We all struggle with weight loss. Here are the best tips to get you started:
Tips to Easy and Fast Weight Loss
1. Believe
Weight loss is not only a physical challenge but it’s a mental challenge as well. No amount of weight loss advice you hear would matter if you don’t change your attitude. You can’t change your body without changing your mind.
A huge part of losing weight is believing you can do it and realize that it’s not going to happen overnight. You have to keep in mind that it took more than a day to put the weight on.. So, it’s gonna take more than a day to take it off. Whenever you feel like winning, you ask yourself why you started in the first place and believe that you can preserve after all we all have choices in life. Losing weight is hard. Being fat is hard. It’s time to pick your heart. You have to set realistic goals and just do it.
Don’t think, don’t wait, just do it. You’ll be amazed at your results in 45 days if you follow these tips. Countless people have amazing weight loss transformations every day and you can be one of them too.
2. Drink more water
Drink more water. While water doesn’t have anything magical in it that burns fat, it certainly will help you with weight loss efforts. Drinking water means you’re not drinking other beverages that have calories in them. Drink a glass or two of water 20 minutes before a meal may help you feel fuller resulting in you eating less food and consuming fewer calories. In fact, a 2010 study conducted by the American Chemical Society confirms that people that consume 2 cups of water right before eating a meal ate between 75 and 90 fewer calories during that meal.
Not only that, but people that drink more water throughout the day have more energy because they are more hydrated and won’t feel too tired to workout. I feel tired is the most common excuse people used to skip on the exercise. So, cut the excuses, fight fatigue and stay energized by keeping yourself adequately hydrated.
3. Eat from a smaller plate
Basically, instead of a normal plate, eat from a smaller plate than you would usually. There is actually proof that eating from a smaller plate tricks your brain into thinking you’re eating more than you actually are. So, when you finish your meal, you’ll psychologically feel fuller and not continue to overeat. This applies to eating from smaller bowls and smaller spoons as well, which I’ve been doing all my life.
Another study found that eating food off a plate with contrasting colours will help people reduce the amount that they’re eating. The mind doesn’t realize how much you’re eating if the food and plate are too similar in colour. So, if you had a meal with mostly red food, choose a green plate to eat off; And if you have a meal with mostly yellow food, then choose a blue plate. Basically, you’d stop sooner.
4. Get enough sleep
Having poor sleep habits can cause you to gain weight for one your metabolism does not function properly when you’re sleep-deprived. Secondly, you have the hunger hormone ‘Ghrelin’ that tells you when to eat. When you have insufficient sleep, you have more ghrelin, you also have the hormone ‘Leptin’ that tells you when to stop eating. When you don’t get enough sleep, you have less leptin more ghrelin plus less left and eat is weight gain. Lack of sleep also increases stress hormone levels, which also causes weight gain. In a nutshell, get enough sleep. Getting seven to eight hours a day of sleep is important. So, now you can sleep in and not even have to feel bad for it. I’ll definitely be using this to my full advantage, cause sleep is my most favourite thing in the world.
5. Cut down Carbohydrates in your diet
Work first things first, if you want to lose weight fast you have to cut refined sugars and starches out without getting all science when you consume carbohydrates like soda, candy, refined sugars and donuts. Your body not only produces more fat but it also slows down the burning of fat. Carbs present in your body hold on to a ton of water weight as well so basically if you cut down your carb intake, your body is forced to burn up the carbs you’ve been holding on to for energy and after all of that is burned up, your body has no other choice but to burn your fat for energy by putting fewer carbs in your body. You will turn into a fat-burning machine. The standard American diet has over 300 grams of carbs per day. To cut body fat fast, eat 100 to 150 grams of carbs per day and make sure you stay away from junk foods and choose unprocessed foods like meat, fish, eggs, fruits, vegetables and nuts. This will allow your body that’s happened to your fat storage for energy inside note even if the food is healthy it still counts toward your daily carb intake number.
