Losing weight is not only essential for your health if you're obese or overweight, but it's also a great way to boost your confidence and make you feel better about yourself. Finding the motivation to reach your goal weight is tricky, and 95 percent of diets fail. You need to make healthy eating a lifestyle change in order to keep the weight off. So how is this done?Express.co.ukhas searched through expert advice and compiled a list of top tips that will enable you to lose weight without sacrificing too much.

It can be tempting to skip breakfast in order to reduce calorie intake, but this is almost never effective.Have you ever missed breakfast? A few hours later you are extremely hungry and need a snack to function.You will then make poorer lunch choices and are more likely to fill up on unhealthy junk.Even if you don't feel hungry, have a whole-grain cereal, or fruit and low-fat yoghurt.

READ MORE- Lose weight fast: Best way to kickstart your metabolism

If you love a midnight feast, that's the first thing you need to cut out of your lifestyle.You need to establish a time when you will stop eating for the day in order to avoid late-night snacking.After you've had your dinner, you are free to have something sweet as long as it is before this time.Make sure you brush your teeth after, so you won't be tempted to consume anything else.

Those who chew quickly are 115 percent more likely to be obese than slow eaters.Chewing more slowly will ensure you eat less.

Most experts suggest chewing a piece of food 32 times before you swallow it.

However, it takes less chews to break down softer food that is more water-based. After eating, your gut suppresses the ghrelin hormone which controls hunger.Your body will also releases fullness hormones, which tell your brain you have eaten.This, in turn, makes you feel full and helps you to stop eating.This process takes about 20 minutes, so if you eat slowly you give your brain a chance to catch up.

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If you cut portion size by 10 to 20 percent you will lose weight without realising you're missing anything.Stop when you're full, put less on your plate to start and go back for more if you are still hungry.Before you go back for another portion, think about why you are doing this.Are you bored, anxious, lonely, upset, stressed?Only eat more than the portion you have set out for yourself if you genuinely need it.

Lean or low-fat protein is a great way to keep you feeling full.Protein increases the levels of satiety (appetite reducing hormones), leaving you feeling satisfied after a meal, as well as slowing the rise in blood sugar.If you eat protein in every meal, you will feel full and less likely to binge on sugary treats.After you eat, some calories are used in the digesting and metabolising of food, and this is known as the thermic effect of food (TEF).Protein has a much higher TEF sitting at about 20 to 30 percent, compared to carbs (five to 10 percent) or fat (zero to three percent).If you eat protein in most meals, more calories will be burned while you're digesting it.

An easy way to lose weight is practising mindful eating.If you aren't paying attention to what you eat, it will take longer for you to feel full.Paying attention to what you eat will help you to eat less, more slowly, and make better food choices.This means no eating in front of the TV or while on the phone.

Calories can be hidden in drinks without you realising it.Don't waste calories on what you drink, as they don't reduce hunger like food does.Satisfy your thirst with healthy drinks like cold water, sparkling water, low-fat milk, or a little bit of 100 percent fruit juice.Cut sugary drinks and alcohol out of your life as much as you can.

Originally posted here:
Weight loss tips: How can you lose weight without going on a diet? Simple trick revealed - Express

Weight loss at home or perhaps more accurately, avoiding weight gain at home is suddenly a big deal for a lot of us. A few weeks into self isolation and/or social distancing and you start noticing something peculiar: although you are not eating more, your favourite jogging pants feel a bit tighter than they used to. That's because you do less physical activity than before; but even that is the case, with our handy tips, you'll see that it is not all that difficult to avoid weight gain in isolation.

Managing your weight is beneficial for both your physical and mental wellbeing. With a few simple tricks and lifestyle adjustments, you can make sure the pounds stay off and who knows, you might even shed a few kilos in the process. The fact is, the best way to lose weight fast is to pay close attention to your diet. Not surprisingly, the best way to get a six pack is to eat right (and, to some degree, to work out).

