Now, on the face of it, I can see you saying,”really? another bunch of weight loss tips?” and I answer “yes!” I believe that happiness is good health too. Which is one of the reasons why I started a health blog. Today, I want to share a fantastic book I read recently: Losing It – Making Weight Loss Simple by Dhruv Gupta and Prachi Gupta, founders of the FITHO diet. Again, you are probably thinking, oh, another of those. I confess I thought the same thing, until I started reading the book. The author was kind enough to send me a review copy.
I generally tend to take books like these with a pinch of reality and sometimes, cynicism. No matter what, nothing helps you lose weight as effectively as exercise and being conscious of what you put in your mouth. For all that is written about weight loss, what really works is a bunch of tips that we can easily incorporate in our lives. And that is what this book is all about.
First, let me share 7 reasons I liked “Losing it – Making Weight Loss Simple”
- Lives up to its promise – and what a pleasure to say this, especially with books that claim weight loss tips
- Busts a lot of myths about weight loss
- Has plenty of realistic suggestions to help the reader change her habits. It doesn’t just tell you not to do something, but how to make healthy choices without depriving yourself.
- Offers believable and logical explanations on misconceptions and beliefs about weight loss
- Enlightens the reader about various fad diet and weight loss methods
- Is informative and a great read – very well formatted with quick tips, bullet points and a summary of takeaways at the end of each chapter
- Motivated me to make changes to my life – I am enjoying the benefits
Reason no.7 is perhaps the best of all, as the book inspired me enough to take action. I’ve mentioned before that I suffer from infobesity and just love to collect and hoard information. I certainly don’t see myself going on an information diet any time soon, in fact, I can tell you right away that I’ll be an information addict forever.
my personal seven weight loss tips
These are tips I took seriously from the book – I am guessing that you want to know exactly what I did, so you can do it, too, eh? Here we go:
1. I stopped eating bread. You heard that right. Bread is one of the roots of weight loss evil. I substituted it with chapati – Indian flat bread made of multigrain flour with vegetable stuffing. Oh yes, I got over mourning the convenience of being able to just go buy a pack of bread. If I have to, I buy brown bread, but that too has its hassles. Still, once in a while is okay. Making it a staple is not. My standard meal looks something like this (go on, click and see in full-screen glory) You must have figured out I am a big fan of one-dish meals.
My favorite – salad
Multigrain flour rotis, cabbage/carrot/onion stirfry and apple
Stir fried veg rice, tomato and cucumber
Apple and Multigrain roti stuffed with grated carrot, radish and onion pulp
2. I make it a point to drink plenty of water. This book endorsed what I know and have been reading elsewhere – our body can be a traitor and cheat us into thinking we’re hungry when we’re actually thirsty. So, what you think are hunger pangs may just be thirst. Drink a glass of water. Satisfied? Great. Not satisfied? Get a nutritious snack like half a handful of almonds or an apple or a salad. My favorite snack, ably aided by my laziness is a couple of ripe tomatoes or bananas in milk. There are other benefits such as less washing up to do, no preparation and so on.
3. I’ve cut salt and sugar from my diet. This is easy for me as I eat a lot of salads and fruits. I am just fine with little or no salt. Did you know you use less salt when you flavor with herbs and spices like garlic and pepper? It is true. This also means I’ve cut down on pickle, which I adore. I don’t avoid anything totally, because I don’t want to be victim of craving and end up binge eating, I just restrict myself to eating it once a week, and very little.
4. I follow the three-bite rule from the book. When I crave something like cake or chocolate, I take a small spoon of it. I must now eat this in three bites and not just gobble it up. The first bite – enjoy it with my senses and linger over it. The second bite, enjoy the flavor. The third bite, satisfaction. Then go wash the spoon and put it away. Your waistline just thanked you!
5. I have cut down on (gasp!) coffee. My thrice a day, which really translates to much more if you were to measure it with the teeny-weeny disposable cup doled out by coffee vendors, has now become one and a half real cups. I savor each sip and delight in the experience. I am not tempted to overdo it. Strange eh, when you decide to do, it is easy.
6. I make it a point to exercise every day. Nothing amazing – just being faithful to a simple routine: stretches, walking, housework (cooking, cleaning, sweeping, swabbing). I also take the stairs because I learned from the book that it combines cardio. And by the way, getting worked up and breathing hard over not getting your blog post up on time for the Write Tribe Festival of Words does not count.
7. I saved the best for last. I involve my family in everything I do. Highly motivating, great fun with all the teasing when someone slips up and in short, a win-win situation for us.
7 more weight loss tips
Did you know:
- Avoiding breakfast makes you fat. So don’t skip it. Begin the day with a healthy breakfast.
- Belly fat is the most active and dangerous fat in the body, start losing it now.
- Substitute sugary drinks with water and green tea
- Avoid artificially sweetened foods and foods with high fructose corn syrup.
- Have your last meal at least 2-3 hours before you go to bed
- Forget fad diets such as juice diets, mono diets, low-carb diets, detox and salad based diets. You need a balanced diet.
- Control snacking between meals to control weight easily.
Obviously not an exhaustive list – but I am being faithful to the theme 7.
Do I recommend the book? Definitely. I especially love it for spurring me into action and for its fluff-free writing style.
Publisher Pan Macmillan
Publication Year 2013
ISBN-13 9789382616030
ISBN-10 9382616039
Language English
Number of Pages 220 Pages
or
Day 2 of the Write Tribe Festival of Words
Question for you:
Do you struggle to lose weight?
What weight loss tips have worked for you?
Please share in the comments
Namaste!
I am glad you are here. May your day be filled with smiles!
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