Avoiding weight gain When Switching To A New Lifestyle
You’ve gone through tons of different ‘seasons’ in your life, and you will continue to go through many more. Making healthy lifestyle changes is a wonderful part of personal growth and if that’s the journey you are on, congrats!
Some people worry they might gain weight during a massive lifestyle change. Sure, that can happen, but there are many ways to combat it!
Before I share some tips to avoid weight gain when switching to a new lifestyle, I also want to highlight that I know this is not so important in the scheme of things.
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We all have much bigger issues than a few extra kilos but at the same time, this is one thing we can control and it can also affect our mood and overall mental health if we start not fitting into our clothes.
Better nutrition also means better health and a stronger immune system!
1. Keep Some Meal Structure
It can be easy to have 3 breakfast, 2 lunches and 10,000 afternoon snacks after 10 days in isolation with not much to do apart from eating.
Trying to keep a structure of meal times especially with children and families is very important. Keep structure meals at similar times everyday helps avoiding overeating and over-snacking. Breakfast, one morning snack, lunch, one afternoon snack, dinner and on occasion a treat after dinner.
2. Add more protein
Adding extra sources of protein in your meals will keep you satisfied for longer. Add tofu, lentils or beans in your lunches and dinners. Canned legumes are also great isolation food.
3. Load up on soup.
Soup is not only one of the best food you can do for your health but it is also very cheap to make, uses pantry items and is great for weight loss or limiting weight gain. (Just avoid adding too much oil/bread on the side!)
Pumpkin soup, lentil and sweet potato soup, broccoli potato and cauliflower soup are great soups to make. Or my cauliflower noodle soup.
4. Avoid Unhealthy Fats
Not all fats are bad! The most energy-dense foods are sources of fats and oil. There are many good fatty foods that give you energy and keep your body healthy.
Healthy fats like nuts and avocado are important. Sprinkle sprinkles seeds and whole nuts as they also contain fibre to keep you full for longer and have a lower calorie count.
But if you don’t have an active lifestyle to manage those types of foods (aka you sit on the couch all day) it might be best to reduce fats, even the good kind.
If that’s you, then try to avoid snacking on nut butters, and reduce the amount of oil, coconut oil, coconut cream, and coconut milk you put in your cooking.
5. Fill up your plates with grains and vegetables
To avoid filling restricted or too hungry fill up on whole grains (brown rice/quinoa (about 1/2 cup to 1 cup per meal) and fill half your plate with vegetables. If it is not possible for you to get much fresh produce frozen or canned vegetables are also great for your health.
6. Limit sweets and baking
I know I share a lot of baking recipes but try to limit baking and sweet foods to once or twice a week! And best if you can share them with someone! I know I share a lot of sweet recipe on my page but I don’t bake more than once or twice a week and I share them with my 3 kids + husband! 🙂
7. Drink herbal teas
Drinking herbal teas is great to keep you occupied and add a little something into your day. I find herbal teas actually very comforting and have been loving chai rooibos, a bedtime herbal tea for after dinner and lemon and ginger.
8. Do home workouts
If you scroll your Instagram you might see half the people you follow now sharing workouts on their stories! Doing home workouts, running or going for a walk if you can go outside is a good way to keep fit but also avoid eating too much from boredom. I like Sarah’s day, Melissawoodhealth, Pop Sugar Fitness on Youtube for workouts.
What To Eat In A Day To Avoid Gaining Weight
Here is an idea of what to eat while adjusting to a new lifestyle, to avoid gaining too much weight.
Breakfast:
- Porridge cooked in water with a splash of soy milk + fruit and cinnamon
- – or Chia puddings with coconut milk and berries
- – or Tofu scramble
Morning snack:
- fruit
- – or rice cake and hummus
Lunch
- Soup
- – or chickpea tuna sandwich
Afternoon snack:
- olives, veggie sticks, dip, crackers
Dinner:
- Sesame-Soy Marinated Tofu Poke Bowl
- – or Roasted Vegetable Orzo Salad
- – or Honey Harissa Spiced Chickpea Bowl
Read this next: Nutritionist reveals 10 mindful eating tips that work for healthy weight loss.
