I was recently asked to write a series of articles for a publication with wide readership. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the editor was interested in my writing because she recognized that too much unrealistic information about dieting is directed at people every day. She wanted sensible discussion that was effective and realistic. This gave me hope.
A Product That Will Eliminate Belly Fat Immediately?
Too often, I see products being marketed that take advantage of people. One such product promised to get rid of a man’s gut immediately. What was it? Simply put, it is a girdle for men. It is designed to look like a tight-fitting undershirt which uses a girdle-like material to reel in the belly fat and give the appearance of a flatter stomach. A bonus feature is that it also shapes the chest. The gut is still there, mind you. It’s just pushed in like girdles use to do for a woman’s problem areas.
So does this product really get rid of the belly. Obviously not. Is the individual who pays for this product going to lose weight? No way. It’s probably going to indirectly cause weight gain because the person will not be changing any behaviors that caused the belly in the first place.
It’s time for people to understand that searching for free lunches or quick weight loss gimmicks (whether through the internet or otherwise), is a waste of time. It’s precious time that could be used to do what really works. What really works? It’s listed below. It won’t sound too good to be true because it’s the truth.
Tips to Lose Weight for Life
- Gradually learn to increase nutrition in your diet. Find ways to eat more fruits and vegetables in ways that are flavorful. Discover versions of what you normally eat that are packed with more nutrition (such as whole grain versions of bread and pasta).
- Learn to eat nutritiously without much or any cooking (“nutritious fast food”) such as putting together a plate of baby carrots, lean lunch meat, low-fat cheese, fruit, and whole-grain crackers as a meal. No cooking but nutritious and includes all the food groups!
- Take small steps to gradually increase regular exercise. Do it in a way that is not taxing or burdensome. Choose activities that you like rather than ones that everyone else is doing. If you prefer to jump rope while watching TV instead of running, jump!
- Increase your general activity level apart from regular exercise. Change your lifestyle by thinking of way to increase the number of steps it takes to do what you normally do. For instance, park further away from things, wear a pedometer to strive for 10,000 steps each day, don’t try to save steps while doing housework, or communicate with a coworker in person instead of through phone or email.
- Work on your thinking. Eliminate negative thinking that causes defeat with weight loss. Don’t use name calling, judgment, or hopeless statements. Instead, use flexible, encouraging, compassionate talk when you speak to yourself.
- Refuse to buy into programs or products that promise things that sound too good to be true. Learn about how the body actually works so that you know what is realistic. If you know this, you’ll see that a program that promises ten pounds of fat loss in two weeks is doomed to fail because the body can’t physically lose that much fat in that amount of time. If the diet has a quirky name, stay away.
- Don’t get advice from dieters, particularly yo-yo dieters. Instead observe people that have successfully managed their weight for years. Find out what they do. Most likely they are more active and eat more nutritiously than your yo-yo-dieter friends.
- Accept the fact that getting lean is a gradual process. It involves small changes that build on each other to produce the big goal of becoming lean for a lifetime. Don’t try to do it fast and don’t set deadlines such as for a wedding, a birthday, or a reunion. That doesn’t work and you know it already.
If you want to lose weight for life, you’ll have to stop listening to much of the marketing about fad diets and diet products, get real, and take it one-step-at-a-time.
