Looking for new weight loss tips?
Website design By BotEap.comThe problem with a quick and easy weight loss fix is that it usually leads to quick and easy weight gain a short time later. There are hundreds of tips for losing weight, and you may be tired of hearing the same advice over and over again. The truth is, there are no new weight loss tips. The same honest truth of yesterday is the truth of today. Losing weight requires you to change your eating habits, exercise more, and lead an overall healthy lifestyle. A particular weight loss program can help you lose the initial pounds you need to lose and give you tips on how to keep them off, but the rest is up to you. Going straight back into your old clothes won’t help you stay fit or healthy.
Website design By BotEap.comBefore choosing a weight loss program, let’s go over those tips one more time. This time, put them into practice: lose weight and keep it off.
Website design By BotEap.com1. Lose weight for the right reasons
Website design By BotEap.comBefore you even look at a diet plan or exercise program, think about why you want to lose weight. If you want to improve your health, look and feel better, great! If you want to be able to play more with your kids, great. Trying to win your ex back, looking better than the next door neighbor, or because your partner says you should, is not so good. The best motivation to lose weight is to do it for yourself, not for anyone else. Health reasons should be the most important, because being overweight can cause health problems that will accompany you for the rest of your life.
Website design By BotEap.com2. Choose a weight loss program carefully
Website design By BotEap.comYou need to be realistic when choosing how you are going to lose weight. Your lifestyle may not fit all types of programs or diets, and choosing one that you cannot adjust to or cope with is setting yourself up for failure. Look at your current eating habits, physical activity level, work schedule, family and social life.
Website design By BotEap.comThink realistically about how much change each of those areas can support. For example, if you don’t exercise at all, you’ll have trouble with a weight loss program that requires intense exercise from the start. If you eat out regularly, you’ll need a diet that allows a wider variety of food types to accommodate that. Counting calories can be time consuming, so if you have a busy schedule, you may want a diet that lays it all out or gives you more flexibility. Try not to get sucked into the promise of losing a certain number of pounds in a specific amount of time—everyone loses weight at a different rate, and the only way to guarantee you’ll lose weight is by following the instructions to the letter.
Website design By BotEap.com3. Set realistic goals
Website design By BotEap.comThis cannot be repeated enough. Setting goals that are nearly impossible to achieve only sets you up for failure, disappointment, and misery. Break your goal down into smaller, more achievable steps. Monthly or weekly goals are easier to achieve. Make sure your goals represent healthy weight loss, which in most cases means gradual weight loss leading to a healthy weight for your age, gender, height, and body type.
Website design By BotEap.com4. Write it all down
Website design By BotEap.comWhether you call it a food journal or a success journal (I personally prefer the latter), make it a habit to record your eating habits, and preferably start doing so before embarking on a weight loss program. Record what you eat, when you eat, and why you eat. Why You Eat will help you identify what triggers unhealthy eating habits that may have led to weight gain. Boredom, loneliness, anger, frustration, and stress can often lead us to unhealthy snacks and comfort food, even though we know it’s not good for us. Use your journal or journal to record your goals and your progress.
Website design By BotEap.com5. Program for success, but expect some bad days
Website design By BotEap.comForget all the diets you’ve been doing in the past! Set yourself up for success in this case, but accept that there will be bad days, and even bad weeks. Nobody is perfect, and you will have a day or two when it will be too much for you. You may be skipping a workout, or just can’t resist the donuts your colleague brought to work. It’s okay to slip up! It is NOT okay to give up. One bad day, one bad decision, or even a series of them, doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It just means you had a bad day. Tomorrow doesn’t have to be the same, so get started right away.
Website design By BotEap.com6. Get support
Website design By BotEap.comWhether it’s friends, family, or an online group, make sure you have people there to support and cheer you on, especially on those bad days. There are thousands of people in online groups sharing their experiences with different diets and weight loss programs, they have been through the same struggles you may be facing, and many have had success. Read their stories, chat with them, and learn from their mistakes.
Website design By BotEap.com7. Exercise
Website design By BotEap.comWhether you like it or not, some form of physical activity should be included in a healthy lifestyle. Not only does it help you lose weight, but it will help you maintain the weight loss. Of course, the health benefits are a big factor, even if you’re skinny, exercise is good for you. You will find that the usual recommendation is between 30 and 45 minutes of exercise three times a week. Recent research indicates that those thirty minutes can be divided into three 10-minute sessions, with the same results. 10 minutes is often easier to fit into a busy schedule, and the exercise you get will keep your metabolism revving throughout the day. Your exercise program should include activities that you enjoy doing. If you don’t enjoy it, you’ll find any excuse not to, or you’ll be miserable when you do. One of the three factors most likely to lead to successful weight loss is having home exercise equipment, so that may be one avenue to investigate as well.
Website design By BotEap.com8. Eat
Website design By BotEap.comWhether you’re following a specific diet plan, counting calories, or just cutting back on “bad” foods, there are a couple of things that can help.
Website design By BotEap.comeat slowly It takes 20 minutes from the time you start eating for your brain to register the feeling of fullness. If you swallow your food in less time, you won’t know you’re too full until it’s too late. Stop eating when you feel satisfied, not full.
Website design By BotEap.comWatch those portions, especially when you eat out. Eat half the meal and take the rest home in a to-go box. At home, use smaller plates – a great way to make sure you don’t serve too much, but your plate will still look nice and full.
Website design By BotEap.comBe careful with salt, limit high-fat foods, replace red meat with lean poultry and fish, and drink plenty of water. Don’t skip meals, especially breakfast, as this is the meal that kickstarts your metabolism and gets it going for the rest of the day.
Website design By BotEap.com9. Record your progress
Website design By BotEap.comTracking your progress, including slow or stalled periods of loss, will allow you to see what helps you succeed, what causes problems, and when to celebrate. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else, even if they are following the exact same plan as you. Everyone loses weight at a different rate, due to differences in metabolism, muscle tone, and body type.
Website design By BotEap.comIf your progress has stalled, particularly towards the end of your diet, you may have plateaued. The best way to overcome this is to change something. Work out in the morning instead of at night, swap carbs for protein and vice versa at some meals, or even take a few days off. A plateau means your body has settled into a rut, and often all it takes is a little jolt to get you back to losing weight.
Website design By BotEap.com10. Keep, keep, keep!
Website design By BotEap.comIt’s common sense that once you’ve lost weight, going back into your old clothes will bring the weight back, but many fall into that trap. Either your diet was so radical that it’s impossible to continue in real life, or the weight loss program failed to explain how dietary changes made to lose weight can be adapted to maintain your new weight. After finishing your ‘diet’ you should have a better idea of what to eat, when to eat it and how to eat it. You should feel the benefits of regular exercise and actually be able to exercise more because you are now fitter and stronger. Aligning your weight loss program with a weight loss maintenance program and a new healthy lifestyle should be a priority.
Website design By BotEap.comAlthough these tips may seem like common sense, old tricks, or just another repetition, that doesn’t mean you’ll pay attention to it. Most of us know when we eat the wrong foods or don’t get enough exercise, but that’s not always enough. You have to take action to change your life, and there are no shortcuts. A weight loss program can help you lose weight, but you must keep it off. It’s not easy to lose weight, and nobody likes change, but if you want to improve your health and well-being, you’ll have to make an effort to get healthy. However, the results will definitely be worth it.