7 Proven Healthy Lifestyle Tips — All About Effortless Weight Loss At Its Best
See if they fit in your fitness routine
Losing weight doesn’t have to be hard. All you need to do is create healthier habits in your life and stick with them, including getting plenty of restful sleep, eating nutritious foods, and being mindful of your portion sizes. These seven healthy lifestyle tips will help you see the results you want without making drastic changes that are difficult to maintain long-term.
They include tips on how to get through your cravings and food addictions, what foods to avoid to shed pounds, and which activities help you lose weight quickly.
“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” – Jim Rohn
Tip #1: Stop trying to lose weight (seriously!)
If there’s one tip we can offer that you won’t read anywhere else, it’s to stop trying to lose weight. Just…stop. Focusing on fat loss is not just about calories in versus calories out, as so many people make it out to be, says Ben Lawsky, registered dietitian and founder of nutrition coaching practice FITology.
It’s about adopting healthy behaviors. The truth is that weight loss is never just a matter of dietary tweaks or counting calories; it’s a profound psychological undertaking. Need proof?
Just look at how many ways there are to track progress: Fitbit, Garmin, and Jawbone fitness trackers; MyFitnessPal app; MapMyRun app; Runkeeper tracking software…the list goes on.
Tip #2: Understand calorie counting
Just because you’re trying to eat right doesn’t mean you have to make life hard on yourself. One of my favorite tips for weight loss is to simply keep track of calories and understand how many calories are actually in what you eat. For instance, a 12-ounce bottle of regular cola has more than 250 calories.
If you drink one a day, at just 250 calories per day, that’s already 10 pounds in a year — without exercising. Just understanding how easy it is to overdo it by consuming too many sweets or sugary drinks will set you on your way toward better eating habits. You don’t need an expensive app or platform; using pen and paper can be enough.
Tip #3: Drink more water
The amount of water we drink is directly related to how well we’re hydrated, and when we’re dehydrated it wreaks havoc on our bodies. Aside from mood swings, headaches, and achy muscles, chronic dehydration can also lead to increased appetite as our bodies begin holding onto more water.
And not being properly hydrated has been shown to cause poor digestion. In addition to drinking eight glasses of water a day, be sure you have at least one glass before each meal; This will help give your body time to digest food effectively.
Tip #4: Focusing on protein
Protein is an essential component of any diet, whether you’re looking to build muscle or lose weight. If you don’t consume enough protein in your diet, you risk losing muscle and having a lower metabolism.
Your body breaks down protein into amino acids and uses those amino acids to build new tissue — so if your diet doesn’t include adequate amounts of protein, your body will start to break down lean muscle mass instead. In addition to ensuring that you get enough protein every day, it can also help boost satiety so that you feel fuller longer and reduce cravings throughout the day.
When combined with exercise, consuming enough protein can help accelerate fat loss by helping keep hunger at bay and reducing cravings for sugary snacks.
Tip #5: Focusing on fiber
Since fiber helps to fill you up and keep you satisfied longer, it’s important to make sure your diet includes a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains that are rich in fiber. High-fiber foods can help prevent overeating. For example, apples provide 3 grams of fiber for just 80 calories.
Vegetables with leafy green tops like cabbage (4 grams per cup), kale (5 grams per cup), chard (5 grams per cup), and spinach (1 gram per 1/2 cup cooked) will all help boost your fiber intake too.
Tip #6: Knowing what you eat
Tracking your daily caloric intake can give you a good idea of where your calories are coming from. That way, you can make sure that certain meals or snacks aren’t eating up more calories than they should be.
Remember to add up all of your food for each day and then add in any snacks that are on the go like a granola bar, piece of fruit, or other snack foods like nuts. This will help you to get an accurate accounting of what you eat over time.
Tip #7: Keeping healthy snacks at hand
Eating healthy snacks is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Prepackaged foods are convenient, but they aren’t always healthy. Instead, keep fresh fruits and vegetables in your home so you have something to grab when you need to run out the door.
You can also buy small quantities of foods like nuts, jerky, or other high-protein snacks that are more filling than processed treats (which don’t usually contain any nutritional value). Having these healthy snacks on hand can help you avoid succumbing to junk food when hunger hits.
Final Thoughts
Following these tips is not always easy, but it’s worth every bit of effort you put into it. If you can implement these steps into your lifestyle you will be on your way to a healthy, effortless weight loss at its best.
The key is to have patience and motivation to stick with these methods long enough until they become a habit; once that happens losing weight will be easier than ever before. Stick with it and soon you will enjoy an amazing weight loss success story like no other.
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