Why do we gain weight? 95% of you would answer “because of over eating”. Then why do we over eat? Now we do not have a definite answer; may be because we feel like eating. This feeling slowly becomes a habit and then turns into craving.
Eating does not lead to overweight. It is eating wrong food or eating wrong amounts of food that leads to increase in weight. It is a common belief among many of us that we get nutrients by eating anything and thus don’t understand the concept. As a result, we end up eating; eating wrong, eating unhealthy and emotional eating.

So, How Do I Lose Weight?
Many of us follow the concept of dieting to shed weight. But eventually our plan goes for a toss in the meadows and food craving and hunger pangs fly in. With many varieties and delicacies around us, it is naturally tough for us to stick to our plan and stop craving. But dieting would be much easier if we could subtract this craving and hunger pangs. Here “Appetite Suppression” comes into picture.

How to Suppress Appetite?
Appetite is both a physical and mental feeling. Body fat can be controlled by curbing appetite. This sounds simple but is not so easy to practice. We can decrease weight only we stop over eating, control hunger and drop the calorie level down our normal maintenance level.

What Is The Strategy To Reduce Hunger?
Follow these tips to reduce hunger.
1. Get rid of junk food: grabbing a bag of chips is the easiest thing we can do when we are hungry. But these are the main cause in increasing weight. Stay away from junk food as this can show a significant difference in the weight.

2. Start the day with protein and fiber: fiber when mixed with water makes the stomach feel full and heavy and on the other hand protein is a slow digesting variety which keeps us away from hunger for a longer time.

3. Drink lot of water: sometimes to stop craving, we may have to fool our brain. Water is a zero calorie diet that when consumed a lot makes us feel full.

4. Green tea:  if you tired of drinking water all the time, try sipping a cup of green tea. Green tea can be consumed any time and any number of times.

5. Exercise: many people feel that exercise causes hunger pangs but in fact, exercise reduces calories and also hunger pangs and keeps us fit all the time.

6. Sleep: get enough sleep every day since lack of sleep causes lack of leptin which gives the feeling of hunger.

7. Drink meals: studies show that people who drink whey and protein milkshakes instead of meals gain less weight than others.

8. Eat small but frequent meals: this is self-explanatory. Eating small meals frequently satisfies hunger and also we do not gain much wheat.

9. Brush: studies show that brushing teeth gives a feeling of freshness and craving reduces to the most extent.

10. Blue, blue, blue! Surveys say that blue color makes us feel not to eat more and thus reduce the intake.

There are other artificial appetite suppressors available in the market but these may have negative effects on our health; so it is safe to follow natural ways to suppress craving and over eating.

We often starve to reduce our waistline by a few inches and we name it dieting. It is a known fact that exercise and diet help us in losing weight but an interesting fact is that starving causes our metabolism to slow down and save the fat thus increasing our weight.

So instead of starving and gaining weight, we can fight fat by eating; but eating slightly different varieties than usual. Here is a list of foods that can help in fighting fat.

1. Almonds: Almonds are rich in alpha- lenolenic acid which fights fat effectively. Studies show that dieters who consume almonds reduce their BMI by 18% than non- dieters who don’t consume almonds and reduce by 11%. One can consume a handful (not more than 12) every day.

2. Citrus fruits: According to a research conducted by Arizona state university, people who consume citrus family fruits like strawberries, oranges and berries oxidize their fat by 30% while doing normal exercises.

3. Eggs: eggs are the whole package you want to have while trying to lose weight. While it has as less as 85 calories, egg is rich in protein, zinc, iron, vitamins A,D,C. Eating eggs in breakfast keeps you full for longer time than usual.

4. Fish: Fish is rich in omega 3 fatty acids which fight fat efficiently. Apart from this fish also keeps your heart healthy.

5. Soybean: soybean contains lecithin which reduces fats and breaks down the fatty deposits in the body. Lecithin derived from soybean helps in controlling cholesterol and triglycerides and increases HDL (good cholesterol).

6. Pomegranate: pomegranates have high amounts of folates and anti- oxidants, low in calories and high in fiber and it also satisfies the desire to eat something sweet without gaining calories.

7. Tomatoes: oligofructose is the main ingredient of tomatoes that sustains the effect of cholecystokinin (cck) in the stomach which is produced by small intestine in response to the fats and generate the feeling of fullness and thus reduce overeating.

8. Cinnamon: according to USDA researchers, consuming quarter to one teaspoon of cinnamon per day will reduce twenty times more sugar than normal. Less sugar means less fat storage which implies weight loss.

9. Lentils: lentils are perfect belly flatteners. With high protein and soluble fibers, they definitely reduce the fat levels in the body.

10. Yogurt or curd: eating calcium- rich, fat free yogurt will speed up body fat burning mechanism and ensure weight loss.

Including these in the daily diet with regular exercise, it should be easy to reduce the body fat amd reduce the belly.