How to get Skinny and Stay Skinny

There are all too many wonder products and methods out there that promise to help you master the goal of skinniness but most if not all deliver only disappointment. In April 2007 Dr Traci Mann of the University of California performed a review of 31 long-term studies of diets and found that although most people initially loose 5 to 10 percent of their body weight, the vast majority put the weight back on within a short period of time. Perhaps instead of a target of getting skinny our targets should really be to stay skinny. In this article we aren�t looking to provide another set of rules to follow to achieve slimness but instead we look at foundational ways that you can reach your slimming goals.

Mental attitude to being skinny

What most diet programs do not instil in you is a mental attitude to life, health and eating. Being overweight is as much a mental issue as it is a physical one. To get skinny on the outside you have to make choices with your mind and alter some of your attitudes.

Healthy eating is for life not just for the diet

A basic mistake of dieting is to think that it is just for a short season. If you want to get skinny and stay skinny you need to view healthy eating as a long term lifestyle. If you think that cutting out the chocolate cake for two weeks is going to keep you thin then think again. Instead you need to ration your treats on a permanent basis. This does not mean you must stop eating the unhealthy foods you love, but you might have to eat them less often.

Equally you should avoid the extreme of drastic under eating. Although you might shorten your waste measurement quicker you may also shorten your life and cause all kinds of health problems.

Do not let food rule you

Always try and remember that you are in control of you life. The way some people eat it looks like it is the food that is in control. Remember that you have the power to choose when you eat and when you don�t eat so decide that you are going to make good choices. Rules about what you can and can�t eat just don�t seem to work; or at least that is what the University of California study found. Instead take the attitude that you can eat anything you want but you choose to respect your body and feed it in a way that will do it good.

Weight Loss Accountability

In your fight to become a ruler over food it is helpful to have accountability. At the very least you should keep a record of you weight and waste measurement over time. This allows you to be accountable to yourself about how your weight loss is going. But the best thing is to have a friend or group of friends who can encourage you in your goals. If you find it hard to track down a supportive friend then groups such as Weight Watchers can be of great help. Alternatively you could join an online forum and share your weight aspirations with others across the Internet.

Value yourself

Many people try and obtain a skinny frame because they dislike the way they look. But loving yourself for who you are is one of the keys to becoming more beautiful. Confidence makes you more attractive and confidence comes from being secure in who you are.

Also if you love yourself you treat yourself well and that means eating healthily, getting exercise and managing your weight. Motivating yourself out of a hate for your body is self-destructive. You will find your weight goes up and down like a yo-yo and you will lack the confidence to carry off the beauty even if you become super skinny.

Exercise yourself skinny

Regular exercise is key to maintaining a thin body. The extra muscle you gain in your exercise will increase your overall metabolism and create a more shapely body.

Training Accountability

It is much easier to maintain an exercise regime if you have a friend who will go with you. Training alone works for some but is often dull and requires much higher motivation so try and find someone who you can partner with.

Burn your way to skinniness

Check out our guide to excising in a way that will burn more fat. Research has shown that exercising intelligently can be of more value than exercising more.

The art of eating skinny

Portion Sizes

One of the key ways of controlling your weight is learning how to manage portion sizes. The vast majority of us will eat whatever is in front of us until it is all gone. It is unclear whether this is natural or learnt behaviour but I definitely notice that small children stop eating when they are full. Adults seem to lack this restraint and will just keep on eating. To help yourself in this area limit the amount of food you put on your plate and the amount of readily available snacks you have in your home.

A general rule of thumb for a healthy slimming meal is to have some low fat protein about the side and thickness of your hand and twice as much vegetables or salad. Your low fat protein could be something like a chicken breast, some very low fat cottage cheese or an egg white omelette.

All things in moderation

Food rules are difficult to maintain when the diet is going to last for the rest of you life, so take the attitude that all things are permissible but that you should eat unhealthy foods in moderation. If you have a day where you eat richly for example during a celebration try and balance it with a day or two where you eat simply and very healthy.

How to be skinny? No simple answers

Although the ideas discussed here are broad principles they will hopefully form a solid basis for your health maintenance and provide a way for you to be as skinny as you want to be. If you have a lot of weight to loose then patience is the key. There are no quick and simple solutions just keep working at it and you'll get there in the end.