Healthy weight loss

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Posted by Linda O'Byrne (Atkins Nutritionist)

This article tells you all about responsible and healthy weight loss and how Atkins can help. We give you tips, a roadmap and responsible offal week menu in this way quickly start to lose weight healthily.

Would you directly to the roadmap? Click here.

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Diets

Many people wonder whether you can lose weight without dieting. A diet has a negative connotation because it is associated with a temporary solution that results in you going back to your old eating habits. For many diets this is the case, such as a crash diet, a diet with meal replacements or hospital diet.

A low-carb way of eating is ,different as you're eating food that's more filling so you're more likely to stick to it. This is because you eat 'real' food rather than replacing, or skipping, meals. In this article you will find tips, recipes and meal plans, based on a low carbohydrate diet to help you to achieve healthy weight loss.

Responsible weight loss tips

Below are 10 healthy tips to help you to achieve your goal weight.

Tip 1: Eat fewer carbohydrates

Instead of counting calories, you count the number of carbohydrates you eat. Calories come from proteins, fats and carbohydrates. It is easier to eat less carbohydrates instead of counting calories. You reduce intake of carbohydrate-rich foods such as pasta, rice, bread, cake and fizzy drinks and you replace them with more protein and healthy fats. You can read more about these tips.

Healthy weight loss

Tip 2: Eat protein and healthy fats

In the tip 1 we mentioned eating more protein and healthy fats. Healthy weight loss is a lot easier when you have enough protein and fat in your meals. Protein makes you feel fuller for longer as it's slower digesting, you feel less hungry so you lose weight as you eat less. Below is a list of examples of foods with protein and healthy fats that you can add to your meals

Breakfast

  • Eggs
  • Plain yogurt, Greek yogurt (full fat), cream cheese
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Meat, fish, chicken
  • Cheese
  • Low carbohydrate crackers

 

Lunch

  • Salad with a protein eg. Chicken breast, salmon or shrimp
  • Fried eggs with bacon
  • Stuffed omelette with vegetables
  • Vegetable soup without noodles
  • Olive oil dressing on salads

 

Dinner

  • Stirfry with beef and mixed vegetables of your choice
  • Grilled vegetables from the oven with a salmon steak

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Tip 3: Eat enough fibre

By eating enough fibre, you'll increase your 'good' intestinal flora which keeps your gut healthy and it may help you to lose weight. In addition, eating more fibre keeps you feeling fuller which can have several effects:

  • You will eat less
  • You have more satiety and therefore takes longer before you feel hungry again
  • Keeps your blood sugar stable which reduces the craving for sweet and other unhealthy food

You can find fibre mainly reflected in low carb whole grain products, vegetables and legumes, but also seeds and nuts. Incorporate enough fibre in your daily diet so you're losing weight healthily.

 


Tip 4: Make small changes each week

Often people have negative experiences with losing weight because they start off being very strict with their diet. Give yourself time to get used to losing weight by taking small steps. For example, start out with healthy snacks and some water, tea or coffee (no sugar) instead of sodas. Make life easier by preparing simple healthy dishes. This will help you come one step closer to your goal weight and more likely to stay on track.

 

Tip 5: Keep track of what you eat

Often you when you want to start with healthy weight loss you have no idea what you are currently eat in a day. This makes is harder to find out what you need to change if you want to get rid of those extra kilos. Keeping a food diary to keep track makes you become aware of what you eat everyday. It is useful to have this insight and you're more likely to stick to it. As you write it down, you become aware of the small changes you can make.

Tip 6: Meal preparation and grocery shopping

The best way is not to plan your meals ahead and shop weekly, rather than going shopping several times a week, or even daily. Think carefully about what you want to eat the next week and make a list of the ingredients you need. Remember to not go shopping when you're feeling hungry which will help you to avoid temptation. Make sure that you buy healthy snacks like nuts, vegetables, and if you feel like chocolate, some Atkins bars.

Do you often do not feel like cooking after a busy day? Start with meal prepping ahead of time! Choose one day a week when you cook for the week and keep the meals in the freezer. So, even after a busy day, you get a healthy meal without much effort, simply warm it up. It can also help you to avoid choosing unhealthy foods when you are hungry but tired.

healthy weight loss

 

Tip 7: Add variety to meals

When you begin to lose weight healthily it is important that besides choosing healthy foods, you add variety too. So you can vary with vegetables. Experiment with different kinds of vegetables that you've not tried before, yet avoid carbohydrate-rich foods such as pasta, rice, bread and crackers. Eat protein (chicken, meat, dairy products) and healthy fats (nuts, olive oil, avocado) in every meal. You will find that you feel fuller for longer and have less need for snacks. Can not live without pasta? Try the Atkins low carb penne. You will find our products here.

Tip 8: Responsible snacking

Good news: weight loss is possible with healthy snacks! With the right choice of snacks you can enjoy them between meals. Avoid sugary snacks and eat healthy snacks only, for example:

  • Cucumber, cherry tomatoes or celery with hummus
  • A handful of nuts
  • A block of dark chocolate
  • One of the Atkins bars

healthy weight loss

Tip 9: Intermittent fasting

There are different methods of Intermittent fasting, sometimes you only eat between certain hours of the day and fast the rest of the time. In the fasting phase, you don't eat anything, but you can have water, tea and coffee.

Read more about intermittent fasting.


Tip 10: Eat slowly

Besides the importance of what you eat, the way you eat can also affect your weight. For example, research shows that you get full faster if you eat slowly. These tips can help you slow down when you eat:

  • Slow down and put down your cutlery
  • Choose a smaller plate
  • Chew slowly and deliberately
  • Take smaller bites
  • Eat with knife and fork instead of a spoon
  • Turn it around and even eat with your other hand

Although food intake remains the most important factor in a healthy and responsible way to lose weight, there are some factors that also affect your weight and energy levels. Here are some tips!