The tips below can be used on their own or you can even combine them as you see fit. Very important, however, is not to overdo it and do vigorous exercising while not eating much at all. That is just plain dangerous and can get you injured in no time. Be sensible and if you had any issues with obesity before or are really unfit, consider talking to a health professional before you implement any drastic changes in your lifestyle.

(Image credit: The Protein Works)

It's really not rocket science: if you don't want to out on weight, you have to stop eating more than your body needs. Even if before the mandatory isolation you have been living a relative sedentary lifestyle, being indoors for 99% of time means you are burning less calories than you used to. And this means you should eat less to adjust to this new lifestyle.

Of course, you can offset the lack of outdoor exercising with indoor exercising but there are other ways to keep the waist slim that doesn't involve gruelling physical activity. And the best of them all is to be more mindful about how and what you eat.

Without trying to convert anybody to mindfulness and being present, try stopping for a second anytime before you raid your cupboard for some food. Ask yourself the question: am I hungry or just bored? Was there anything I was supposed to do before I decided to eat? Something I had to deal with? Unhealthy eating habits often stem from procrastination and us not wanting to deal with the task at hand.

If you are a big fan of fried food, one obvious way to reduce calorie and fat intake is to get one a best air fryer. Air fried food isn't necessarily as delicious as deep- or even shallow-fried, but it does retain a fried/roasted taste and mouth-feel whilst using as little as a tenth of the fat of frying or roasting. We know they're in demand right now, cos they keep selling out.

Tefal Actifry Genius 2in1 Air Fryer | Sale price 270 | Was 300| Save 30 at AmazonThis air fryer is also a slow cooker and casserole/curry maker, with a robotic stirring paddle doing all the actual work for you while you work out. With a 1.2 kg capacity, it's very family friendly, and that dome on top is actually see-through, so you can view your dinner as it cooks.View Deal

Tefal Optigrill | Sale price 120 | Was 170 | Save 50 at VeryJust like a George Foreman grill, but without the George Foreman element, this has presets for cooking burgers, chicken, bacon, sausage, 'red meat' and fish, with a further setting for cooking food from frozen. There's 600 square centimetres of non-stick, die-cast aluminium cooking surface, and a large juice tray to catch all that fat you are now not consuming. Serves 2-4.View Deal

Another way to to eat less is to face how much we eat in general. Considering the amount of processed food we eat, it's easy to count the amount of caloriesand macronutrients (lipids[fat]/carbs/protein) we consume by using apps that scan barcodes of food items and does the adding up for us.

The best known of these apps is MyFitnessPal, but there are many other apps that can do the same thing. Garmin watches can integrate with it o you can see calories consumed vs calories burned on your wrist. Fitbit does a similar thing with its Fitbit Premium service. You can currently grab a free, three-month trial of Fitbit Premium, which should hopefully belong enough

By realising just how many calories are in certain food items we eat, we can make more educated decisions about snacking in the future. Can you eat a box of Jaffa cakes in one sitting? That's 450 'bad' calories consumed and to burn it off, you would have to do an hour of HIIT workouts. Which you probably won't.

Fitbit Versa 2 | Sale price 159.99 | Was 199.99 | Save 40 at AmazonThe Fitbit Versa 2 is always getting price cuts and is currently 40 off at Amazon UK. See below for the best prices in your country. The stylish Versa 2 features advanced cardio tracking as well as step and sleep tracking, and has Alexa built in. It's not got GPS but, of course, you don't need that indoors anywayView Deal

Fitbit Charge 3 | was 149.99 | now 89.99 at AmazonThe new Fitbit Charge 4 with GPS will be on sale shortly but as we noted, if you are concerned with activity and avoiding weight gain at home, that is less useful. So why not try to snap up one of the remaining stocks of the Charge 3 at a knockdown price instead? If you're outside the UK, see below for the best prices for Fitbits near you!View Deal

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Even if you don't want to swap out Mars bars for kale and broccoli, you can drastically reduce calorie consumption by only eating in a certain time-window a day. Probably the most popular way is to do intermittent fasting. There are two ways to go about it: either the 5:2 diet or the 16:8 fast diet.

