Permanent Weight Loss: Dr. Barbara L Katz
If you want to lose weight permanently, several essential skills are necessary to learn.
Once you’ve mastered these, you’ll never need to go on another diet.
5 Essential Skills To Learn How To Lose Weight:
1. Recognize Your Hunger:
The first essential skill is to learn to recognize your hunger. Along with recognizing your hunger, it’s important to wait to eat until you’re hungry – most of the time. Waiting for hunger means not eating because you’re bored, lonely, angry, sad, you’re walking past a bowl of chips, or because you always eat when watching TV.
“Along with recognizing your hunger, it’s important to wait to eat until you’re hungry – most of the time.“
There will be times when you have a good reason to eat even though you’re not hungry. As long as you like your reason, don’t overeat, and aren’t frequently eating out of habit or to feel better, you’ll still be able to lose weight. If you frequently eat for reasons other than hunger, you’ll want to concentrate on learning to handle your emotions without food.
2. Eating Until Satisfied – But Not Uncomfortable:
The next essential skill is eating until satisfied – but not uncomfortable. You may need to make an effort to pay attention to notice your body’s satiety signals. When you eat until satisfied, you eat an amount of food that satisfies you but is enough to keep you from becoming hungry for at least three to four hours. When you eat until satisfied, you do not feel uncomfortable or stuffed after eating. If you have difficulty identifying when you’ve eaten “enough,” here are some ways you can experiment to learn how much food is “enough” for you:
- Eat more slowly so your food has time to digest. An app called “Slow Eats” may help you to slow down. You can also try putting your fork down between bites of food.
- Eat half your food and wait 10-20 minutes. If you’re still hungry after waiting, eat another half and wait again. You most likely will not finish all your food before you feel satisfied.
- Leave a spoonful or two of food on your plate and notice if you become hungry for your next meal sooner than before. If not, serve yourself less food the next time.
- Stop eating your meal when you notice yourself looking for the “best” bites of food or if you’re asking yourself if you’ve eaten “enough.”
- Occasionally, eat without distractions, so paying attention to your hunger and satiety signals is easier.
3. Get Enough Sleep:
The next skill that will help you permanently lose weight is trying to get enough sleep. Seven to nine hours of sleep each night is recommended. It may be challenging to get sufficient sleep if you’re very busy or suffer from menopausal night sweats.
If your partner tells you that you snore, or even with a “good” night’s sleep, you never feel refreshed, talk to your doctor about a sleep study to check for sleep apnea. There are many resources available to help improve sleep.
“Seven to nine hours of sleep each night is recommended.”
Some resources are the Calm App, “boring” podcasts such as “Sleep With Me,” cooling mattresses, tapping or self-hypnosis, and certain supplements. Food cravings increase when you don’t get enough sleep. Too little sleep also increases blood sugar.
4. Keep Hydrated:
Also helpful for successful weight loss is drinking enough water so you’re well-hydrated. Try drinking sixteen ounces of water before each meal and snack. You may also want to drink eight to sixteen ounces of water when you awaken. Many of us mistake dehydration for hunger and eat when our bodies need water. I recommend drinking at least forty-eight to sixty-four ounces of water each day and eight to sixteen ounces before eating – if you’re not sure if you’re hungry or thirsty.
5. Think Like Your Future Self:
Another essential skill for successful weight loss is learning to think like your future self – the woman who has successfully lost her excess weight and kept it off. How does she eat at parties and on vacation? What does she do rather than eat when she’s bored, lonely, or upset? The more you think and act like you envision your future self, the sooner you will become your future self.
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About the Author:
Dr. Barbara L Katz is a physician, an Advanced Certified Weight Loss Coach and a Life Coach for women over 50. She is CEO of Dr Barbara L Katz, Coaching and specializes in helping women over 50 to lose their excess weight for the last time without dieting or excessive exercise. She, herself, lost over 40 pounds in her 60s with the help of coaching. In her free time, she participates in dog obedience, agility, and therapy dog visits to the local children’s hospital with her 2 pugs.
As a coach, she helps women visualize themselves as their future selves, comfortable and controlled around all foods. You can sign up for her weekly posts on her website, https://drbarbaralkatzcoaching.com. Every week in your inbox, you will receive information about how to lose weight successfully and permanently without dieting.
