Forming Healthy Weight Loss Habits – Controlling Cravings

Control Cravings with Healthy Weight Loss Habits

You’ve heard the statistics. Inherited genes (like the recently identified KLF14 gene) claim to make us 2.5 times more likely to become overweight as an adult. This gene is said to lead to weight gain, high cholesterol, and even type 2 diabetes. While today’s society may be quick to blame heredity for the extra pounds around our midsection, it isn’t really our ancestor’s fault. Forming healthy weight loss (and weight maintenance) habits is the real key.

You have the power to neutralize the effects of this and many other predispositions that contribute to weight gain simply by making the right changes to your diet. Bottom line? Even if you are genetically inclined to weight gain, you don’t have to put up with it.

The Best Way to Lose Weight – Attack Your Appetite and Burn Fat

Losing weight and even fighting back against your genes doesn’t have to rely on fad diets, dangerous drugs, or hormones as your weight loss solution. These may work in the short term, but they don’t have any lasting success. The ‘trick’ on how to lose body fat begins with taking an interest in what controls your appetite: the hormone leptin.

Let’s consider for a moment that you, like many other individuals throughout the country, eat a diet that consists largely of bread, sugar, crackers, cookies, and baked goods. While these carbs may be satisfying during a craving or binge, they increase the amount of sugar in your body. Your body reacts in the only way it knows how- turning that sugar into fat. Over time the fat stores fill up and there’s nowhere left to dump the extra sugar.

While the easy answer is to simply cut out all of those carbs, it isn’t that simple. The more sugar and carbohydrates you consume, the more your body becomes addicted to it. If you decide to go cold turkey, your body reacts negatively, craving the sugar almost unbearably. The answer isn’t to eliminate carbs completely, but to reduce them significantly and replace them with healthy fats instead. This way, the body can burn off the sugar you eat easily and adapt to burning off the fat as well. This allows the leptin hormone to work properly, letting you know when you’re truly hungry and full.

Replace the Bad With The Good

Most people try to go cold turkey. They figure they’ll “start tomorrow” and suddenly they’ll have the willpower to say no to all the sugary snacks, fat, and carbs they have given in to every other day. This is silly and rarely works. The more you try to cut these foods out, the more your body will turn up the cravings.

The best route to take is called replacement. As you find yourself craving certain foods, reach for a healthy substitute:

Give up margarine. Instead, use olive or coconut oil.
Choose animal based fats that provide omega-3s, are grass-fed, and raw dairy products.
Instead of reaching for the chips and cookies, obtain fat from healthier sources like seeds and nuts.
Instead of slathering your sandwich with mayonnaise, use mashed avocados.
Avoid any fats that come from highly refined sources, like trans fats and vegetable oils.
Focus on nutrition, not artificial flavors and fillers.

While old habits may die hard, understanding what new habits you need to take up makes this lifestyle change a bit easier. Don’t blame your parents for your obesity. Instead, focus on finding the best way to lose weight so you can be a happier, healthier you. For more information and an entire weight loss plan that involves REAL CHANGE, contact our offices today.