With the 5:2 diet, you restrict calorie intake for two days a week, down to 700-800 calories, while for the rest of the weeks you eat normally. The 16:8 diet is a daily fast, where you eat only in an 8-hour window. With the latter, the most convenient way is to fast while you sleep: have your last meal at around 8 pm, and have the next one at 12 pm the next day. This way, you sleep through most of the fats, making it super easy to do so. Well, somewhat easier anyway.

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Drinking more water is beneficial for a lot of reasons and now that we are all grounded in our homes, people can't really use the usual excuse not to drink more, which is "I'll need to go to the toilet more often", since the loo is really always available at home (we hope so anyway).

Drinking plenty of water can help metabolism and, most importantly, it can also help you feel fuller for longer. The best combination is eating more fibrous food more vegetables, mainly and drinking plenty of water. Cold-pressed bars are okay as a snack too with lots of water, although they are by nature quite high in sugar.

Low-sugar protein bars and savoury snacks like beef or vegan jerky are a great alternative to chocolate bars as a mid-afternoon snack. Nuts are okay although they are very energy dense (high in good fats) so you should only eat a small portion at the time.

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Although we are stuck indoors, having a fitness tracker or running watch around your wrist can still be beneficial. One of the more casual feature of these fitness wearables is the 'movement reminder' that prompts you, once every hour, to get up and walk for a bit. Now, being in isolation doesn't help but getting off from the sofa periodically can be beneficial for your overall wellbeing nevertheless, even if it is just to have a stretch or to put away some washing.

Fitness trackers and running watches also measure calories burned so you it can adjust your calorie consumption to your calorie expenditure. These devices are not ultra precise but they will give you a good estimate nevertheless.

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SIXPAD Abs Fit 2 | Buy it for 222 at AmazonAs used by Cristiano Ronaldo, no less, this is certainly not going to help you avoid weight gain on its own, but it could help add the finishing touches to your six-pack, if your home weight-loss drive is really successful. Amazon also sells all manner of abs belts by brands we have never heard of, for about 20. Needless to say we dont recommend these.View Deal

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Just like fitness trackers, bathroom scales the smart scale variety can also measure energy expenditure and tell you how many calories you burn, as well as other deets about your body, like bone/muscle mass and, most importantly, body fat percentage. They don't even cost the earth either: the Tanita BC-401 body composition monitor is less than 80 and measures 10 different body metrics. Cheaper than getting a Garmin Fenix 6 Pro, for sure, although the Tanita BC-401 won't be that much of a help when it comes to navigating forest trails, unlike the Garmin's offline topographic maps.

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HIIT workouts have never really gone out of fashion but they are definitely 'in' at the moment, mainly because they are an effective way to burn calories and can be done indoors, using your bodyweight only, a kettlebell, dumbbells, treadmills, exercise bikes, rowing machines and basically everything you can think off. We have seen a gym water bottle tabata workout before, too.

Should you be considering doing HIIT workouts, we have an article about why should you try HIIT and also an ever expanding list of free apps and online workouts that can help you get started. Or you can follow along Joe Wicks' daily HIIT workouts for kids on Youtube as well.

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Read more:
How to lose weight at home and avoid weight gain: 7 tips and essential equipment for home weight loss - T3

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Ali Blackwood Illustration

Growing up, Luke Parker played sports. To be clear, not so much actual live sweat-and-sneaker sports though he did occasionally shoot hoops in the backyard. We're talking about video game sports. Nintendo Ice Hockey and Nintendo Little League Baseball: Championship Series.

"I'm sort of an indoor kid," Parker says. "I'm more of a band, and music and theater type of guy."

Sure, he knows that exercising is important, but it's not like he particularly enjoyed it.

"I was never a regular exercise person," Parker says. "I never feel like I can get the catharsis out of it that I think a lot of people do. The 'Yeah, I feel really good now that I've exercised [feeling].'"

