20 Practical Ways to Lose Weight – Health Course Article Summary
Have you ever noticed that sometimes we lose pounds and get healthier in the most unusual ways? The most rigorous way is to develop good eating habits and exercise. Boring? But some of these so-called good habits could result in a new number on that bathroom scale AND a healthier you. Men’s Health magazine put this list together focusing on the idea of simplicity.
If it’s easy, you might just stick with it. If you stick with it, you’ll lose weight. It’s not a diet. It’s a way of living. It’s a way to become healthier and feel better.
1. Put coffee in your milk instead of milk in your coffee. Fill your coffee mug with skim milk. Drink it–except for the amount you would put in your coffee. Pour your coffee into the mug. You just got 25 percent of the vitamin D you need and 30 percent of the calcium you need for the day.
2. Take a multivitamin every morning.
3. Before every meal, drink two glasses of water. You’ll eat less and be hydrated.
4. Love pizza? Order it with double tomato and light cheese. The tomato can help prevent prostate cancer. Less cheese=fewer calories and fat.
5. Love sandwiches? Add two slices of tomato and skip the cheese. Same reasons as above.
6. Lavish onions on anything and everything. They’re good for your heart.
7. Love junk food? Eat it if you must, but follow it with two glasses of water. Yes, the water will actually flush away some–but not all!–of the sodium. You’re stuck with the fat.
8. Love to eat in restaurants? Always order iced tea to drink. It fights heart disease, cancer, and even wrinkles.
9. Do eat a healthy snack about 3 p.m. every day. You’ll have more energy and eat less for dinner. Ideas: Yogurt and fruit, crackers and cheese, hard-boiled egg, an apple.
10. Love fruit? Always eat it with the skin on. (This doesn’t apply to oranges and bananas, you silly.)
11. To make sure you drink enough water each day, fill a half-gallon bottle in the morning. Take it to the office. Drink it before you go home.
12. Eat red fruit. It’s packed with lycopene (good for your heart). Choose ruby red grapefruit, watermelon, and guava.
13. Eat salmon once a week. It’s rich with omega-3 fatty acids, which help prevent heart attacks and ward off depression.
14. Wash your meat. Yeah, you read that right. Washing it removes up to 50 percent of the fat and cholesterol. Here’s how you do it: After you brown ground beef, move it to a colander and rinse it with hot tap water.
15. Love salad? Instead of drowning it in dressing, keep the dressing on the side. Dip your fork in the dressing first and THEN in the salad. Eat. That really cuts down the fat!
16. When you eat broccoli, dress it up with margarine, olive oil, or cheese sauce. Broccoli is packed with beta-carotene, but this major antioxidant works best when accompanied by fat molecules.
17. Love seconds? Go ahead–but only the vegetables. Eat at least three servings of veggies every day. More is even better.
18. Spread out your fat intake throughout the day. The immediate cause of most heart attacks is your last fatty meal.
19. Always eat dessert! (Now THAT’s a diet tip.) Just make sure it’s a small amount. Sweets signal your brain that it’s time to stop eating.
20. Love a bedtime snack? Make it a bowl of dry cereal. It will make you sleepy and give you a fiber boost.