Switching to a Med diet is just half the
story when it comes to shaping up and staying you want to be. Just as important
are Dr Oz’s simple rules that will help you identify key risk factors for
weight gain, and help you conquer them once and for all. By Denise Foley.
Rule 1: One day at a time
Remind yourself everyday
Each morning, re-commit to sticking to eating
more healthily. This will help you maintain the energy and motivation that you
first brought to the diet… and which can so easily fizzle out. As you get out
of bed, repeat this mantra: “I am going to eat healthily for the next 24 hours”
– and also remind yourself why you want to lose weight.
Rule 2: Do things differently
Try a new hobby or activity to divert
yourself when stress, habit or boredom sends you to fridge or biscuit tin.
Shaking up your routine can help you
challenge set patterns and old excuses, such as: “I’m tired, I need a biscuit”.
Being more mindful about how and when you eat, how you think when you are under
stress – and what you could be doing instead – helps put you back in control of
your diet. Try a new hobby or activity to divert yourself when stress, habit or
boredom sends you to fridge or biscuit tin.
Rule 3: Re-arrange your kitchen
Re-arrange your kitchen
Organise your fridge, cupboards and your
life so that your only choices can be good ones. Don’t worry – there will still
be a lot enjoy. You’re eating a Mediterranean diet, so you’ll get healthy fast
in the form of olive oil, as well as olives themselves, avocados, sunflower
seeds, nuts and other foods that are satisfying in small quantities. You’ll
have fish, poultry and lean meat, too, but the bulk of your diet will be plant
foods and the fibre in these will – by slowing your digestion – help stave off
hunger without adding too many calories.
Rule 4: Stay full
Hard to believe, but you can help keep your
metabolism high by eating. This avoids the inevitable carb binge that sends
blood sugar soaring and causes insulin levels to rise, which in turn causes
blood sugar to plunge and leads you to eat more. So, as well as your three main
meals, Dr Oz recommends adding two protein-based snacks, such as a handful of
almonds or six kalamata olives and a Mini Babybel Light.
Rule 5: Extend the burn
There are two easy things you can do to
boost your metabolism:
1.
Drink water with every meal
Drink water with every meal
A German study found that drinking around two cups of water can
increase calorie bruning by 24%.
2.
Take a 20-minute walk
Do it before every meal and you’re making a good start on the 60 to
90 minutes of daily exercise recommended for weight loss. ‘Walk at a brisk
pace, with good posture and your belly tucked in to exercise your core
muscles’, says Dr Oz.
Rule 6: Check portions
Size does matter in choosing foods
Size does matter. One small potato is about
13/4 – 21/2 inches in
diameter and contain 135 calories, but a large potato – 3-41/4
inches in diameter – adds 293 calories to your meal (and that’s without
slathering on butter!). Also, use your hand as a guide: a serving of cereal is
roughly the size of your fist; a 50g/2oz serving of cooked pasta or rice fits
in your cupped hand; a tablespoon of dressing is thumb size; and a teaspoon of
olive oil is the size of the top half of your thumb.
Rule 7: Chill out
Stress can undo your best intentions to be
healthy, particularly if your usual response to tension is to keep your mouth
busy and your body horizontal. Even worse, stress produces chemicals that can
add inches to your waist. So instead of eating to soothe anxiety:
1.
Use yoga
The following pose activates your parasympathetic nervous system –
the part that helps to relax and counter the stress response. Lie on the rug or
mat, arms by your sides, and let your muscles melt into the floor. Take regular
breaths and pay attention to the way the air enters your body and leaves it.
Let thoughts come and go, but don’t pay much attention to them. Try this for 5
to 10 minutes a day.
2.
Do something nice for yourself
Buy flowers on the way home. You’ll love looking at them – and how
they smell!
3.
Do something nice for someone else
Studies have found that doing things for others is one of the best
stress-busters around.
4.
Take a laughter break
Take a laughter break
Do you know what makes you laugh – physiologically speaking? Your
epiglottis half closing your larynx – and there’s copious research suggesting
that if this happens regularly, it reduces stress, makes you feel more kindly
toward others and is good for your blood vessels.
5.
Get up and dance
Get up and dance
Dancing can raise your feel-good chemicals (such as endorphins),
which also gives you better sense of control (over your life and food choices).
Rule 8: Get enough sleep
Get enough sleep
Put in fewer than seven hours a night and
you may see the scales moving up, Dr Oz warns. Fatigue makes you more likely to
eat to keep your energy up and makes a short walk seem like a cross-country
hike. A lack of sleep also drives down your levels of ghrelin, which tells your
brain you’re hungry.
Rule 9: Don’t give up
Don’t give up
Here’s how to make a comeback when you’re
been waylaid by a chocolate bar or a bad of crisps.
1.
Forget tomorrow
‘If you make a
mistake, get back on track immediately,’ advises Dr Oz. That means you need to
put down what remains of that chocolate cake and walk away – not finish it and
binge for the rest of the day.
2.
Take baby steps
If you’re skipped
exercise for a day or two, get going again with a five-minute walk. If that
feels good, add another five minutes – and keep it up.