And so Parker, like most every 26-year-old, is faced with a daily dilemma: Does he exercise, which is difficult? Or does he play video games?

But today, Parker chooses C all of the above, all at the same time.

He already has his Nintendo Switch turned on in the living room of his small Spokane apartment. He just has to strap one of his Switch controllers onto his leg, and stick the other in a big circular peripheral called the "Ring-Con."

Initially, Ring Fit Adventure looks like a generic knock-off of a game like Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Your character runs around a brightly colored world, battling fantasy monsters. But here's the difference: The only way Parker can make his character run in the game is to run in real life. He runs in place in his apartment, and the motion sensors in the Switch controller on his leg detect the running motion, and his character runs too his hair lighting up to show just how much on fire his exercising is.

When he wants to shoot fireballs all he has to do is to squeeze the Ring-Con, a hybrid video game controller and resistance-training device. And when he faces off against the boss Dragaux, a dragon with the physique and style of a steroid pumping gym rat, Parker selects a move, and then twists his body back and forth and voila, a ghostly manifestation of a glowing six-pack abbed torso pops up to slap Dragaux, gradually whittling down the monster's health bar.

"It does give you a pretty good workout," Parker says. "I knew that having it around would encourage me to be more active."

By now, video games have mastered the art of behavioral psychology, the secret of getting you to play longer, play more and have more fun by doing it. And so, in our sedentary screen-addicted nation, game and app developers have been asking: What if we put a little bit of exercise in our video games, and a little bit of video game in our exercise?

Nintendo

Exercise at home - and have fun doing it - with Nintendo Switchs Ring Fit Aventure.

Work Hard, Play Hard

Exercise video games didn't start with Ring Fit Adventure, of course. In 2008, Wii Fit allowed players to use a balance board controller to exercise on the Wii console. Millennials will remember the days of Dance Dance Revolution, where introverted middle and high schoolers flocked to arcades and worked up a sweat, players' feets scurrying to keep up with a stream of musical prompts.

The "exergame" traditions go back even further, says Ben Sawyer, a consultant to exercise-based video game and app developers, who spent around a decade immersed in this topic with the Games for Health Project.

In 1984, Atari even nearly released a game system called the "Puffer," that allowed you to play as a character on an exercise bike but was thwarted by the video game crash. As educational games like Reader Rabbit and SimCity showed that games could be used to teach people as well as entertain them, Sawyer says, researchers started to experiment with using games as therapy measuring how they could impact, not just a person's brain, but their galvanic skin response and other biomarkers. Games could treat things like ADHD or fear of spiders, researchers realized, and maybe encourage us to work out more.

"If you heard tomorrow that a pharma company was making an investment in a game company, I think 20 years ago people would say, 'What are you talking about?'" Sawyer says. But today, he says, that makes a logical kind of sense.

As some exercise games became mainstream hits, Sawyer says, researchers found that the games didn't just get kids exercising in video games it whetted their appetites for more traditional forms of fitness.

"The kids that got hooked on playing Dance Dance Revolution for gym class, they were starting to participate in other forms of exercising," Sawyer says. "They were riding their bikes more."

Not only that, but he says that researchers learned that games could push people further and have them work harder.

"When we put people into an exercise game, for the most part, we know they'll exercise longer," Sawyer says. "We ask them, 'How much did they exert themselves,' and they go, 'Seven.''' Well, actually it was a nine."

But for now, Sawyer says, video games still have too many barriers standing between exercise and play: If you want to play Ring Fit Adventure, you have to not only put on your workout clothes but also strap on the controller onto your leg and sometimes wait for your Switch to update.

And just as you get bored of a game or just like you find that you've abandoned your New Year's resolution exercise routine by mid-March it's easy to abandon even a fun exercise game after a while.

"It's a month later, and the Wii Fit board is sitting under the couch," Sawyer says.

