"The groundwork of all happiness is health." - Leigh Hunt

Losing weight may make it easier to reduce pain.

If you experience knee or foot pain, the additional weight can put more pressure in your joints — and more pain. Fortunately, losing a few pounds often helps relieve some forms of pain.

Finding a meal plan that's healthy and enjoyable will make it easier to stick with your weight reduction goals long-term and maintain the burden loss you do manage to attain.

To help manage your weight, consider these ways to chop calories:

  • Keep track of how much you eat. It may sound easy, butKeeping a food diary can provide you with beneficial feedback about your eating habits.
  • Make small changes. Change your food plan slowly to make certain you possibly can follow it. Suddenly reducing the quantity and number of foods you eat will likely backfire, causing you to return to overeating.
  • Use mindfulness techniques. Be mindful of when, where, and the way much you're eating and whenever you feel full. One tip is to take 20 minutes to complete eating. This is the time it takes on your stomach to signal to your brain that you simply are full. While eating, concentrate on your food as a substitute of reading or watching TV. Put your fork down between bites and chew your food slowly and thoroughly. Observe the feel, taste and aroma of the food you're eating. Engaging your whole senses can increase your cravings for fresh, healthy foods and help break the cycle of stress-related eating.
  • Keep high calorie foods out of sight. Foods like candy bars, that are high in calories but don't fill you up, will contribute to weight gain. Instead, add apples or bananas, that are very filling and contain relatively few calories.
  • Use smaller serving sizes and plates. Smaller portions equal fewer calories.. Take advantage of 100-calorie snack packs or serve your meals on small plates.
  • Be self-compassionate. Don't punish yourself whenever you overeat. It won't motivate you to get back on the right track. Psychologists now consider that mindfulness is simpler in coping with life's challenges, including weight reduction.

As for physical activity, many types of exercise are harder for individuals with hip or knee pain. Easy exercises on the joints include swimming and water aerobics. Talk to your doctor or physical therapist, who can suggest other ways to include physical activity without making your joint pain worse.

There isn't any magic answer to how much weight it's essential lose to make a difference in your joint pain. At least 10 kilos or 10% of your total body weight may help, but this could vary from individual to individual.


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