 

Tip 11: Every half hour get up and move!

Very simple, but it works! Every half hour just get up and do something active to increase your metabolism which makes you lose weight faster. If you have an office job, even just standing up and walking round briefly will help. Walk with colleagues during your lunch break or walk to ask your colleagues questions, rather than emailing.

healthy weight loss

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Tip 12: Daily exercise

Healthy weight loss without exercise is not impossible. However, daily exercise helps you reach your healthy weight even faster. It also gives you energy and improves your health. This does not mean you need to work out fanatically every day even a half hour walk, taking your bike to work or doing errands on a bike contributes to a healthy dose of daily exercise.

Interested in exercise and sports? It is advisable to combine cardio and strength workouts. Increasing exercise helps you lose weight more responsibility.

 


Tip 13: Avoid (long-term) stress

Stress can have an influence on your body weight. When you experience stress, your body produces more stress hormone, cortisol. This hormone regulates fat storage which makes your body store fat more easily. In addition, stress can make you choose unhealthy food, due to time constraints or maybe you're comfort eating. For this reason it is important to tackle your stress levels if you're working to lose weight responsibly. See if you can make changes to reduce stress or perhaps someone else can help. It can, in addition to a healthy weight, help you have more energy.

healthy weight loss - stress

Tip 14: Get enough sleep

In addition to avoiding stress, getting enough sleep helps with healthy weight loss. Sleep deprivation can lead to hunger. In addition, getting a good night's sleep can help burn excess fat. You can promote healthy sleep patterns by switching off your phone, or TV, at least an hour before bed, try reading instead. This may help you fall asleep faster.

 


Tip 15: Gather people around you who understand your goals for a healthy life

You may not realise but environment can play a role in your weight. When your friends and family live an unhealthy life it may influence whether you have a healthy lifestyle. It can therefore help to get the people closest to you to understand, or even partipate, in your healthy choices. This can help you to stay on track and you can tackle obesity together. This makes it more fun and you can help each other through difficult times.

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3 Source 4

Healthy weight loss: Recipes

Everyone wants to lose weight with healthy, and above all tasty food. With a low-carbohydrate diet it is, fortunately, very easy to eat healthy and delicious foods! To give you an example you can find some healthy weight loss recipes below so you can lose weight with healthy and delicious food.

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Healthy weight loss Breakfast: Green Smoothie

Ingredients

  • ½ avocado
  • 75 grams of spinach
  • 200 ml of low-carbohydrate fruit flavoured water

 

Preparation

  • Put the fruit water with some of the spinach in a blender and mix until the spinach is chopped finely
  • Cut the avocado in half down to the pit, remove the pit and scoop out the flesh from the avocado.
  • Add the chunks of avocado to the blender and mix everything together until it is smooth.
  • Pour your smoothie into a tall glass and enjoy!
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Healthy weight loss Lunch: Creamy Courgette Soup with salmon flakes

Ingredients

  • 1 onion
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 2 courgettes
  • 2 vegetable stock cubes
  • 1 litre of water
  • 125 ml of fresh cream
  • Salt and pepper
  • 150g smoked salmon

 

Preparation

  • Chop the onion, cut the garlic and finely cut the courgettes into cubes. Heat a little olive oil in a large pan and fry the onion and garlic until translucent
  • Add the courgettes and fry for 3 minutes on high heat.
  • Add 1 litre of water with the bouillon cubes and bring to a boil. Cook for 8 minutes on a low temperature.
  • Puree the soup in a blender and stir in the cream. Add some salt and pepper to taste.
  • Divide the soup among the bowls and add the salmon pieces. You can also heat the salmon for a minute if you like.
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Healthy weight loss Dinner: Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

  • ½ red pepper
  • 2 tsp Parmesan cheese
  • 100g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon of mixed herbs
  • 1 egg
  • 100 grams of minced turkey
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 clove of garlic

 

Preparation

  • Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
  • Put olive oil in a wok or frying pan.
  • Sauté the mushrooms, onion and garlic to the pan until soft.
  • Mix the minced turkey. Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk the egg with garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
  • Add the vegetable mixture to the turkey mixture and mix together.
  • Fill the peppers with the mixture and cover with the tomatoes.
  • Sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese and bake for 50 minutes in the preheated oven.

 

Want more inspiration for losing weight with healthy and delicious food? Take a look at our recipe section.

Responsible weight loss weekly menu

Besides recipes you can also get a healthy weight loss plan. You will find, under this heading, a weekly menu from Phase one of the Atkins diet in which you eat up to 20 grams of carbohydrates per day. Want to know more about the phases of the Atkins diet? In this article you read more about the phases.

Weekly Menu Phase 1 - Week 2

Roadmap

To help you on your way, see the easy steps below that will help you to lose weight healthily and responsibly.



Step 1: Measure your weight, BMI and waist circumference

Before you start to lose weight it is helpful to know your starting point. When you know this, you can easily determine your target weight and you can better see what steps you need to take to get to your ideal weight. Your BMI can be easily calculated using the BMI calculator.


Step 2: Determine your goals

Now decide what your goal is. Would you like 5 or 10 kilos or do you prefer to measure results by your clothing size or what you look like in the mirror. Think about your goal and make sure that your goal is achievable. Doing so will make it more achievable and you'll be less likely to relapse into your old lifestyle.

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healthy weight loss

Step 3: Register for Atkins

Register for free and easily with Atkins and we will help you lose weight quickly recognized. You get free meal plans, recipes, tips and support.