Whether you are trying to lose 5 pounds or 20 pounds of weight, the same principles apply. The key is lifestyle change and developing new healthy lifestyle so that the weight loss can be sustained for long-term.
Follow the SEEDS strategy for long-term weight loss:
Sleep
Getting sufficient sleep is important in your weight loss program. When you don’t get enough sleep, the body produces a hormone called ghrelin. This increases your appetite and makes you hungry easily. So, you have to eat more. When you get enough sleep, another hormone, leptin is produced instead. Leptin makes the body satiated. That means, you do not crave for food.
Eating right
Developing a healthy eating habit is fundamental to long-term weight loss. Practice portion control so that you limit the total calories intake by about 10-20% but not too much. Extremely low calories intake in a crash diet with the objective to lose weight fast, is dangerous and has long-term impact on heart health.
Eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables and whole grains. Limit saturated fat, processed food and alcohol. Eat a high protein breakfast and increase the intake of good fats. A simple guideline is from MyPlate.
Exercise
If you are trying to lose weight just purely by dieting without exercise, you will not be able to achieve a nice toned body. You can start off by just walking briskly and gradually moving to weights and circuit training. Walking is the simplest form of exercise, 30 minutes brisk walk 5 days a week will be sufficient to increase the metabolic rate and burn more calories.
Drinking water
Drinking sufficient water is an important component of good health, more so for weight loss. How much water should you drink? Use the guideline of 30ml for every kilogram of body weight. 2 liters of water can burn 96 calories. Not drinking enough water will leave you with water retention and feeling tired because metabolic waste cannot be flushed out of the body.
Supplements
Studies have shown that the quality of fresh foods has dropped by as much as 60% due to soil erosion and farming methods. Therefore, to rely solely on fresh food for your nutrients requirement, you will have to eat the whole day.
The supplements that are important for weight loss are:
1) Omega-3
Omega-3 is an essential fatty acid that will help with weight loss. Supplementation with Omega-3 can be obtained from animal source such as salmon and tuna or from plant source such as flaxseed, walnut oil and olive oil. If you are looking at animal source from fish oil, do ensure that you get it from the right source due to the risk of heavy metal contamination.
2) Antioxidants
Antioxidants are necessary to help combat the free radicals and inflammation created by high body fats. They help the body to function more efficiently in processing and removal of waste materials. Super antioxidants are readily available from extracts of green tea, grape seeds, pomegranate, red wine and pine bark.
3) Vitamins and minerals
Taking vitamins and minerals enhance the weight loss program. Vitamin C helps the body to convert glucose to energy so that less glucose is stored as fat. Vitamin B complex keeps the body metabolism running and promote healthy thyroid gland.
Zinc is important in appetite control. Chromium helps with carbohydrate metabolism by increasing insulin sensitivity of cell and the uptake of glucose. Iodine is necessary for healthy thyroid function, which is important for the body metabolism.
4) Alkaline the body
When the cellular environment in the body is acidic, the body holds onto fat in order to protect the organs. Create an alkaline cellular environment in the body helps the body to release fats. Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetable achieves that.
In addition, supplement with Chlorophyll or Spirulina will enhance further the alkaline body environment. Both are mother nature’s best food because they contain a complete range of nutrients required by the body.
It is best that you do a complete detox and cleansing of your digestive system as well as liver and kidney before you follow the SEEDS strategy. Detox clears the body of toxins, allows better absorption of nutrients. This will enhance the weight loss program significantly.
SEEDS is easy to follow and implement to achieve a new lifestyle of healthy eating and exercise. Should you need more help, you can contact me for advise.
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