6. Incorporate more protein in your diet
Incorporate more protein in your diet. Protein slows down digestion which means you’ll feel full and satisfied for longer and it’s appetite-reducing so you’ll end up eating fewer calories throughout the day. You can control bad food cravings and overeating by consuming protein-rich foods such as Yogurt, eggs, cottage cheese, milk, chicken, fish, peanut butter, tofu and the list goes on and on. Studies have shown that eating two eggs for breakfast can boost weight loss by 65% compared to eating the same amount of calorie from carbohydrates like a bagel by eating protein early in a day you’re starting your morning off right and you will be less hungry throughout the day.
7. Lower your caloric intake
Weight loss is a numbers game. You need to burn more calories than you eat every day to lose weight. It’s that simple. If you lower your carb intake and increase your protein consumption as I mentioned in the last two steps, then you will naturally take in fewer calories per day anyway because you won’t be craving foods that contribute to weight gain and you will be incorporating high protein foods that will fill you up and suppress your appetite. There are 35,000 calories and a pound of fat to lose a pound of pure body fat. Each week you need to shave off 500 calories from your daily caloric intake each day. 500 times 7 equals 3,500. Most people need 2,000 calories to not gain or lose a single pound so to lose that one pound of weight in seven days you need to consume 1,500 calories per day. I’ll explain how you can burn calories with exercise which will help you lose more than a pound of fat every seven days in just a moment.
8. Cut out your snacking
Snacking can break your weight loss efforts. The truth is you should focus on eating three healthy filling meals and not so much on snack foods that don’t fill you up anyway for it to be considered a snack it needs to be under 150 calories and most snack foods far exceed that number sure you can eat a small piece of fruit or some veggies but that will count toward your daily caloric intake and quite frankly won’t curb your hunger enough to make you eat less at your next meal so if you’re aiming to lose weight fast, cut out snacking completely.
9. Limit your energy drink
Limit your energy drink and Starbucks consumption. Actually try to limit any drink that isn’t water. The last thing you want to do is drink your calories.
10. Count and write down your calories
Count and write down your calories. Research indicates that we are terrible at estimating calorie counts which is why if you want to lose weight fast you must get in the habit of counting your calories. You need to keep a food journal handy 3 nutrition labels and jot down the foods you eat so you can add up how many calories you eat per day. Write down every morsel of food that passes your lips and you may be surprised at just how many calories you are actually eating every day.
11. Cardio Exercise
If you want real results, then exercise is just as important as diet. Exercise is great for boosting your metabolism. When have a fast metabolism, your body is burning calories at a higher rate even when you’re resting which makes it harder to gain weight in the first place. You should aim for 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week for weight loss but the amount of exercise you do will depend on how much weight you want to lose. There’s no specific exercise you have to do but it needs to be an activity that breaks a good sweat. Cardio exercises that burn the most calories are jumping jacks and rope jumping. Jumping jacks burn 100 calories in 10 minutes while rope jumping burns as much as 130 calories in 10 minutes. Now, if those exercises get to be a little difficult for you, then fast-paced walking mixed in with a little jogging may be the way to go as long as you sweat and keep your heart rate up for the duration of your exercise session, then you had a good fat burning workout.
12. Consider Mono-unsaturated Fats
Not all fats are bad. There’s evidence that eating mono-unsaturated fats in the morning helps your blood sugar levels… well… stay levelled. One suggestion by Tim Ferris is to have four Brazil nuts and one tablespoon of almond butter in the morning. This will regulate your blood sugars for the rest of the day and it’s pretty good.
13. Turn down your thermostat
Another super simple hack to lose weight is actually to turn down your thermostat by a few degrees. This is perfect for lazy people who like reaping the rewards without moving a single muscle. Science has shown that your body burns slightly more calories in the cold than in warm temperatures. Obviously don’t turn down your temperature so much that you’re shivering, but a few degrees probably won’t be too noticeable. But actually shivering burns a lot of calories but very uncomfortable and I really don’t recommend it.
14. Putting on gym clothes when around the house
Instead of PJs and stuff, wear your gym clothes around the house. Seriously, this actually works, because whenever I’m in my gym gear, I just feel more active and healthy and it actually makes me feel like exercising. I know it’s totally psychological, but I also tend to move around more even at home and occasionally get motivated enough to actually go the gym because, like, I’m in my gear. If you’re going to exercise, the best time is at the beginning of the week, like a Monday, because you can set a psychological pattern for the rest of the week.
