You don’t have to follow a strict low-calorie diet or practice intermittent fasting to lose weight. Sometimes, implementing small, doable changes over a period of time can lead to significant results.

Plus, committing to small, gradual changes is a more effective method of adopting new habits that you’ll be able to maintain in the long run. This is also a lot healthier than turning to restrictive diets and severe exercise routines just to lose a couple of pounds.

Here are 14 small lifestyle changes that can help you lose weight and keep it off for years down the line.

1. Practice portion control – Eating too much food, even nutritious ones like fish, beans and whole grains, can lead to weight gain fast. Sometimes, it’s not about what you eat but how much you consume. Practice portion control to avoid overeating.
2. Don’t rush through meals – Overeating can also be influenced by how fast you eat or finish meals. Rushing through a meal doesn’t give the brain enough time to process that feeling of fullness. Watch how you eat and slow down if you’re going too fast.
3. Drink water often – Sometimes, that sudden feeling of hunger might just be thirst. Drink water before you even feel the need to. This helps stave off cravings and control eating urges.
4. Take the time to make lunch – The convenience of fast foods is also to blame for poor nutrition. The next time you feel like eating out for lunch, prepare food instead. It also helps to stockpile on nutritious filling foods like dried beans and whole grains.
5. Don’t do other things during a meal – When you eat, focus on eating. You’re more prone to overeating when you’re distracted.
6. Eat breakfast – Skipping breakfast makes you hungrier once it’s time for lunch. Make it a habit to eat breakfast packed with lean protein and fiber to keep you satisfied until lunch.
7. Snack on nutritious foods – Snacking on junk foods can greatly sabotage your appetite and weight loss goals. For healthier snacks, opt for nuts, blueberries and other fruits. Most of these plant-based foods contain enough calories to keep you satisfied until the next meal without compromising appetite or weight.
8. Get enough sleep – Sleep keeps the appetite hormones in check. Lack of sleep can affect how these hormones regulate appetite, which can lead to poor food choices and eating habits.
9. Don’t overindulge on the weekends – Most people on weight-loss diets consider weekends as a free-for-all. However, this kind of attitude can set you back big time. Focus instead on developing good eating habits that still leave room for occasional indulgences without making them a part of the routine.
10. Use smaller plates – A pile of food looks different depending on the size of the plate. A tall pile of food might look just right on a large plate but look too much on a smaller one. With smaller plates, you’re less inclined to pile on a large amount of food in one go.
11. Limit the food on the table – A table full of serving dishes and platefuls of food can encourage overeating. If possible, limit the amount of food on the table.
12. Avoid fast foods and buffets – For most people, good eating habits seem to go out the window once fast foods and buffets enter the picture. If you couldn’t decline an invitation to eat out, just focus on eating. You can also drink water and load up on vegetables to keep full.
13. Eat more vegetables – Most vegetables and plant-based foods are rich in soluble fiber, which helps keep you full for longer periods. If you find it hard to cut back on certain foods, load up on vegetables instead. Chances are you’d end up too full to even consider eating more of the less nutritious foods you had in mind.
14. Keep a food journal – Since these small changes take time to cause significant changes on the outside, it helps to keep a food journal. You might find it useful to evaluate certain eating habits or some of the food choices you made over the past week or so.

Losing weight doesn’t have to be a miserable process. Instead of going after each new diet fad or exercise routine, adopt small lifestyle changes that are doable and realistic and turn these changes into habits. Soon, you’ll not only lose weight but also build healthy lifestyle habits that stick with you for life.

Sources:

Self.com

EatingWell.com