In the middle of the day or in the evening, do you constantly feel the urge to snack on carbohydrates, and sugar treats? If this becomes routine, it could have something to do with your lifestyle and your surrounding environment, as well as a lack of certain foods in your diet. Here are some tips that just might stop your constant cravings during the day:
Eat Protein at Every Meal
Incorporate a good amount of protein into each one of your meals on a daily basis. When you do not have enough protein in your body, you will start craving sugar that you might refer to as suffering from a sweet tooth! The intake of protein will curb your urge for sugar while building essential muscle mass. Protein produces hormones, enzymes and is a major component for building bones, muscles, cartilage, skin and blood. Your body needs a great deal of protein every day.
Do Not Be Afraid To Eat Fat!
Many dieters believe that eating fats will only increase your waistline but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Good fats found in certain fish, such as tuna, certain vegetables and nuts are excellent for your entire health. These fats will curb your craving for carbohydrates while making you feel full. Good fats are essential for giving you a healthy cholesterol level, excellent for your heart and your overall good health. Good fats excite your interior furnace that, in turn, burn off unwanted carbohydrates, allowing you to lose weight.
Drink Some Water
There is a two-edged sword to your craving for sugars and carbs. While your brain is telling you to have a midday snack, it’s also sending a signal that your body is in dire need of liquids. Drinking a lot of water throughout the day will not only keep you quenched, but will flush out the impurities that are building up in your body. Water is the perfect, natural solution for hydrating your body while curbing your desire to grab that candy bar. The average person should take in at least 64 oz of water each day. Water will improve your overall good health, improve your skin appearance and allow for stronger hair and nails.
Eat Regularly
Due to busy lifestyles, many people eat on the run or very irregularly. The idea of three solid meals a day has actually become obsolete. More and more studies have shown you should eat many small meals throughout the day. Waiting from breakfast to lunch and then dinner, adds to the craving for carbohydrates. Eating many small meals, will control your blood sugar levels and keep you from your cravings. Choose proteins, fiber-rich foods, nuts along with various vegetables and fruits. You might just discover you will lose some of those pounds that just keep hanging on as well.
Get More Sleep
The lack of sufficient sleep is not only bad for your health but can make you gain weight and cause an instant craving for carbohydrates and sugars when you first wake up. A good night’s sleep will actually help in weight loss because you will have high levels of hormones that control weight and your metabolism will increase your inner furnace’s operation.
Walk Away Your Cravings
Bringing some daily walking into your schedule will keep you away from your cravings while helping you get in shape. If you physically cannot run long distances each day, try walking fast, it burns off just as many calories, will build tone and increase the level of endorphins that make you feel great! Going out for a long walk will also keep you away from junk food machines!
Exercise Is Key
New studies suggest that workouts may help keep your hunger under control. Try incorporating 25 to 45 minutes of exercise twice a day. It will not completely kill your cravings, but they will be much more controllable. At some point, good exercising will cause your body to lose it’s craving, allowing you to enjoy good foods instead.
Yoga is widely accepted around the world as a great way to achieve mental and body harmony. But did you know that Yoga can also help with weight loss?
Yoga as a weight loss tool is believed to be free of side-effects. It can be performed by people of various ages because there are no vigorous movements involved. It is also suitable for both men and women. Yoga exercises can help in targeting specific, trouble areas, or it can help to reduce weight in general.
Yoga lowers levels of stress hormones and increases insulin sensitivity—a signal to your body to burn food as fuel rather than store it as fat. It also helps to work the muscles so even as weight is being lost, the muscles are toned. The result is more pleasing to the eye. The asanas keep the body supple and strong when you work your way through them.
Home session or gym?
Of course, it’s advisable to attend classes to ensure that you getting the poses right. However if you’d rather spend your weekend not fighting the gym crowd but enjoying a nice and chill session at home, Grokker offers 2 week free access to its awesome yoga video courses. So you get the best of both worlds – feeling of comfort and privacy and also getting professional expert advice.
Keep in mind, too that these yoga workouts require minimal equipment. And you can literally do them anywhere – at a hotel, in your living room, bedroom floor or whatever works for you
The following yoga poses help balance your hormones while firming up your arms, legs, butt, and abs.
Warrior Pose II:
Warrior Pose II is one of the most effective exercises for tummy and thighs that opens up the hips, strengthens and tones the thighs, works the abdominal muscles and organs and aids in enhancing stamina and concentration. It also helps in energizing the strained limbs and the answer to the question of how to get rid of upper arm flab. This yoga pose is just the same as the above. It has the same effect on the tummy and legs. Yet it is done in a different way.
Stand with your legs placed away from one another. Now move your right foot to the right side and bend your right knee so that your right thigh is parallel to the floor. Start your hands to two sides keeping them parallel to the floor and look to your right. Count for 30 seconds to 1 minute and return to the starting position. Repeat the same on the other side. Do the exercise 2 to 3 times on both sides. By doing this, the abdominal muscles are stretched. So try this pose which will be very effective for fat elimination.
