Simple, small changes you can make every day to lose a few pounds.
Gaining a pound requires you to consume 3500 more calories than you are burning. There are many small things that people do daily that cause you to slowly add up to that magic 3500 number, causing you to gain a pound. If you change some simple things that you do/eat every day you will notice that you can reverse the weight gain effect and lose weight. Instead of consuming 50 extra calories a day you could be losing 50 extra calories a day. Causing you to lose a pound in 70 days without even trying. That’s 5 pounds a year!
There are many simple things you can do daily that don’t require any effort and will cause you to lose weight. These 5 things are things I found that are simple and require minimal effort and cause no suffering to implement into my daily life. You won’t need to change your eating habits and you won’t need to suffer because you will still be eating many of the same things, while still shedding the lbs!
Lower Calorie Condiments/Dressings/Sauces
Condiments and dressing are some of the most common culprits in weight gain. One tablespoon of your favorite ranch dressing is 70 calories! Most people would be very disappointed if they knew how much ranch they were putting on their “healthy” salad. The ranch alone can be more calories than everything else on the salad combined. It isn’t rare that condiment use gets out of control and can pack on the pounds far faster than you expect.
Many condiments are loaded with added sugars and high fructose corn syrup. Your favorite ketchup has high fructose corn syrup in it. Same with your barbeque sauce, loaded with added sugar and high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup is linked to many health issues and it is best left out of your condiments.
Things to avoid in condiments: High fructose corn syrup, added sugars, and high-fat content.
Remember when choosing a condiment to keep an eye out for the sodium content.
Look for the lower-calorie alternative to your favorite condiments. choose the low-fat salad dressing, go for the no sugar added ketchup, ditch the syrup instead, use fruit on your pancakes, and avoid using oils as a condiment.
Some approved condiments to lose weight: Mustard, reduced-sodium soy sauce, salsa, no sugar added ketchup, Walden Farms condiments(0 calories), nutritional yeast(replaces cheese), and hot sauce.
Change To Low-Calorie Food Options
Low-calorie food options, gross! Wrong! there are some foods where you can bearly taste the difference between the low-calorie version and the high-calorie version. For example, tortillas, one flour tortilla can be 120 calories! Instead of choosing a flower tortilla you can go with one of the low calorie, high fiber, wheat tortillas. These tortillas run anywhere from 50–70 calories, have more protein and have tons of fiber! They are far more satiating due to the fiber, and taste delicious!
If you’re choosing meat you can go with the leaner cuts or the leaner ground version. Instead of getting 85–15 beef, get 90–10 beef. Instead of eating an 1000 calorie pint of Ben and Jerrys go for the 300 calorie pint. Instead of going for the full-fat Greek yogurt, go for the non-fat Greek yogurt.
There are many delicious options out there which could significantly reduce the number of calories you’re eating while sacrificing little to no taste.
Don’t Cook With Oils
Cooking with oil adds loads of calories to whatever you are cooking. 1 tablespoon of olive oil is around 120 calories! Let us be real for a moment, nobody is just putting one tablespoon of olive oil on when they cook. You’re eyeballing it, just like I would. Even if you are only adding an additional half tablespoon that's still 60 calories! I don’t know about you but I would rather eat an Oreo than have 60 calories of olive oil on my food.
But wait a minute, olive oil has omega 3s in it! That is true, but when cooking with olive oil on average around 70% of omega 3s are destroyed by the heat.
When oils burn they release toxic smoke. If you are going to cook with oil make sure you choose one with a high smoke point.
If you must cook with oils, I recommend you use the spray can avocado oil. I recommend avocado oil because it has a high smoke point(500 degrees Fahrenheit). If you are going to use the spray can make sure you only hold down the spray for no more than 1 second. That will release around 5–10 calories of avocado oil.
Get A Pressure Cooker or Air Fryer
Pressure Cooker
Losing weight by cooking with a pressure cooker? That doesn’t make sense! Well if you think about it, it does. Having a pressure cooker can be a lifesaver when it comes to eating healthy meals. All you have to do is throw your HEALTHY ingredients into the pressure cooker, turn it on, and wallah! 30 minutes later you have yourself a wonderful healthy meal. No sitting at the stove slaving away for 30 minutes, no dreading having to cook yourself a healthy meal, just throw the food in the pressure cooker, wait, and enjoy! No extra calories added in order to cook the food properly, just add water.
Pressure cooking is the best way to maximize the nutrient profile of your food. Cooking with a pressure cooker preserves 90–95% of the vitamins in the food, compared to the stove which preserves 70–75%.
Being able to cook healthy, tasty, homemade meals quickly is critical in weight loss. This will prevent you from just being lazy and throwing a frozen pizza into the oven.
Note: Cooking meat in the pressure cooker cooks off a lot of the fat!
Air Fryer
Simple, cooking with an air fryer is a replacement for deep frying your foods. You can cook many things in the air fryer but the main point here is that you shouldn’t need to deep fry to make your food nice and crispy.
Walk Around In Between Sets
If you choose to lift weights as a form of exercise this may be for you. Instead of sitting on your phone in between sets you can get up and walk around. Not only will this help you burn a small number of extra calories it will keep your blood flowing, body warm, and prep you for the next set. You won’t be adding any additional time to your weight lifting session and you will be burning a few extra calories, and getting a few additional steps. If this causes you to burn 20 extra calories per workout, wouldn’t it still be worth it? You can even walk around with your phone in your hand if you must!
Conclusion
Remember, not everything I said here will work for everyone, but if you can implement even one of these tips, you can drop a significant amount of weight without even trying.
I understand some people have dietary restrictions, or are sensitive to certain ingredients or foods, but these are just something I’ve implemented and I have noticed the results!
Now get out there and shed those lbs!
