Simple Tips for Losing Weight Naturally

Image by Elke Wetzig

People who start eating more whole grains tend to lose weight, according to a recent Harvard study. A good place to start adding whole grains to your diet is with breakfast. Old-fashioned oatmeal is a good choice. Cracked wheat is another good whole grain hot breakfast cereal. If you have a wheat allergy or intolerance, or if you want a little variety, try millet. Millet is a small grain that has been a food staple for centuries in much of Africa and Asia. It is gaining popularity in other regions as an alternative whole grain. If you can’t find millet in your local grocery store, try a health-food store. Here’s an easy recipe.

Millet Hot Breakfast Cereal

Put 1 cup hulled millet in a dry pot. Roast it by stirring it over high heat until it starts smoking, and then for a minute more. Roasting keeps the grains from sticking together and also gives the millet a nutty flavor. Rinse and drain. Add 1½ cups water, 1 teaspoon oil, and a pinch of salt. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer until the water is gone (about 10 minutes) then remove from heat and let it sit another 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork. If you want the grains softer, roast them longer or use more water.

Eat as a hot cereal with milk and topped with fruit or nuts. You can also add a little honey to make it more satisfying.

Makes 3 to 4 servings.

Relevance to Natural Weight Loss:

Weight Loss Tip: For a healthy breakfast, think outside the box. Instead of processed, packaged breakfast foods, eat a hot cereal made of cracked wheat, old-fashioned rolled oats, millet, or other whole grain.

Pin It

That’s according to scientists at Harvard University who conducted a study to find out what kinds of everyday thoughts and activities make people happy. Over two thousand iPhone users participated in the study. The researchers created an iPhone app to prompt the participants at random times as they went about their daily lives. Each time they were prompted by the app, the participants were to report on what they were doing, thinking, and feeling. Those who were exercising reported feeling happier than those who were working, shopping, eating, visiting, watching TV, reading, playing, relaxing, listening to music, or at their home computer. In fact, except for “making love,” exercising was the activity most strongly associated with happiness.

You can read more about the happiness study on Harvard’s web site, and see the complete report here.

Relevance to Natural Weight Loss:

Weight Loss Tip: If you don’t exercise regularly, maybe it’s time to give it a try. Find an exercise activity that you can enjoy. Exercise doesn’t have to be all push-ups and crunches. For even more enjoyment, exercise with a friend.

Pin It

A bottle of sugary (non-diet) soda contains about 250 calories. That’s a lot. Reminding yourself of this fact can give you the extra motivation to pass up the soda and go for a drink of water instead. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health think they have found an even better motivation: exercise cost.

To test their theory, they created a sign with the words “Did you know that working off a bottle of soda or fruit juice takes about 50 minutes of running” and posted it in a corner store frequented by thirsty adolescents. The presence of the sign reduced the odds that an adolescent would purchase a sugar-sweetened drink by about 50%. This worked even better than their sign that said “Did you know that a bottle of soda or fruit juice has about 250 calories?” If it works for thirsty teenagers, maybe it’s worth a try!

You can read more about the exercise cost of calories study on the school’s web site.

Relevance to Natural Weight Loss:

Weight Loss Tip: When you are tempted by junk food, think about how much exercise it would take to work off the extra calories. If it seems worth the cost, commit to doing the exercise before taking the first bite.

Pin It

Walking can help you lose weight, and it’s not just because of the exercise. In a study by scientists at the U. of Exeter, chocolate lovers who were asked to take a brisk 15-minute treadmill walk before beginning work snacked on only half as much chocolate as study participants who were allowed to skip the walk and rest instead.
In an earlier study by the same group, a 15-minute walk was found to significantly reduce chocolate cravings.

You can read more about the walk to eat less chocolate and kill the chocolate cravings studies on the ScienceDaily web site.

Relevance to Natural Weight Loss:

Weight Loss Tip: Get up and take a brisk 15 minute walk before your usual chocolate craving time. If walking isn’t convenient, try a different exercise. And remember, just trying not to think about chocolate doesn’t work.

Pin It

Tzatziki is a delicious and versatile low-calorie dip. Use it to provide some counter-temptation to all of that holiday junk food. Here’s a very simple recipe.

Tzatziki (Cucumber Yogurt Dip or Sauce)

Peel a cucumber and cut it in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds by scraping out the center portion of the cucumber with a spoon. Grate the cucumber and press it with a paper towel to remove the extra liquid. Mix the grated cucumber with 2 cups plain Greek yogurt, 1 tablespoon fresh dill or mint (or 1/3 tablespoon dry dill weed or mint), 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil (optional), and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Chill for 2 hours before serving. Serves 6.

Serve generously alongside almost any hot dish or use as a spread or vegetable dip. You can make this recipe even more flavorful by adding a finely minced or crushed clove of garlic. To make a salad dressing, use regular yogurt instead of Greek yogurt.

Relevance to Natural Weight Loss:

Weight Loss Tip: This recipe is so good you will just want to keep eating. Eat away! Eat it as a snack or as half a meal, or use it as a low-calorie substitute for other dips and toppings.

Pin It

Trying to suppress thoughts of a craved food can cause you to eat even more of it at the first opportunity. That’s what St. George’s University of London researchers concluded after observing 116 chocolate-tasting female undergraduates. The women had been divided into three groups. One group was told to think about anything but chocolate for five minutes, another group was told to think about only chocolate, and the third group was told to think about whatever they wanted. Later, when the women were asked to compare two brands of chocolate in a taste test, the group of thought suppressors took a few extra bites…just to be sure.