15. Wear a Pedometer
Oh my gosh, I only did 17 steps? Wait…
Where am I? Why am I here? Why do I feel the need to walk? Why am I walking?
Another simple hack is just to wear a pedometer. Research has shown that people who wear these are more likely to reach their step goals than those who don’t, even when they aren’t specifically trying to lose weight. I personally think this is awesome because you don’t actually need to commit to any exercise. You just need to wear it and then let your subconscious do the work for you.
16. Eat slower
Get in touch with your lazy side and try eating your food even slower. Chewing more and slowing down your eating will give your body time to realize when it’s full, so you don’t overeat. Studies have shown that you can consume up to 10% fewer calories just by doing this. I’m sure you all know the feeling when you’re starving and you eat super quickly and then you realize you’ve eaten way too much and regret it for the rest of the night and puts you in a food coma and then you can’t move. Yeah. Happens to people all the time. So, eat slower!
17. Consume food in smaller portions
When you eat more often and in smaller portions, this causes less blood glucose spikes which in return causes less fat gain. It’s great because it gives you an excuse to eat, like, six meals a day and not feel bad. Just make them smaller than normal.
18. Don’t work out for long hours
Exercise less.
Yes, you heard me! If you’re someone that’s motivated enough to exercise to lose weight, you could be doing it all wrong. Studies have shown that exercising for hours at a low intensity is much less effective than a short 15-minute high-intensity workout. Some high-intensity activities include jumping jacks, squats, lunges and skipping. If you wanna know more, look up “high-intensity interval training.”
Cutting my exercise down from 1 hour to 15 minutes sounds like a win to me.
19. Find a hobby
Find a hobby that keeps you in shape then you’ll never have to exercise again. I love dancing, and I don’t view it as an exercise at all. So, two birds with one stone. Awesome!
20. Include spicy foods
Eating spicy foods has been shown to increase your metabolism. You can use chillies from the supermarket or some cayenne pepper. If you didn’t know I am a huge fan of chilli and I would put chilli in everything If I could, so this could be a part of my secret and I didn’t even know about it.
21. Green tea at bedtime
Drinking a cup of green tea before bed increases your metabolism so you can burn more calories while sleeping, and I truly give this a lazy thumbs up.
22. Peanut butter at bedtime
Another thing you can eat before you sleep is a spoonful of peanut butter. I honestly didn’t think this hack was accurate, but there is some nutritional evidence that a small amount of peanut butter before bed actually helps keep your metabolism up during sleep. I love peanut butter so you don’t need to tell me twice.
23. Putting form-fitting clothes while eating
Wear form-fitting clothing while you eat. This hack is great to help with portion control, because if you start eating too much you will get a physical reminder that you should probably stop because of the constricting, so the most dangerous time to eat is actually at home when you’re in your PJs and loose clothing. Watch out, guys!
24. Eat something before shopping
Never shop on an empty stomach; you have less self-control when you are hungry, so eat something before you go grocery shopping, even if it’s, like, a fruit or a small snack, that way you are less likely to buy things like junk foods and sweets and you also save money. Win!
And don’t even keep junk food at home. The only reason people are likely to eat junk food is when they are aimlessly wondering around and feeling peckish. You open the cupboard and it’s there, so take away the temptation, and plus, I’m way too lazy to go find junk food if it’s not there, so it kind of works for lazy people.
25. Keep stress at bay
Pamper yourself. Chronic stress can be a major cause of weight gain, so it’s in your best interests to relax a little. Try a hot bath with Epsom salts, ten drops of lavender oil and half a cup of baking soda. It’s super relaxing, draws out toxins, and lowers stress-related hormones and balances your Ph.
26. Eat healthiest first
When eating a meal, eat the healthiest thing first. If you can’t finish your meal and it’s too much, it’s better to have eaten your healthy calories than the unhealthy ones.
27. Limit your food temptation at night
Limit sources of temptation, especially at night. I’m actually the biggest offender of this because I always get food envy when I’m scrolling down Facebook or Instagram, and then you see those food posts, and next minute I’m, like, drooling on the screen, and I don’t even know how I got there, and if that means you have to block food accounts or not go on social media at night then might be a sacrifice you need to make for your waistline.
