than idly standing on an escalator or in an elevator. Taking the stairs daily can increase your cardiovascular conditioning and decrease your waist size, weight, body fat percentage, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure.25
Recent studies have shown more and more people are adding oatmeal to their daily routine diet. Oatmeal is considered best when it comes to having something which is enriched with soluble fiber. Apart from soluble fiber, oatmeal is another great source of protein. Plus, oatmeal can induce the feeling of fullness for a long period of time. In other words, it can suppress appetite.
Not in an extreme, Atkins sort of way, but having a little protein at every meal fires up your metabolism. "Your digestive system uses more energy to break it down, so you burn more calories," explains Lisa Dorfman, R.D. However, keep protein levels to between 20 and 35 percent of your diet; eating too much of it can cause kidney strain and may cause your body to store too much fat.
The main advantage of the low carb diet is that they cause you to want to eat less. Even without counting calories most overweight people eat far fewer calories on low carb. Sugar and starch may increase your hunger, while avoiding them may decrease your appetite to an adequate level. If your body wants to have an appropriate number of calories you don’t need to bother counting them. Thus: Calories count, but you don’t need to count them.