Tips to lose weight

• Set realistic goals like losing 10% of your weight in a month, which is attainable and helps you stay motivated

• Take low calorie, high protein, high fiber, low fat diet.
• Eat more of whole foods and natural products that have not been processed.
• If you want to snack, make sure it is healthy, low fat, low calorie snack.
• Exercise regularly: Moderate intense physical activity like walking, swimming for 30-60 minutes daily is very essential to lose weight.
• Change your habits: Take stairs instead of the lift, walk to the super market, or park your car far away from the shopping place.
• Change your eating pattern: such as eating while watching television.
• Avoid alcohol consumption
• Avoid smoking
• Avoid excess intake of salt which causes water retention.
• Monitor your weight regularly
• Sleep for at least 8 hours daily.
• Use non stick pots and pans for cooking. This helps reduce your oil intake.
• Do not weigh yourself more than once a week.
• Never go shopping on an empty stomach.
• De-automate your house work. Do household work by yourself like washing vessels, mopping the floor, cleaning the house.
• Involve in some hobby, sport or dancing.
• Remember to lose weight for yourself, not to please others.
• Avoid stress, anxiety, depression because this may cause overeating.
• Drink 8-10 glasses of water daily
• When you feel hungry, stop and have a cup of water. Wait for 5 minutes and assess whether you are really hungry.

• Clean out the cupboards and refrigerator, throwing away all high fat foods.
• Stock your cupboards and refrigerators with fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grain products.
• Limit caffeine intake to 1-2 cups per day.
• Don’t skip meals, you will end up in overeating later.
• Avoid crash diets. The main disadvantage of crash dieting is that you will gain back the lost weight once you stop it.
•  Avoid suppressing appetite with diet pills that have side effects like high blood pressure, insomnia, irritability and dependency.
• Start your day with a healthy breakfast. Take the major portion of your daily calories early in the day which allows the food to be used to produce energy and few calories are left over to change to fat. Having healthy breakfast makes you feel less hungry throughout the day.
• Remember the phrase “Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar’’.
• Avoid late night snacking.
• Have your dinner 2-3 hours before going to bed.
• Keep a food daily and record whatever you eat. Plan meals a week advance and stick to it.
• Replace coffee or tea with black tea or lemon tea.
• It’s advisable to see a doctor and get physically examined before starting any weight loss regime.
• Do not use any weight losing pills or any other type of pills shown in advertisements.
• Check for medical disorders which may cause weight gain like thyroid disorders, Cushing syndrome (excess production of hormones by adrenal glands), and polycystic ovarian syndrome.