You can read more about the just-don’t-think-about-it study on NCBI’s web site.

Relevance to Natural Weight Loss:

Weight Loss Tip: Instead of trying to suppress thoughts of food you are craving, use this visualization trick.

Pin It

In a study of nearly 5,000 US adults, researchers found that those who took more breaks from sitting tended to have smaller waists. The link between more breaks and a smaller waist was significant even after taking into account total time sitting and daily exercise habits. Several recent studies have shown that sitting is generally bad for your health. This study gives hope that a few more breaks during the day may help to counteract some the negative consequences of all of that desk time. Dr Genevieve Healy, the University of Queensland researcher who led the study, said: “Our research showed that even small changes, which could be as little as standing up for one minute, might help to lower this health risk.”

You can read more about sitting study on The European Society of Cardiology’s web site.

Relevance to Natural Weight Loss:

Weight Loss Tip: Make a goal of standing up to stretch or walk around once or twice an hour. You might also try standing up whenever you take a phone call, or moving the trash bin away from your desk so you will have to get up and walk to it. (Hey, I can do that right now!)

Pin It

Greek or strained yogurt is a thick, rich, creamy yogurt that can be eaten alone or used in recipes as a low-calorie, high-protein substitute for sour cream or cream cheese. Use it to make dips, spreads, cheesecake, sauces, etc. It’s easy to make Greek yogurt using plain low-fat yogurt.

Easy Greek Yogurt

Line a strainer or colander with a layer of cheesecloth or coffee filters. Add plain home made low-fat yogurt (or any plain low-fat yogurt without added stabilizers). Let the liquid drain for at least two hours.

That’s it! You have now Greek yogurt. You can also use the drained liquid (whey) as a nutritious substitute for water in many recipes.

Relevance to Natural Weight Loss:

Weight Loss Tip: Use Greek yogurt as a low-calorie substitute in recipes that call for cream cheese or sour cream.

Pin It

In a huge 20-year study, Harvard University scientists found that participants who increased their consumption of nuts, whole grains, and fruit tended to lose weight. Light granola is an excellent source of these natural weight-loss foods. Try the recipe below.

Light and Crunchy Granola

Preheat oven to 300°F. Combine 1/3 cup plain yogurt, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Mix well. Stir in 3 cups rolled oats (not instant) and 1 cup chopped pecans or other nuts or seeds.

Spread mixture 1/2 inch thick on a cookie sheet. Bake until some of the granola just begins to brown (about 20-30 minutes). Add raisins, dried cranberries, or other dried fruit to taste. Allow to cool and harden before eating.

Most granola recipes call for oil or syrup instead of yogurt. Yogurt gives the granola a lighter taste, better texture, and fewer calories.

For variations of this recipe, add 1/2 cup shredded coconut to the mix, or try substituting cashews, walnuts, slivered almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, or pumpkin seeds.

Relevance to Natural Weight Loss:

Weight Loss Tip: Eat light granola with yogurt or low-fat milk for breakfast. It will keep you satisfied longer so you are less tempted to snack before lunch. Make your own granola to save money and avoid the high calories and unhealthful ingredients in some commercial granolas.

Researchers at Harvard University conducted a study in which they tracked the weight and eating habits of 120,877 adults over a 20-year period. They found that study participants who increased their consumption of yogurt tended to lose weight, while those who decreased their consumption of yogurt tended to gain weight. Although the reason for yogurt’s association with weight loss is not entirely clear, it is likely that people who increase their yogurt consumption use yogurt to replace higher-calorie foods or foods that are less satisfying. Read more about the diet and weight loss study on Harvard’s website.

You can make rich low-fat yogurt yourself. It’s really quite simple. Try the recipe below.

Easy Home Made Yogurt Recipe

This recipe has five short steps:

1. Stir ¾ cup non-fat dry milk into 2 quarts 1% milk.
2. Heat it to 185°F.
3. Let it cool to 120°F.
4. Stir ¼ cup plain low-fat yogurt into the milk as a starter.
5. Keep the milk warm for at least 3 hours.

It’s probably easiest to heat the milk in a double boiler or in a glass bowl in a microwave. If you prefer, you can heat the milk in a heavy pan over medium heat, but you will need to stir it constantly to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Any brand of plain yogurt should work for the starter as long as it has “live, active cultures” in the list of ingredients. Use a container of yogurt that hasn’t been previously opened, and check its expiration date. Also make sure that anything that touches the cooled milk or yogurt starter has been freshly washed so as not to introduce foreign bacteria or enzymes that might interfere with the yogurt-making process.

To keep the milk warm (Step 5), put it in a container with a lid and place it in a picnic cooler. Add hot tap water (110-120°) to the cooler to surround the milk and help keep it warm. To become yogurt, the milk must stay above 100° for about 3 hours. The longer it’s kept warm, the tangier and firmer the yogurt will be.

When the yogurt is done, you may see whey, a yellowish liquid, separating out. That’s normal for yogurt that doesn’t have added stabilizers.

Save ¼ cup of the newly made yogurt to use as a starter for the next batch. For best results, use the starter within a couple of weeks. If you don’t like the texture of your first batch of yogurt, try it again using a different brand of yogurt as a starter.

Makes about 12 servings.

Relevance to Natural Weight Loss:

Weight Loss Tip: Eat lots of yogurt. Make your own to save money and avoid the added ingredients in commercial yogurt.