28. Avoid consuming meal dressings
When buying a meal ask for your dressings and sauces on the side. Dressings can often be the unhealthiest part of the meal, so this way you only eat what you need.
29. Food substitutions
Simple food substitutions can help you cut calories and fat while satisfying your cravings. Use cravings 911 on Good Housekeeping to find healthier alternatives to commonly craved foods. One example is that Cauliflower dipped in BBQ sauce apparently tastes like chicken nuggets, and my friend tried this, and it doesn’t taste like chicken nuggets, but it’s pretty good.
30. Include more vegetables in the meal
Try sneaking in some more vegetables into your meals. Obviously you won’t need to do this if you are vegetarian already, but for things like stews or stir-fries, a little bit of extra vegetable won’t even be noticeable; it’s super tasty and so much better for you and generally vegetables have less calories than the same amount of meat. So, that’s a win!
31. Immediate wakeup meal
Eat when you wake up because that will kick start your metabolism. If you wait an hour or two before eating then that’s time wasted that you could be burning calories doing absolutely nothing.
32. Find excuses to burn calories
Standing up for three hours a day can burn up to 150 calories compared to sitting, and I know this is not super lazy, but think about all the other things you have to do to burn 150 calories. So, if you’re on the computer a lot, consider a standing desk, and if you can’t do that, find some excuses to stand up, like, take more drink breaks or bathroom breaks.
33. Don’t eat if not hungry
If you are hungry, ask yourself if you want an apple. If the answer is no, you’re probably just bored, so, go do something entertaining instead.
34. Use your non-dominant hand for eating
Eat with your non-dominant hand. This works because most of the food decisions we make, happen automatically, especially when we are watching something. Research has shown that simply by eating with your non-dominant hand you can break up your habit enough that you become more aware of your eating decisions, allowing you to stop sooner.
35. Laugh intensely
Try watching some funny videos as well! Scientists have found that laughing intensely for an hour can burn as many as a hundred calories, and in particular helps build up your abdominal muscles.
36. Watch a scary movie
Watching a scary movie can help you lose weight, but the scarier it is, the more calories you burn. Studies have shown that one view of the shining can burn 180 calories which is the equivalent of a 30-minute walk. Hell yeah! I’d rather watch a movie!
37. Drinking healthy lemon drink
Drinking three tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice reduces fluctuations in your daily blood sugar levels by 10%. And these sugar spikes are what lead to fat gain. I personally don’t drink pure lemon juice since it’s so sour, but if you fill a container in the ratio of two litres water, juice of one lemon, one cucumber and ten mint leaves, you’ll get the right amount of lemon in just two cups. This healthy water mix will not only help with weight loss, but it will detox your body and clear your skin as well. Or if you are super lazy, just mix the amount of lemon juice into your daily drinking water.
38. Drinking cold water on an empty stomach
Did you know that drinking two cups of cold water on an empty stomach can boost your metabolism by up to 30%? This is actually crazy if you think about it because I burn about a thousand calories a day naturally; burning an extra 30% is like 300 calories, which is like another small meal.
39. Consuming water before every meal
Drinking water before each meal also fills your stomach up so you don’t overeat. Studies have shown that if you do this before every meal for 12 weeks, you will lose 4.5 pounds or 2 kilos more than if you just eat normally.
40. Including cheat meals
Including at least one or two cheat meals per week is indeed important. Or at least a day as a cheat day. For instance, You are on a strict diet from Monday to Saturday, but on Sunday, you eat anything you want, that’s called a cheat meal.
41. Adding Caffeine to your diet
Caffeine has shown to boost metabolism by 7%. Therefore, try to include some amount of caffeine daily, may be you can go for a coffee or tea (black/green/normal one). Study also suggests that a combination of both coffee and tea in a whole day helps to lose more weight.
42. Keeping gap between meal and sleep
It is advised to have your last meal (dinner) as early as possible and as light as possible, so that you can keep some gap before you sleep. There should be at least 2-3 hours gap between dinner and sleep. This ensures that all nutrients are absorbed appropriately and fats are oxidized, so that they are not accumulated in body. This also keeps your digestion good.
I wish you great success in your weight loss journey. If you liked this post, you can subscribe to my updates and channel. Thank you for going through my post! 🙂