Tips from a weight loss professional.
– by
Laura Barry
Do you want to lose weight? Then it might be time to tweak your diet.
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When it comes to slimming down, losing weight is just the first challenge to achieving and maintaining your goal weight. Losing weight and keeping it off is the next big challenge, and it’s something many people who lose weight suffer with.
Dr Nick Fuller is the Industry Program Leader at the University of Sydney, and the Boden Collaboration for Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise and Eating Disorders. Dr Fuller is also a bestselling author of the weight loss books Interval Weight Loss and Interval Weight Loss For Life. We asked Dr Fuller for his top five tips for losing weight and keeping it off.
“For those who have recently embarked on a weight loss journey, it’s likely your body is now fighting the weight loss and you are now on a slow but steady return to your starting weight,” says Dr Fuller.
“In fact, fewer than 5% of people succeed on their weight loss and dieting journeys long-term – due to our biology. And it’s the very reason why diets don’t work. However, new research shows you can lose weight and prevent weight regain with the Interval Weight Loss approach.”
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1. Weigh yourself just once per week
“Body weight fluctuates enormously from day-to-day and therefore it is important to just monitor the trend over time. Weekly weighing is best – pick the time and day that you prefer and record your weight each week.”
2. Eat more, not less
“Dieting has led us to believe that we should be restricting the volume of food we put into our body. However, when you deprive yourself of food, your body shuts down by lowering its metabolism. Instead, you should be focusing on eating more food – plenty of nutrient-rich food will help speed up your metabolism and help you with your weight loss goals and prevent weight regain.”
3. Impose ‘diet breaks’ every second month
“New research has shown you can prevent your body fighting itself and prevent weight regain by losing weight in short 4-week intervals using the Interval Weight Loss method. Every second month you should aim to maintain your weight from the month before to prevent your body working differently. When you lose weight with diets, your body fights itself – your appetite hormones change, telling you to eat more, and your metabolism drops so you burn less fat. This is why you regain the weight you lose.”
4. Retrain your brain
“We have a very hard time saying ‘no’ to our favourite foods, however, foods that are naturally high in sugar and fat, such as avocado, nuts and fruit, release the same feel-good pleasure response in the brain as processed and fast food. Surround yourself with these foods to avoid the temptation of going to the vending machine or visiting your favourite take-away outlet.”
5. Don’t count calories
“Counting calories is a complete waste of time. Your body is far smarter than calories in versus calories out, and many nutrition labels and calorie-counting apps are not accurate. Take nuts and evegtables for example, 20% of the calories from nuts are not absorbed in the body and these are the very foods that will help on your long-term weight loss journey, not hinder it.”
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Dr Fuller’s new book is called ‘Interval Weight Loss For Women’ and you can buy it for $32.99.
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