10 Things You Need to Know About Losing Weight

Last week I watched a show on Really called 10 Things You Need to Know about Losing Weight. I found the show interesting and that the presenter Michael Mosley asked all the right questions.
This is what I learnt:
1) Don't skip meals - When we skip meals our brain craves for high calorie food to compensate. This is caused by the hormone Ghrelin. Ghrelin is the hunger hormone. It’s made in the stomach, and it tells the brain when it’s time to eat. Grhelin accelerates appetite, while leptin decreases appetite
2) Use smaller plates - Change your plate size from 30cm's to 25 cm's and you’re likely to eat up-to 22% less food. If you increase your portions by using large plates or bowls you’ll tend to eat much more.
3) Count your calories - If you choose low calorie meal instead of high calorie you can reduce your calorie intake by half, for e.g – Black Coffee (10 cal) over Cappuccino (100 cal), Toasted Bread (125 cal) over Pastry (270 cal), 2 Apples a day (120 cal) over bar of Chocolate (300 cal), Thin Crust Cheese & Tomato Pizza (850 cal) over Deep Pan Pepperoni ( 1400 cal). A series of small changes in your diet can make a massive difference to your waist line.
4) Don’t Blame your Metabolism – Count your calories even of healthy food. Metabolic rate is simply the rate at which your body burns calorie by simply being alive.
Even if you eat healthy food but in large quantities then you’ll pile on calories. If you’re overweight you’ve eaten more than your body needs and the excess is stored as fat.
5) Protein Staves Off Hunger Pangs - Certain foods keep you feeling fuller for longer.Protein rich food helps you do that – fish, eggs, beans, lean ham, etc. But do keep counting your calories. Protein triggers the PYY hormone, one of a number of hormones that stimulate or suppress hunger, is released by the gut as you eat. It tells the part of the brain that controls appetite when you are full.
6) Soup Keeps you Feeling Fuller for Longer - Read this article
7) The Wider the choice the more you eat - Variety triggers our instinct to try everything that leads to overeating.We are likely to eat 30% more at buffets
8) Low Fat Dairy helps you excrete more fat - Low fat dairy (Skimmed milk, low fat cheese and yogurt & Co may help you absorb less fat from your food
9) Exercise Goes on Buring Fat even while you sleep - The Afterburn effect – A lot of fat is burned after you’ve exercised not while you exercise. Our body uses different fuels to give use energy – Carbohydrates & Fats. When we exercise our body uses our Carbohydrate, because they are easy for our body to burn. Our body would take another 22 hrs to replace that used carb. So in the mean time it our body is forced to burn fat to keep you going – walking talking & even sleeping.
10) Keep Moving (Be Active) And Loose Weight - You don’t need to join gym to burn extra calories. Small changes in your daily routine (taking stairs, getting off one stop earlier, walking during lunch, etc) can significantly increases the number of calories you burn. Be active – but don’t eat more just because you’re doing some exercise, keep same diet.

If you are interested in watching the show and you are in the UK, then the show s coming on Really on Monday night again.