Weight Loss: 6 Ways to Do it Effectively
Losing weight is not easy, and the abundance of information can overwhelm us. If you were planning to lose weight at the start of this year but feel discouraged at the progress (or non-progress) you are making; you are not alone.
Your weight loss starts with your mindset, not food. It doesn’t matter when you start, as long as you start with the right mindset. Developing the right mindset will help sustain you in the journey and, in the long run, develop healthy eating habits.
Here are six simple ways to help you start with the weight loss journey.
Get Enough Sleep
Getting enough sleep will help significantly with your weight loss journey and prevent weight gain. When your body lacks rest and sleep, it will go into stress mode. This means your body needs extra calories to cope with the stress, and this will cause you to eat more.
What’s more, poor sleep leads to dysregulation of hormones and appetite. Studies showed people who lack sleep are 55% prone to obesity.
Increase Protein Intake
Protein is part of our macronutrients and is needed for a healthy body. The intake of protein is essential for weight loss. This is because the body burns more with protein. Individuals who are consuming more protein intake a day can burn up to 400 calories daily.
Consume at least 1.6 grams per kilogram daily. Protein helps with satiety, making you feel full for longer periods. Aside from that, protein is difficult to be stored as body fat. However, if you have kidney disease, diabetes, liver problem, phenylketonuria, or gallstones, it is important to ask for your doctor’s advice.
Be active
Staying active is another way to help burn daily calories. Aside from healthy food choices, being active puts unnecessary weight gain away. Nowadays, there are plenty of exercises that you can choose, either done online at the comfort of your homes like yoga or outdoor activities such as walking and hiking.
Aside from burning calories, staying active benefits the mental and emotional aspects of yourself. It also decreases the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Moreover, when you are losing weight, you lose a lot of muscle mass. Exercising can help improve the loss. The loss of muscle mass can affect your metabolism. Keep your metabolism up, join the muscle nation to sustain your weight loss.
Drink plenty of water
Drinking a lot of water helps with weight loss. You probably read and hear this many times because water is vital for your body to function at its best. It helps burn calories as much as 30% when you are drinking 17oz of water.
It also gives you a sense of fullness, thus promoting less caloric intake when consuming before meals. Instead of drinking soda and sugary drinks, opt for water.
Whenever you think you feel hungry, instead of reaching out to find food, get a glass of water. The fluid stretches your stomach, sending a signal to that brain that you are not hungry.
Moreover, intake of water stimulates thermogenesis. When this happens, there is increased metabolism in the body thus burning calories in the body. Increased water intake means you are stimulating metabolism in the body.
Assess your daily routine
If you are losing weight and want to keep the momentum going, you really need to assess your daily routine to create a more supportive environment for your body. When you are able to assess your routine, creating a more healthy lifestyle will be easy.
Examine your eating habits in your workplace. Do you love eating out with co-workers? Do you have unused time that can be replaced with exercises? When you are able to see patterns, it can help you plan for a healthier lifestyle.
If you enjoy eating out, then you may suggest a place that offers healthy food. Saying no to after-work drinks and replacing them with an exercise routine.
Redo your grocery list
Going for a healthy lifestyle means you need to redo your grocery list. Let go of your old comfort foods if they were unhealthy (chocolates, ice cream, junk foods) and start listing down all the healthy options you can afford.
It doesn’t have to be something that is expensive or hard to find food. There are plenty of affordable food choices like vegetables, fruits, and grains. Replace chocolates with nuts, ice cream with fruit shakes or smoothies, and junk foods for apples or bananas. For sugary energy drinks, opt for coffee (sugarless!) or tea.
Buy fresh produce and stock on healthy snacks so you’ll avoid the temptation to go out for snacks. You’ll notice how redoing your grocery list can push you towards the weight loss goal.
These are a few simple things that you can do to start on your weight loss journey. Focus on small steps and celebrate your progress, no matter how small. As you are able to tackle the little things and see the result, you’ll feel empowered. It will be a motivation to continue, and soon you’ll realize it’s not just about weight loss; it’s about staying healthy and maintaining that lifestyle.
