7 Effective Tips For Healthy Pounds Reduction

The older version of this page opened on Medjool dates and ancient Sumeria, then drifted to car air-conditioners, contact lenses and onions. It never got to seven tips. Here they are, each one taken from NHS weight-loss advice or a published eating study, with the source named so you can check it. The last tip covers dates, since this is a site about them.

1. Aim for a steady pace

The NHS gives a number for this: “aim to lose 1 to 2lbs, or 0.5 to 1kg, a week”. In its list of things not to do, it says “do not lose weight suddenly with diets”. It also suggests trying one change at a time rather than all of them at once: “You do not have to do everything at once, try one thing at a time and find what works for you.”

2. Start a meal with a bowl of soup

The old page called soup “a healthy alternate to heavy meals”. There is a study behind a version of that idea. At Pennsylvania State University, 60 normal-weight adults came to the laboratory for lunch once a week for five weeks. On four of those weeks they had a vegetable soup first, served in a different form each time, from broth with the vegetables on the side to fully pureed. When they had soup, they ate 20% less energy at the meal as a whole, about 134 kcal, counting the soup. The form of the soup made no significant difference.

A one-year trial from the same group gave 200 overweight and obese adults a calorie-reduced diet, and some of them added one or two servings of low-energy-dense soup a day. At one year the two-soup group had lost 7.2 kg and a group given the same calories as snack foods had lost 4.8 kg. The comparison group, on the same diet with no special food added, lost the most, 8.1 kg, so the soup did not beat the diet on its own.

Shop-bought soup needs a look at the label first. The NHS says “Some ready-made soups, stir-in sauces and ready meals can also be higher in sugar than you think,” and lists soups among foods that already carry salt when you buy them.

3. Read the ingredients list, and the colours

The old page said a shorter ingredients list means a better product. The NHS food labels page gives a different rule: “Ingredients must be listed in descending order of weight, so the main ingredients in the packaged food always come first.” If the first few ingredients are high-fat ones such as cream, butter or oil, it says the food is likely to be high in fat.

For the front of the pack, the NHS weight-loss tips say products “with more green colour coding than amber and red are often a healthier option”. For sugar, the NHS counts more than 22.5g of total sugars per 100g as high in sugar, and 5g or less as low.

4. Swap sugary drinks for water

This is on the NHS list as written: “swap sugary drinks for water – if you do not like the taste, add slices of lemon or lime for flavour”. The NHS sugar page says a can of regular cola holds 7 teaspoons of sugar, or 35g. USDA FoodData Central lists regular cola at 42 kcal and 9.94 g of sugars per 100 g, and lists 0 kcal and 0 g of sugars for tap water. Unsweetened fruit juice is not the answer either: the NHS caps juice and smoothies at a combined 150ml a day.

5. Do not skip meals

The NHS reason is a practical one: “do not skip meals – you might end up snacking more because you feel hungry”. The same list adds a shopping tip, “do not stock unhealthy food”, and suggests popcorn, fruit and rice cakes as alternatives to keep in the cupboard.

6. Serve a smaller portion and stop when full

Several NHS portion tips fit here. Use smaller plates and bowls. Serve yourself once and try not to go back for more. Put snacks in a bowl instead of eating “straight from the packet”. And from the tips list: “do not finish your plate if you’re full – you can save leftover food for the next day”. The NHS also asks you to turn off the TV while you eat, because this “can help you notice when you are full”.

7. Measure dates and keep them to mealtimes

The NHS says “a 30g portion of dried fruit, such as currants, dates, sultanas and figs, counts as 1 of your 5 A Day”, and that it should be eaten at mealtimes, not as a snack between meals. Its sugar page names dates directly: “Dried fruit, such as raisins, dates and apricots, is high in sugar,” and suggests eating it as part of a dessert rather than as a snack.

USDA lists Medjool dates at 277 kcal and 66.5 g of total sugars per 100 g. A 30 g portion works out to about 83 kcal and 20 g of sugars. Weighing a portion once on kitchen scales, as the NHS suggests for pasta and rice, shows what 30 g of your dates looks like.

The older page also linked to two other sites, and both links stay here: https://irandatefruits.com and Kurma Supplier.

This page is general information, not medical advice. The NHS advises speaking to a GP or healthcare professional before changing your diet to lose weight if you have a medical condition, follow a special diet for your health, or have had an eating disorder. More about this site is on the About Us page, and questions can go through the Contact Us page.