Whether you've been there or not, there will always come a point when your new, healthy diet has a powerful craving for something sweet. Commonly, chocolate makes or breaks our day. You know, whatever's in your cupboard at the time. If you just go on a diet, weight loss is not going to be easy. So what can you do to manage better the timing and caloric content of the food you eat? If you are trying to reach your weight loss goals, incorporate these 5 tips from my personal training experience into your routine!
Plan
First and foremost, don't starve yourself or cut your calories too drastically—it won't last. Instead, start with small changes you know you can maintain in order to plan meals that work for your lifestyle. It isn't easy to clear your pantry from everything sweet if your household is not on the same board as you. Plan ahead and stock up your freezer with frozen blueberries or raspberries. They are excellent for snacking. Alternatively, a cup of hot cacao with a little bit of sweetener can satisfy your craving. I like to bake healthy desserts, like Orange Cake, which I can portion and freeze. You can find the recipe on my Instagram page.
Another great tool is to keep a food journal. This will help you track what you eat throughout the day. It will also show you where your calories are coming from so that you can make healthier choices on those days when cravings hit hard. In my previous article, How To Take Control Of Your Eating Yo-yo, you can learn which app I used to overcome my cravings. It helped me a lot, and I am still using this app to occasionally check my daily calorie consumption.
Gradually reduce your taste for sugar
Many people like chocolate because it is sweet. One of the tools to accustom your taste buds to less sweet food is to gradually substitute your go-to chocolate with chocolate of higher cacao content. For example, if you like white chocolate, next time buy chocolate with 50%, then 60%, and so on until you start liking rich 90% cacao content. My favourite cooking hack is reducing the recommended sugar quantities in baking recipes. I cut it in half and then taste the batter to adjust its sweetness. When you enjoy food flavours more than their taste, you can start using a little bit of stevia or erythritol instead of sugar.
Distract yourself from sweet thoughts
Recognise your craving. Are you thirsty? Try having a glass of water spiked with a bit of lemon juice and salt. If your craving is emotional because you feel down, change your environment to distract yourself. You can change your habits if you change your setting. Notice when you experience cravings for something sweet. Suppose you are at your desk and you are bored or tired. In that case, a break away from the desk, a conversation with a colleague or even scrolling social media can help you to overcome the surge for a sugary snack. Get up, move around, do some stretches, or head outside for a short walk. This will help you to focus on what's in front of you rather than what's behind – that cookie jar! You can also change your food environment. It's easier to say no to food if it isn't in front of you; keep tempting treats out of sight so they don't come into mind. There's no need to ban them entirely, but keep them out of view and make it less likely that they'll tempt you.
Surround yourself with supportive people
Encouragement and moral support from your family and friends are essential. But a personal trainer is a great option to keep your motivation high. They will keep you accountable and help to stay on track. When you’re trying to lose weight, their advice and assistance can be extremely helpful. Personal trainers know what works and what doesn’t when it comes to losing weight because they have seen it time and time again with their own clients. They can provide a general nutritional recommendation or refer you to an allied professional, such as a dietician. When working with a personal trainer on your fitness routine, you usually have an opportunity to talk about how your day's been so far, so a personal trainer can make insightful recommendations and keep you on track.
Know your health
Ideally, a medical practitioner should supervise your weight loss journey. This is to ensure you have no underlying health conditions preventing you from shedding unwanted kilos. Typically, a fasting glucose test and A1C glucose test will tell you whether you are a pre-diabetic or diabetic and whether your insulin ups and downs were responsible for your weight loss stall.
The health of the thyroid gland is also important. The thyroid hormone plays an essential role in controlling metabolism. Your body won't burn fat efficiently if it's not functioning properly. The interrelationships between body fat and thyroid status are complex. In summary, this hormone is responsible for generating nutritional signals by producing leptin and peptides regulating appetite. It also regulates cholesterol and carbohydrate metabolism and modulates hepatic insulin sensitivity.
As a Personal Trainer, I have seen fantastic body transformations in my clients willing to take a calculated, slow approach to weight loss. You can lose 0.5 kg of body weight per week and keep it off if you are prepared to introduce changes to your lifestyle.