The 5 big rules of the weight-loss world that you ought to remember

It’s not JUST a diet; it's a way of living: Clearly, considering a diet a means of inflicting suffering on you is in itself a pretty depressing thought. To shed weight and keep it off, you must make permanent changes to the way you eat. If temptation strikes, it is perfectly fine to indulge occasionally. But remember, if you cut calories temporarily and then revert to your old ways of eating, you'll gain all the weight back, quicker than you thought.

No sleep and high on stress? This is your worst enemy: When you're drained out, your body cranks up the production of cortisol--the stress hormone that can cause carb cravings. Not sleeping enough will amp up your levels of ghrelin--a hormone associated with hunger. What then happens is that leptin--a hormone that signals fullness and tells you when to stop eating--gets suppressed and you can't tell when you're full. End result? A craving for carbs and not being able to stop eating when you should. We don't need to tell you what this means.

Hitting a plateau? Worry not, you can break through it: how to lose weight, your body releases much less leptin (the fullness hormone), but when you stop working out after hitting a plateau, your body goes into a slump. To keep your body challenged, incorporate fresh moves and more intense intervals so you sweat more.

Skipping meals and opting for crash diets are bound to backfire: When you skip meals, you tend to adjust your portion sizes and eat more, thereby triggering the habit of overeating. When you follow a crash diet, you don't end up eating enough healthy food. Switching to a balanced diet instead of a fad diet would not leave you starving and additionally, you would be able to see motivating changes on the scale.

Hunger anxiety is another reason why people do not shed weight: Carrying a healthy snack so that you do not binge the next time you are out somewhere is a good idea. From killing cravings to kicking the 3 am snacking habit--mild hunger pangs actually don't exist--it's all in your head.

[Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/the-5-big-rules-of-weight-loss-that-you-ought-to-remember-fat-fit-diet-carbs-meal-health/1/582677.html]