How to lose weight is one of the most discussed topics in the recent past and people have different goals as concerns their weight loss journey. Some want to lose weight so that they can fit in their favorite wedding dresses, while others are on a make-over journey, so whichever your goal; you are in the right place because apart from giving you the best weight loss tips we are also going to teach you how to keep the weight down.
11 Tips On How To Lose Weight
- Engage a low carb diet
Carbohydrates are an important source of energy to the body, however, when we consume more carbohydrates than we burn, then our bodies will store them as fats and that is how people end up gaining weight. We are, however, not restricting you from taking carbs, so what we urge you to do is to be wise about how you go about consuming carbs.
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For example, you could keep off the processed carbohydrates such as pastries, as attractive as they may look you must stay away from the pizza dough, white rice, white bread, and specific types of breakfast cereals. Important to note is that when you take less carbohydrate (carbs), your appetite also goes down; you, therefore, eat less and consequently shed off some weight.
So now that you are dropping the processed food, you will have to take a turn to start consuming whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, tubers, and legumes. Other whole foods are popcorns, which are a high-quality carbohydrate that are also low in calories and a good source of fiber.
- Avoid emotional eating
When your emotions are running high anything goes, so a good number of people will take a snack in the evening and munch on it as they watch TV. Other people tend to consume a lot of food when they are lonely, stressed, or when experiencing low energy. If you are a victim of the above situations then you have to find healthier ways of countering stress, and loneliness.
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Remember that while in the above situation, you are never fully conscious of your diet and that is how you end up packing up the pounds. If you get off from work and feel stressed you can soak yourself in a warm bath, and if you are alone or feel lonely at times, then you can get a pet or invite your best friend over or better find an interesting book to read.
- Intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting is also known as intermittent energy restriction that consists of three methods, which are periodic fasting, alternate-day fasting, and the daily time-restricted fasting. The above are some of the ways that you can do your intermittent fasting and if you find that any of the below-discussed strategies work then you can keep it for the long haul.
Many people would, therefore, deliberately consume calories on a specific time of day and stay without food for the remaining hours within the same day, also known as the 16:8 diet where people prefer to eat whatever it is that they want to eat from 10 am to 6 pm and only take water for the remaining hours.
Whereas others would eat normally during the week and then choose two days within the same week where they fast for a full 24 hours, and while this type of weight lost cycle might seem crazy it does attract a lot of benefits, for example, you will experience increased fat burning, and possibly increase your energy and the growth hormones.
But the one thing that you can be sure will happen to your body is that you will lose a lot of weight and body fat. And if we can square it out scientifically is that when you engage in intermittent fasting your body will be depleted of carbohydrates and since it needs energy to run on, it will start getting its energy from the fat stores, and that is how you are going to lose the muffin tops and belly fat.
- Take more water
We know the holy book says drink a little wine for thy stomach’s sake but some people make it a habit of taking alcohol every day.
A good method of using water to reduce alcohol and food consumption is by taking it just before you have a meal, you must have noticed that some people avoid taking water before they eat a sumptuous meal because it makes them feel full thus consume less food.
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Replacing alcohol with water can also be a terrific idea since alcohol has been established to contain a lot of calories. And even better is that when you reduce alcohol intake, your appetite for calorific foods also tends to decrease; besides generally speaking too much consumption of alcohol is detrimental to anyone’s health, as it leads to the development of many diseases.
So, in essence, is that you should always keep a bottle of water in hand because it will restrict you from taking the fruit juices, alcohol among other sugary drinks.
- Weight training
Weight training has been proved to help burn more calories when compared to cardio, according to the Havard Medical School it was demonstrated that the strength training sessions helped individuals to burn up to 180 calories in one hour and that is for a person weighing 125 pounds. Besides a person’s metabolisms tends to be boosted for up to 38 hours after a weight training work out.
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The above consequently means that you burn more calories in an hour when relaxed. Therefore, if you can push yourself and work out every day, then for let’s say one month you will definitely burn more calories and fats through weight training. Cardio, on the other hand, requires that you engage yourself for extended hours before you can burn a substantial amount of calories after a session.
Also for cardio to assist you in weight loss the sessions will have to be very intense, so it would be wise to go with weight training which will also help you build a lean muscle mass, which inadvertently helps burn calories in the body.
