08 Jun So you want to lose weight / improve your health without hard work?

So you want to lose weight and improve your health but you don’t want to have to completely change your lifestyle in order to achieve success???

This is something which I hear on a daily basis when seeing people with Annurca. Individuals often confide in me that they have given up trying due to it being “too much effort”. My challenge is to make those individuals understand that they don’t need to make huge changes to their lifestyle but actually small simple steps are often enough to create positive change. If we are trying to tackle too many issues at once it often leads to failure to sustain the changes.

There are a number of different areas that people can try address and by taking one or two at a time, rather than trying to change everything means that you can attain sustainable change. The key is to work on that area until it becomes natural so that you begin to do the ‘right’ things without having to think about it. Once this has been achieved, if needs be another area can be addressed.

Below I have outlined 10 tips which could act as a good starting point for creating positive change.

• Swap milk to skimmed – By using skimmed milk it reduces the amount of fat in the diet which would help contribute to weight loss and reducing cholesterol. An added benefit is that the nutritional composition does not change so levels of protein, calcium, vitamin D etc. remain the same.
• Swap bananas for blueberries – Blueberries are significantly lower in sugar than bananas. They are extremely rich in antioxidants and anti inflammatory phytonutrients which have powerful anti-ageing benefits.
• Drink water over other drinks – Water helps maintain the balance of fluids, controls calorie consumption, energizes muscles, helps keep skin looking good, helps your kidneys and maintains normal bowel function.
• Swap nuts for seeds – Although their are health benefits to nuts they are also high in fat and salt. By swapping to seeds you reduce fat consumption but seeds are also easier to digest while being more dense in minerals.
• Swap low fat yoghurt for plain yoghurt – Ok it doesn’t taste as nice but even low fat yoghurt can be high in calories due to all the added sugar. Simply get around this by adding fruit to the plain yoghurt so it still tastes good and only has natural sugars added to it.
• Swap milk chocolate for dark chocolate – Most milk chocolate is high in sugar and come with zero nutritional value. Dark chocolate is naturally lower in sugar and has been shown to increase blood flow to the brain as well as to the heart which helps to improve cognitive function and reduce the risk of stroke.
• Use the stairs rather than the lift – Nowadays most of use have sedentary jobs so we shouldn’t be making life even easier for ourselves by using the lift too. As well as avoiding the lift try leaving the car at home and walk places wherever possible.
• Swap sugary cereals for a high protein breakfast – A sugary cereal is likely to be high in calories as well as leading to lethargy, weight gain and an inability to concentrate. By having scrambled egg on a piece of wholemeal toast you’ll stay full for longer  and it will help you lose weight.
• Moderate Portion Sizes – People often forget that if you’re 5 ft. you won’t need as much food as someone who is 6 ft. therefore people will often eat the same portion sizes as their partners. It is highly likely that the smaller you are, the lower your metabolic rate, therefore the less food you require.
• Eat more fruit and veg – Generally speaking, fruit and vegetables in their natural state are lower in calories than other snacks. Fruit and vegetables are high in fibre which keeps you full for longer as well as having an affect on reducing blood pressure and cholesterol.