Weight Loss and Get Healthy Goals Are Good, But Only If You Can Actually Keep Them
Courtney McCormick, Corporate Dietitian, Nutrisystem
(Fort Washington, PA., Wednesday, December 27, 2017) – Work out an hour a day! Lose 20 pounds! Stop eating cookies! These may sound like some of the overly-ambitious promises you make at the start of every year, only to break a few weeks later. Weight loss and get healthy goals are good, but only if you can actually keep them.
Here are a few ways to boost your New Year’s Weight Loss Resolutions, so that they’re more achievable and you actually stick with them this year:
- Increase your water intake. A study found that when people drank six cups – or 48 ounces – of cold water, they increased their resting calorie burn by up to 50 calories per day. Another study found that dieters who drank two eight-ounce glasses of water before meals lost 36 percent more weight over three months than those who didn’t.
- Set your phone alarm to chirp every three hours. The CDC recommends 150 minutes of aerobic activity per week, but research suggests that it doesn’t matter if you exercise for two-and-a-half hours straight or break it up into 10-minute chunks. So set your phone’s alarm to go off every three hours and hop up for five to 10 minutes every time it goes off.
- Get those ZZZs. Research has shown that people who sleep fewer than five or six hours per night on a regular basis were more likely to have excess body weight. Part of the reason may be that sleep deprivation can shift the balance of hormones that control hunger.
Some additional tips include:
- Aim to drop one to two pounds a week. Crash diets don’t work. Research has shown that initial weight loss during the first few weeks is associated with better long-term weight loss outcomes. However, research has also demonstrated that you are more likely to keep the weight off when you lose it slowly and steadily, according to the CDC. So, while you may lose more weight initially on your diet, aim to lose one to two pounds per week and make that your goal.
- Change your rewards and comforts. Often when something good happens in life, we reward ourselves with food. The same thing goes for when something bad happens. This New Year, be more mindful and find other ways to reward yourself like buying something new when you’re feeling happy and comfort yourself like taking a long bath or shower when you’re feeling sad. Chances are when you put your mind to something else, you’ll forget about wanting that food.
For more information, please visit www.nutrisystem.com.