Lose 10 Pounds By Adjusting Your Eating Habits

Whether you're trying to lose some holiday weight, made a new year's resolution, or simply want to look and feel healthier, a weight loss attempt is rarely a bad idea. A good place to start for most people is to set a goal to lose 10 pounds. To lose 10 pounds should be easily attainable for most people, and often with less work than you think.

When people think about losing weight, the first thing that usually comes to mind is diet. Your diet is, of course, one of the most primary influences on your overall weight, and you would be ill-advised to overlook it in your attempt to lose 10 pounds. Rather then thinking only about your diet, however, you should think about your eating habits as a whole. By looking at the bigger picture you will be able to effect more permanent changes on your weight.

It some cases, and for some people, it is possible to lose 10 pounds quickly through some hard and fast dietary rules. The problem, though, is that these rules are likely going to be restrictive, so there's a good chance that they're going to be hard to stick to. Not only that, but if you do stray from the restrictions, those 10 pounds are going to come back quickly.

A much better way to try and lose 10 pounds is to adjust your overall eating habits. While it may ultimately take a little longer to lose the weight this way, the weight loss is far more likely to be permanent. To lose 10 pounds by adjusting your eating habits, you have to first give those habits close scrutiny. If you stop and think about it, you'll probably be surprised how often you eat when you are not actually hungry. For example, many people eat in front of the TV not because they are hungry, but out of habit. In the same manner, you probably eat the same amount of food at the same times every day, with little regard for your hunger.

The way you're going to lose 10 pounds, then, is to listen more closely to your body. The stomach sends very clear signals, but they are slow: it is a rule of thumb that you don't "feel" full until 20 minutes after you actually are full. This is why people get overstuffed: we've all had the experience of wanting one more helping, only to regret it 20 minutes later.

So you should make an attempt to eat your food more slowly and to savor it - this will allow your body more time to signal to you how full it is. Also make sure to stop eating when you're full - you can always save leftovers - because there's no reason to eat food simply because it's there. Altering your eating habits is one of the most effective and easiest ways that you can lose 10 pounds. For many people, weight loss will occur simply be reducing your intake of food. This doesn't mean you have to starve yourself, it just means not eating when you're not hungry. Following the guidelines above will allow you to permanently change your eating habits, and more importantly: to lose 10 pounds, and keep it off.

Exercise

This is another fundamental step in losing weight. You're not going to be able to easily lose 10 pounds though dietary habits alone. Exercise must become a part of your lifestyle.

The problem many people face is that they feel they don't have the time for exercise. Granted, not everyone may have time to get to the gym every day, but there are many things you can do at home: besides sit-ups and other equipment-free exercise, equipment like a treadmill, Stairmaster, or exercise-bike can allow you to lose weight without a gym membership.

In terms of the time involved in trying to lose 10 pounds, many of you may be saying that you barely have enough time in the day as it is, let alone adding exercise to the mix. If you have an exercise-bike, treadmill, or other similar equipment however, your exercise routine can easily be combined with other activities you enjoy and make time for, like watching television or listening to music. In this way you'll find exercising doesn't require that you make time as much is it requires you change your way of doing activities you already do.