What You Need to Know About Diet and Weight Loss
Most people know that if you want to lose weight, you simply consume fewer calories than you burn off in a day. But this is not always as easy as it sounds. Hitting the gym requires energy, and a lot of people have jobs where they sit at a desk all day. Your body simply does not burn the number of calories needed to make sure you lose the amount of weight you may wish to lose, even if you reduce your intake to healthy levels. But there are things you can do to make a difference. With the Jenny Craig plan, you know that your calorie intake will be at the correct levels, as all the delicious meals are prepared specially to be tasty and healthy. But simple tricks will help you burn off those extra calories without you even noticing it!
Are both diet and weight loss critical when trying to lose weight?
It goes without saying that the diet is a very large part of your weight loss journey. But what if you are following the diet, but the scales don’t show that you have lost weight? That can be pretty demoralising, and may cause some people to give up on trying to lose weight too soon. Don’t weigh yourself too often. There are many things that can influence your weight loss on a day-to-day basis. On the Jenny Craig plan, you will weigh yourself once a week, which will give you far more of a chance of seeing a real difference. Don’t expect miracles; with a healthy and balanced diet, you will on average see a loss of ½ to 1 kg a week, which is a great way to shed the weight and keep it off!
Want to know how you can burn off a few extra calories?
- Don’t be tempted to skip meals. Lots of people think that skipping breakfast or lunch will automatically lead to weight loss. The opposite is often true. Not eating breakfast can make you hungry later, leading to too much nibbling in-between meals. Jenny Craig plans are designed to make sure you get a breakfast, lunch, and dinner plus a delicious snack, and you can add plenty of fruit and vegetables
- Make sure you get enough sleep. When you lack sleep, alterations in your metabolism lead to an increased appetite, so trying to keep a good sleeping pattern is important. Seven to nine hours of sleep is ideal for maximum weight loss.
- Make sure you keep hydrated. Water is essential to good health. Experts recommend that you should drink about 2 litres every day. But if you get bored of drinking water, try using some fruit or herbal tea, either hot or cold, or flavour your water with some lemon juice, slices of fruit or cucumber for variation.
- Keep moving. It is no secret that exercise helps to speed up weight loss, but you can do simple things such as setting your alarm on your phone to go off every 30 minutes. When the alarm goes off, make sure you get up and walk around for a bit, or keep a skipping rope handy and skip vigorously for just one minute before sitting back down.
- Change just one thing. Sign up for a weekly dance class, or find a friend to go swimming with once a week. Always use the lift at work? Make yourself use the stairs at least once every day, or get out a few floors before your floor if you are really high up in the building, and walk the rest of the way.
- Treat yourself. Instead of food, treat yourself to a good book or a CD by your favourite artist. Once you see the weight loss is beginning to make a difference, treat yourself to a new top. It doesn’t have to be expensive, anything that looks good will make you feel great.
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There's an easier way
When you follow the Jenny Craig plan, you will be surprised at how much you can still eat of the foods you love; Dietitians have adapted many food favourites to be healthier, so you can still enjoy the taste you love without feeling guilty. Diets are counterproductive if you have to eat things that you don’t like; this may tempt you to not eat at all, which doesn't help you. The Jenny Craig Consultants will guide you and teach you about how to look at food, portion sizes, eating habits and exercise so you can learn to control what and how much you eat in the future, which will help you feel much better too.