Already, some reviewers of Ring Fit Adventure have found that, after a few weeks, the game no longer had enough allure to keep them doing crunches and jogging in place.

"I'd not reckoned with how a gaming adventure driven by exercise would be prone to the accidental abandonment that can befall any workout routine," writes Stephen Totilo, a gaming critic at Kotaku.

The Gamification of Everything

Spokane resident Mark Meredith already knows how to exercise. He's in the Naval reserves. He's a mailman, so his job consists of walking 11 miles a day. But losing weight was a little trickier.

While stationed with the Navy in Bahrain, he says, he'd ballooned up on a bit too much Persian Gulf fast food. At his heaviest, he was at 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds. But today, he says, he's at 185. He recently uploaded a before/after picture to social media to a chorus of compliments.

"On Facebook everybody was like, you look amazing. What are you doing for your skin-care routine?" Meredith says. "It's just weight loss. I feel a lot better."

The secret, it turned out, was an app on his phone called Lose It!

"It tells you how many calories you can have per day," Meredith says. "When you exercise, you can punch in what your exercise had been."

At its core, it was little more than calorie tracking and recording what he ate, a basic premise of dieting.

It wasn't really a video game. But it just added just enough video game-style elements, like badges and progress bars, to apply some simple motivational hacks to his brain and get him to stick with it. Perhaps most powerfully, Meredith says, it tracks your "streaks" rewarding you each time you log into the app in a row. At his best, Meredith managed to get his streak up to 200 days.

"It's that addictive element you get when you're playing a game," he says. Your natural loss aversion means you don't want to lose your streak, so you keep playing.

Lose It! is not a game. But it is gamification.

"Gamification" dresses up our more difficult arduous tasks in life in flashy accessories of video games community leaderboards, badges, achievements, points and levels and grafts them onto other tasks.

"Gaming's dark secret," writes former gaming critic Kieron Gillen about traditional games, is that "sometimes watching a bunch of numbers get bigger is enough."

The same motivational power that convinced adult professionals to set their alarms to wake up in the middle of the night to harvest blueberries in the FarmVille Facebook game, could be used for tougher tasks, like exercise, dieting or learning a new language.

"Games are very, very good at showing your progress," says Gabe Zichermann, chair of the Gamification Summit. "You're always aware of your score, what level you're on."

Back in 2011, Zichermann was predicting in the Globe and Mail how that concept could be harnessed to keep people going to the gym regularly: The rewarding results of exercise and dieting can take weeks, or even months to show up. Instead, apps can dole out rewards, even tiny symbolic ones, more often for things like consistent gym attendance. In a way, it's no different than a second-grade teacher awarding stickers to kids for good behavior.

In games, the human desire to complete sets can make people try to find every feather in Assassin's Creed or to catch 'em all in Pokmon, but Zichermann says the same instinct is at work driving people to take enough steps every day to complete the activity rings on their Apple Watch.

"The core neurobiological evolutionary part of the human condition has nothing to do with the ring," Zichermann says. "It has to do with once you've decided that set was worth completing, you have the powerful drive to want to complete that set."

The Next Level

Sawyer says we're only at the start of what games can accomplish for exercise and health.

"Ultimately, over time, what you'll see is more and more of the melding of video games and exercising," Sawyer says.

Sawyer imagines a world where you walk into your house, start doing jumping jacks at a whim, and "immediately the screen in front of you says, "I'm guessing you want to play So-and-So Fit Adventure."

You'd step on the treadmill at the gym and be asked if you want to watch CNN or play a game. Or, you'd be on a run and your Apple Air Pods would offer an audio adventure game you could play while you ran.

"There's a dragon behind you! Run a little faster!" Sawyer says. "Now you have a sword."

In theory, the more we can chip away at the barrier between what's healthy and what's fun, the more we can turn our bad habits into good ones. And if not? At least we've had some fun and worked up some sweat by doing it.

danielw@inlander.com

Read more from the original source:
Can harnessing the psychological power of video games make you healthier? - Pacific Northwest Inlander