Why Eating Less can help you Lose Weight

It might sound obvious but the key to losing weight is to burn more calories than you consume. Simplistic? Yes. Easy to achieve? No. Much like our cars, our bodies need fuel. We can’t just throw in any old cheap gasoline, nor can we simply overload the gas tank with a constant flow of gas. If you keep putting bad quality fuel into your gas tank, it won’t run properly – it will be sluggish, have a shorter life span and under-perform. We’d never treat our cars in such a careless manner, so why do we do it to our bodies?

We do it because it’s all too easy to over-consume. We don’t have a built-in alarm system that tells us when to stop. Wouldn’t it be handy if we had an internal fuel gauge which triggered a screeching alarm every time we took in too much food or drink?

Sadly, we have no gauge. Instead, we see and we feel the true evidence of over-eating when we look in the mirror, when we feel the pressure on our waists of our favorite pair of jeans or, worse, when our doctors tell us our cholesterol levels are high or break the news that we have diabetes or that we’re in a pre-stroke condition.

So how do we adjust to eating less? What problems are we likely to encounter? Why is losing weight such a difficult thing to achieve?

The way to successfully adjust to eating less is to have a detailed plan in place. Part of that plan is setting a realistic goal. You shouldn’t cut down to a dangerous calorific intake. This is both unhealthy and completely self-defeating. You will pile the weight back on in no time at all so then you’ll be stuck with the original excess weight, plus some more, and on top of that you will now be lacking in essential vitamins and minerals.

None of us like being hungry. When our stomachs are empty they have a habit of dominating our brains and bullying us into eating things we know we shouldn’t. Therefore it’s really important that we plan our food shopping trips properly and ensure that we always have the necessary ingredients in our cupboards so we won’t get caught out. Plan specific meal times and be sure to cook just before the real hunger sets in so you’re already full before any dangerous cravings set in.

You’ll be surprised at how quickly you’ll adjust to eating less. In fact, in the space of just a few weeks, you won’t be able to finish the same portion sizes that you once ate on a regular basis.

Savor each bite, take your time eating and focus on the meal. If you eat in a rushed manner while your mind is focused elsewhere, you’ll be craving more food again in a short time.

Eating less isn’t as difficult as it seems. Remember, your plan is to expend more calories than you take in – this is why eating less helps you to lose weight.