How to outsmart weight gain

The pothole of weight gain is a sad reality for many people. Typically, we gain weight when we eat more than what we can burn off. For some people, the problem is associated to genetic or environmental factors, to their lifestyle or other health conditions.

Unfortunately, the typical process is this: weight loss gets along euphorically with a sense of pride at having accomplished what so many people find hard, followed by hopelessness at having gained the weight back.

Food not only provides nutrition; the whole process of eating is also a social occasion. So, it’s so easy to fall in the trap of losing weight easily and gaining it back just as rapidly as it was lost, then struggling to lose it again.

Certainly, there are things we can do to outsmart weight gain. It takes dedication, but it produces enduring results. Here are some useful tips:

- Make breakfast your best friend

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Many people skip breakfast because they believe that by eating breakfast they will put on weight. In effect, this is wrong. Actually, in the morning, our metabolism works better.

By skipping breakfast, we are more likely to feel tired because our brain and body will soon run low on fuel. Breakfast is the first meal of the day after 10-12 hours of fast during the night. Our body has fully consumed the reserves of energy of the previous day, and the levels of glucose in the morning are low.

Eating a healthy breakfast helps restoring the levels of our energy back to normal. High fiber cereals with skimmed milk are a good source of energy. You can add some fresh fruits or eat a fresh fruit salad that will get you through lunchtime and will provide you with vitamins and minerals.

- Avoid processed foods

Convenience foods are rich in preservatives. Canned foods high in sodium, packaged snack foods such as chips and cheese snacks that are high in calories, frozen fish sticks and frozen dinners, white breads and pastas baked with refined white flour, sugary breakfast cereals, packaged cakes and cookies, boxed meal mixes, and processed meats, all are a NO, NO. Instead, shop fresh fruits and vegetables from your local grocery store, avoid chips, prefer whole-wheat pasta and bread, and cook fresh fish and chicken. Try to reduce your read meat intake to twice a week the most. Choose lean cuts of meat and remove fat from your steaks.

- Avoid alcohol consumption

Even if you are invited to your best friend’s barbecue, do not drink that beer or glass of wine. Once you slip into the pleasure of alcohol consumption, you’ll have hard time getting back to normal again. Liquor calories count as much as food calories and sometimes even more. So think twice before saying “cheers!”