Healthy Weight Week

I met Dave Asprey at Best You

In honor of Healthy Weight Week, we’ve got five tips anyone can do to ensure their efforts pay off – the healthy way.

Make friends with the scale 
There’s a wide chasm of opinion between those who support using a scale, and those who do not.
Many physicians say it’s a smart way to monitor the effect our eating habits have on our weight. Meanwhile, weight loss consultants and those who study body image would rather you toss it in the trash, or use it for anaerobic exercise. The correct answer seems to lie in the middle.

Use your scale, but don’t let it rule your life. The scale is there to help measure where you've come from, and where you're headed -- not as a measure of who you are as a person. Always remember: you are not the number on the scale.

Don’t neglect your muscles 
A healthy weight is best maintained when the muscles that support our body are strong. Therefore, any training that builds strong muscles should be considered a plus. (I do planks and use dumbbells).

Recognize achievements in real time 
The difficulty maintaining a healthy weight often has to do with improper goal setting. Long-term goals are difficult for humans to keep in focus beyond a short period of time. Failure, then, is almost predictable. It’s impossible to discount the feeling you’ll get when you’ve got a bag of groceries in each arm, and are aware of your muscles working to carry them. Or when you (can move) more deftly (in your day-to-day activities) after a particularly good week of healthy eating.

These are real, immediate, and measurable experiences. Experiences that when added up and remembered each day are the key to keeping your body healthy.

Know your brain  
Your brain lies to you. It tells you you’re hungry when you’re (bored, thirsty or) tired. And, it tells you you’re tired when you’ve still got an extra mile in you. Don’t allow it to trick you. Learn more about your brain, and how to corral its tomfoolery on the FitWoman website. Which, by the way, has a lot of actionable healthy weight resources for women AND men! 

Asian soup bowls to the rescue! 
I love soup! 
Speaking of our brains, how about we play a trick on it? It’s no surprise, that the larger the plate, the more (food) we put on it. And the more we put on the plate, the more we eat. So, here’s a trick you can take to the bank.

Pick up a few Asian soup bowls...like the (Chinese or) Japanese miso soup variety … the small ones. If you struggle with portion control, try using (chopsticks and) these smaller bowls during mealtimes. It’ll slow you down, and allow your brain to start seeing them as the preferred portion size. It’ll help you manage servings more appropriately, and over time, you’ll get used to the new way of eating.

Mindful Eating Coach

Ingrid Cheng

Fit-Twist Health