This article contains 5 simple steps to losing weight, which if followed will easily and effortlessly see you reach your goals, especially after Christmas. Don’t worry about the need to diet, go hungry or count calories – these are probably the least helpful things to do right now.
1. Write down at least 10 powerful reasons why you want to lose a specific amount of weight within a particular period of time. Powerful reasons will fuel your motivation at all those moments when “life just gets in the way”. When powerful reasons are stronger than the temptations, you’re well on the way to winning the mental game of weight loss – permanently. It always amazes me how most approaches to weight loss pay scant attention to winning the mental game.
2. Make sure that you drink 2-3 litres of pure water each day. Not squashes, tea, coffee or fruit or other drinks – just water. Water has miraculous healing properties and many people take medication for symptoms which are simple complications of dehydration. This step is easy to do but also easy not to do. When you start drinking 2-3 litres a day, it might seem like a challenge, but the body starts to crave water and thirst sensations will actually increase. Just do it for 10 consecutive days and experience the miraculous effects in your own body. However, don’t drink more than 3 litres of water a day as the body needs to retain a supply of essential salts and over-hydration can be dangerous (as well as somewhat antisocial !)
3. Consume more alkalising foods and less acidic foods. This is not a new idea and the principles of acid/alkaline nutrition go back thousands of years to the Ayurvedic traditions of India. Good alkalising foods include green vegetables, almonds and fruits including oranges, which you might initially consider to be acidic. These foods create an alkalising effect in the bloodstream and help to balance the highly acidic diet that many people consume today. All of my health and weight loss programmes include detailed information on how to benefit from the powerful and health-giving principles of alkalising.
4. Do take regular gentle exercise (preferably daily) because this is also alkalising to the body. Frenetic workouts create acid (e.g. cramp from lactic acid build-up) and can actually cause you to hold onto fat around the middle through production of the stress hormones – adrenaline and cortisol. There are a host of benefits of regular sensible exercise going well beyond weight loss – better sleep patterns, enhanced love life, better skin and body tone, reduced stress levels… the list goes on.
5. Combine foods correctly for maximum energy and easy digestion to start losing weight effortlessly. Again, this is not a new idea but it’s power is very little understood. Dr William Hay first published his ideas on food combining in the early 20th century. Essentially, proteins and carbohydrates should not be eaten is the same meal. One requires an acid environment for optimal digestion and the other an acid environment. When taken together (as we habitually do) they create something of an “internal war” in the stomach, so no wonder we feel exhausted after a large and complex meal. Again all my programmes contain specific instructions on how to combine foods properly for maximum health and vitality.
Put these simple steps into practice every day. You’ll soon be losing weight as the benefits compound to produce a massive difference in just a few weeks. Your family will experience such incredible benefits too!
Andrew Bridgewater is a Chartered Psychologist and the creator of tailored health and weight loss programmes for women and men. Andrew lost 50lbs or 22kg in weight during 6 months of 2007 and is now committed to helping others recover their naturally high levels of energy, vitality and wellbeing. To download your free tips newsletter for a limited time only, visit www.TheAVDiet.com