Chair Pose:
The Chair Pose or Utkatasana is one of the best thigh exercises that strengthen and tones the muscles of the glutes, hips, back and chest along with the ankle and knee muscles. It also strengthens the lower back and torso and helps to bring forth determination in mind. In this asana, the body appears as a chair, and it requires a lot of stamina. You may feel pain in your legs in the first couple of days when you practice it. However doing this regularly will help you gain flexibility and the pain will vanish.
You need to have your feet together. Inhale while you raise your hands above your head. Stretch them up and bend your knees a little, inhale while bending your knees. Now you need to remain in this position for at least 60 seconds while breathing normally. It may be a little difficult in the beginning to remain in this position, so try to hold it for as long as you can and stand up when you feel too much pressure. You can begin by doing this 10 times every day and increase the number every 3 days. It will tone down your thighs and melt the fat from your tummy.
Boat Pose:
This is one of the power-packed mat exercises for abs toning. Sit down on a mat, and stretch out your legs. Your knees should be pulled up, thighs should be tight and your toes should be pointed out. Now try to raise your feet off the ground and bring your legs to a 45-degree angle. Inhale while you raise your feet and avoid bending your knees.
The spine should be straight, and your body should make a V shape. Raise your arms to the shoulder level. This pose will increase your stamina and also cut down tummy fat. It will increase your lower and upper body strength.
Bridge Pose:
Young woman exercising on white background
Boat Pose or Paripurna Navasana is one of the power packed flat tummy exercises that cuts out fat from the abdomen by toning and strengthening the abdominal muscles along with the hip flexors and spine. It also tones the arm and leg muscles, helps in digestion and stimulates the thyroid glands and kidneys and is one of the best yoga exercises for neck pain.
Lie down on your back with your feet joined and your hands by your side. Now, exhale and lift your head and chest off with the ground and stretch your hands towards your feet. Hold this position for 30 seconds to 1 minute while feeling the stretch and tension in your abdominal muscles and navel while breathing normally. Slowly exhale and return to the starting position. Repeat this pose 3 to 4 times. This pose will increase your muscle strength. If you like to add a variation to this pose. Try to lift up one leg in the air for 20 seconds. You should repeat the same with the other leg.
Cobbler’s Pose:
The Cobbler’s Pose or Baddha Konasana is a simple and easy to perform yoga exercise for weight loss that can be done perfectly by newbies as well. This asana tones the lower part of the body by stimulating the abdominal muscles and organs and stretching the inner thighs, knees, and groin. It also helps in treating infertility, asthma, depression and anxiety.
The cobbler’s pose is one of the easiest and helpful poses of yoga. You need to sit down with your spine straight. Your knees should be bent, and the soles of your feet should be facing each other. You should press the soles together and hold this pose for at least a minute.
Locust Pose:
The Locust Pose or Salabhasana is one of the 12 basic Hatha yoga postures that is considered one of the best yoga asanas for weight loss because it stretches the entire body right from the thorax to the abdomen, upper back, lower back and buttocks. It is one of the best yoga poses for weight loss and flexibility that helps in enhancing the strength and flexibility of the back, arms and legs. It stretches the shoulders, chest and belly effectively.
You need to lie face down with your palms facing the ground. While inhaling you should lift up your legs without bending your knees. Your upper torso and hands should also be lifted up giving you a stretch of the abdominal muscles. You need to balance yourself on the tummy. This posture will reduce the fats near the hips and stretch your leg muscles.
Camel Pose:
The Camel Pose or Ustrasana is the best yoga for weight loss because it targets the tummy, back and thighs – the three most difficult part of the body with stubborn fat. It also helps in opening up the chest and lungs, improving the flexibility of the chest, abdomen and neck, stimulating the thyroid gland and strengthening the back muscles. Sit on your feet with your knees and calves close together.
You need to use some soft cloth under you to prevent pain. Now come onto your knees and place your hands on your hips. Stretching out the torso, look above. Hold your heels slowly, one hand after the other. Bend backward and stretch out the chest and tummy. You can feel the weight in your arms. Hold this position for 30 seconds to one minute and return to the starting position. Repeat the asana 3 to 4 times. This position is useful to melt the fat in almost all the areas of the body.
There are a few tips that you may want to take note of when practising Yoga:
1. Challenge yourself as you go along, although do not push too far. If you’re not sweating after 30 minutes, you may not be pushing yourself enough.
2. Encourage yourself. Keep telling yourself that you can do it, and feel confident about yourself.
3. Give yourself time to rest when you need to. Don’t overdo it.
4. Attend Yoga classes with friends and note each other’s progress. Mutual encouragement is important.
5. Set a fixed time, if possible, in which to practise Yoga. Once you have a fixed time, stick to it and do not allow yourself excuses for missing it.
