How to Lose Weight without Starving Yourself

If you are looking to lose a little weight then you probably know that you need to increase how often you exercise and decrease the number of calories you ingest. For a lot of people, this means starving themselves. But starving yourself is not the ideal way to go about this process.

For starters, it will only cause your body to go into starvation mode, where it thinks it is not getting enough to eat, so it does everything it can to store what you do eat as fat. Second, starving yourself will only make you unhappy and odds are you will become discouraged and just go back to your old eating habits. Here are some ways that you can start the process of losing weight without starving yourself.

Eat a Satisfying Breakfast

One of the first things many people do when they begin the process of trying to lose weight is to skip eating breakfast. This is one of the worst things you can do, however. You need breakfast to prevent going into starvation mode, so it is important that you eat breakfast each and every morning. What you eat for breakfast is very important. Skip the cereals, the oatmeal, and rice cakes, and eat a breakfast that is high in protein and good fat. This will keep you satisfied longer and will help you to avoid having to eat again right away.

Eat More Often

The best way to speed up your metabolism is to eat more often. You should be eating 5-6 times a day, or every 3-4 hours. Your meals should all be smaller in size and each meal should have a snack between them. Pay attention to your portion sizes and eat a mixture of good carbs, proteins, good fats, and fruits and vegetables at every meal. Eat snacks that are high in protein between meals. Don’t allow yourself to become hungry. But don’t eat too much either. Remember the point is to eat more often, but not to eat more calories or to eat more of the wrong foods.

Stay Away From Refined Starches

It is actually a good idea to stay away from starches all together, as there are very few of them that are especially good for you. Avoid all refined starches and sugars, including things like pasta, white bread, potatoes, sugars, and high fructose corn syrup. Avoid sugary snacks and sodas at all costs.

Build Lean Muscle Mass

If you want your body to burn more fat you need to increase your metabolism. This means that you need to build more lean muscle. This means you need to lift weights. Don’t worry – lifting weights will build the kind of lean muscle that constantly burns fat, but won’t make you look bulky or fat. Lift weights at least 3 times per week and make sure you are pushing your weight lifting sessions hard. They don’t need to be any longer than an hour, including your warm-up and cool downtimes.

Give Yourself a Break Every Now and Then

Research clearly shows that if you are allowed to cheat on an eating program every now and then you are much more likely to stick with it over the long run. So let yourself cheat on meals every so often. So if you are eating out with your family at your favorite steak restaurant you can go ahead and eat that steak, as long as you return to your healthy eating habits right away. Cheating every now and then is okay, as long as it doesn’t become a serious habit. Aim for 6 days of healthy eating for every 1 day of cheating.