Chapter 9 –

 How To Eat

It is not only what you eat that can cause you to gain weight or not lose weight, but also how you eat. My father, for example, complained of not being able to lose weight, despite the fact that he never ate breakfast or lunch and only had dinner. The reason he was unable to lose weight was because he was consuming all of his calories at one time, late in the day, and not giving his metabolism time to act when it came to burning calories. His metabolism was shut down all day and only came alive at night. When it was soon shut down again when he went to sleep.

You need to eat three meals a day in order to lose weight, with breakfast being the most important. You are better off to consume most of your calories at breakfast than at any other time. This will allow your body to use that fuel that you give it to burn off the calories during the day. If you consume calories at night, you are not allowing the body to burn them off. When my father started eating three meals a day, he began to lose weight.

In addition to eating three meals a day, you need to stop eating before you go to bed. When you eat before going to bed, it not only can give you indigestion, but it stays in your system and does not burn off. You should not eat anything before bedtime. Give yourself a cut off time and find something other than eating to do before going to bed. You may want to make a lifestyle change of doing yoga or stretching while watching TV so that you are not tempted to eat snacks. Many people sit in front of the TV eating snacks before bed – this greatly adds to obesity in our society.

Also watch your portions. You should never eat directly out of the bag of chips, for example. While you will want to avoid chips when you are dieting, after you diet and lose the weight, you may want to have chips. This is not a great crime, but you should watch your portions. If you pour out the chips into a small bowl, you can control your portions.

Remember the fact that it often takes the brain time to register when we are full. Many people are eating out of habit and think that they are hungry, when they are actually not hungry. You should always wait 20 minutes after eating before eating again. This gives the brain time to register the fact that you are full.

Simply cutting your portions in half can also help you lose weight. Too often, we eat until we feel we are about to burst. This is not good. The secret to maintaining a healthy weight is to eat until you are not hungry any longer – not until you feel full. You should never strive for that uncomfortable feeling of fullness.

You should also eat at the same times every day. If you maintain a good eating schedule, you will have a better digestive system. People who eat regularly and on somewhat of a schedule tend to see that their digestive system works the same way every day. This eliminates constipation that can also cause bloating and weight gain. You should move your bowels once a day and usually around the same time every day. This leads to good weight control and aids in losing weight. It also keeps your digestive tract healthy.

Chew your food thoroughly. Many people have a habit of gulping down their food. You should not only do this to promote weight loss, but also to aid your digestive system. Large chunks of food are harder to digest than smaller particles. You also tend to eat more when you do not chew your food properly. Chewing your food 20 times is an old dieting trick that still works. You will find that this gives your stomach time to signal your mind when you are full and that you do not overeat.

Drink a glass of water before every meal. This also makes you feel full and allows you to eat less. By drinking a glass of water before each meal and chewing your food thoroughly, you will find that you are eating less and losing weight. If you have only 10 pounds to lose, these two tips alone can greatly aid in your weight loss.

Losing weight does not have to involve a drastic lifestyle or new diet. You can usually lose weight if you just take a look at your eating habits and make some changes. Be sure to look at how you eat as much as what you eat and you will find that those 10 pounds come off easily.