- Don’t miss out on breakfast
The simple reason why you should not miss taking your breakfast is to avoid overfeeding on the wrong foodstuff during the day. So while you might skip breakfast as you engage an intermittent fasting cycle, you instead end up taking more calories during the day. And on the flip side, people who take breakfast every day have been found to lose more weight and also have lower BMI’s.
An example of a perfect breakfast would, therefore, consist of a plate of whole-grain cereal with some low-fat dairy completed with a fruit.
- Control your appetite and environment
We stand very little chance of engaging a healthy low-calorie meal when you enter a restaurant with friends. So the best thing is to try as much as you can and avoid restaurants or just be picky with the restaurants that you enter. Another problem that you need to be wary of is how you stock your kitchen, if you are moving as a united front with your family towards the weight loss goals then your kitchen will probably contain the healthiest foods.
But if you are on the journey alone then that calls for a lot of discipline, another problem as concerns environment is when attending parties. If you make the mistake of going to a party starving then you can be sure that all the sweet pastries, sugary drinks, and alcohol will get accommodated in your stomach. To avoid the above and remember this you can do every time you go out, feed yourself some healthy snack, and then on the buffet table pick only the healthy food.
- Reduce portions
Well, they say it takes 21 days to develop a habit and the ability to take small food portions is one habit that you will not easily go back to. Let’s be honest, you probably fill your plate with more food than you actually need, and that is when you attend parties, in restaurants, and at home. Portion control is one of the weight loss strategies that will not only help you lose weight but will also keep off the weight in the long run.
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A portion controlled plate includes 1/2 vegetables and salad, 1/4 complex carbohydrates, 1/4 good quality protein and a little serving of fat. To achieve this, you will have to use a measuring cup and work on your portion control strategy. When you eat don’t feed until you feel like your stomach is full. Better yet serve your food in the plates you use for portion control, that way you won’t feel like you are starving or taking less food.
- Introduce proteins in your meals
When you replace the carbohydrates and fats with proteins then the hunger hormones are reduced and the satiety hormones are increased. Because of the above, you become less hungry, you then end up consuming fewer calories thus lose weight.
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So to lose weight through protein intake you could take about 1.6 and 2.2 grams of proteins per kilogram, the same doesn’t however, apply to athletes and heavy exercisers. Some of the best protein powders for weight loss are such as the egg white protein, whey protein, coffee-flavored protein, casein protein, and the pea protein among others.
We also have the protein-rich foods that could guarantee you a quick weight loss and these are beans, eggs, the Greek yogurt, nuts, fish, and chicken. Additionally when you include some lean or low-fat protein on each of your meals or snack then you will feel full for longer and will probably not overeat.
- Lock the kitchen when you go to sleep
They say that the body can take anything for as long as the mind is willing, so here you are working with your mind. If you know that you are going to watch the TV for extended hours set a time that the kitchen will be locked, take some healthy before bed snack, yes you read right, as you prepare to sleep you cannot just munch on anything and jump to bed. You need a snack that is low in calories and one that will also boost your weight loss journey.
So what are your options, you could take the Greek yogurt with some blueberries, or take the sweet apple slices with peanut butter, you could also take avocado with cottage cheese or a whole grain toast with ham? But if you are a late-night person and can’t resist visiting the kitchen before bed, there are also some late-night options such as the dark chocolate and almonds or the celery sticks with cream cheese among others.
- Before bed routine to help with weight loss
So the first thing that you must do is ensure that you have taken a well-balanced meal so that you don’t develop cravings into the night. You can then proceed to take a cup of hot herbal tea, the above is believed to contain catechins that boost metabolism thus help the body break down fats faster, while caffeine increases energy use thus causing the body to burn more calories.
You then need to preoccupy your mind but not with your phone, maybe find a book to read or do some bedtime rituals such as meditation which will even help you summon some deep sleep. So to completely avoid visiting the kitchen and to switch your mind into preparing for bed you will floss and brush your teeth.
And since your mind isn’t expecting any food there are fewer chances of you strutting towards the kitchen looking for food.
Conclusion
There are actually more ways than you can master when it comes to how to weight loss, if you are too busy to join the gym or even work out from home then observe a strict low-calorie diet and you will shed off some weight. You could also do some cardio even though it doesn’t have significant post work out benefits. All the above-discussed methods help with weight loss, you just have to find one that fits with your schedule.
I hope this article helps you on your weight lost journey. If you have any questions, please share in the comments below. Thanks for reading. Cheers! Mary
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