Lately, you might have been looking at yourself in the mirror and getting shocked by what you see. It appears like you have gained some weight. This can be a source of discomfort, not forgetting that it is also unhealthy. While some new and popular diet and exercise plans will help one lose weight, it is more beneficial to develop a new healthy lifestyle. With new habits, one will lose weight and keep the weight off with ease. Here are a few practices one must develop if they are looking to lose weight.
Lifestyle
Note any bad habits and eradicate them
Change your bad habits. Bad habits are the hardest part of losing weight. Whether the habit is TV time nibbling, smoking, skipping meals, or eating on the run, they can all deter weight loss. If your habit is to grab that bowl of popcorn whenever you sit to watch TV, make a goal to only eat at your dining table. If you are a smoker who finds you much all the time, buy electronic cigarettes and try those to help break the addiction and curb the munchies. If you skip breakfast or other meals throughout the day, focus on their importance, and work on scheduling your time better so that you can eat well-balanced meals at appropriate times.
Take stock of what is frustrating your effort. Probably, you do not get sufficient sleep or are facing stressful situations. These two contribute to your gaining weight. You could also be a person who watches TV or movies all weekend. These are just but a few examples of bad habits. Aim to shut-down all electronics i.e., the television, smartphone, computer, or laptop at least one hour before bedtime. You can make use of an alarm that will trigger you into action.
Be Honest with Yourself
If you aren’t sure where to begin, start a food and exercise journal. Sometimes you might think you are still making good food and exercise choices, but when writing them down, notice that extra cookie or snack you’ve been eating each day. You may also begin recording your exercise habits and feel that you aren’t putting in the most effort. Recording what you are eating and what you are doing for exercise might just be enough to help you realize where changes need to be made.
Pace Yourself
Many exercisers jump into their new routines too quickly and end up fading. When looking to lose weight and get into shape, an exerciser must ease into their plan. A serious exerciser should learn proper stretching and warm-up routines to avoid serious injuries. An exerciser who eases into their workout plan will have a better chance at success as they will not experience fatigue. Any increase in physical activity will benefit you.
Long-term weight loss has to be matched with realistic expectations. You cannot expect to lose 20 pounds in a month. Set a realistic goal of losing 1-2 lbs a week ensures that you are burning fat and not just losing water weight and burning muscle mass for energy. It is safe to aim for reducing your body fat percentage by .5%-1% per week.
Be Flexible
A new dieter or exerciser should deviate from their plans on occasion. When enjoying that rare treat such as a cold beer or a day on the couch, a person will come back stronger and be less likely to fail in their plans. All too often, an exerciser will train with intensity and end up quitting as they bore of the new routine. It is okay to have an unhealthy meal or relax on the couch as long as the exerciser or dieter does not deviate too much from his or her plan.
Find a Buddy
While it may seem difficult at first, a person looking to lose weight should associate with other healthy people. When hanging out with other healthy people, one will have less trouble deviating from their plans as they will be around people who will influence them positively.
Get a partner and regularly workout together. You can take turns deciding the exercises, which will eliminate some of the monotony of doing what you can think of every time. Motivate each other by pushing to see who can go longer. You’ll both feel good from the exercise and probably both be able to some weight quickly. You could weigh in each day, and the first person to lose a designated amount can get paid a little cash from the loser.
Join a Group
Join a weight loss program that focuses on making permanent changes. There is support in numbers, and group weight loss programs help to make you more accountable to yourself as well as others. Weight loss programs offer similar encouragements and changes. When you join a group structured weight loss program, you learn valuable skills that will help you to maintain your new weight and health long term. The group of people that you attend meetings with will also become important allies and friends in your combined battle to lose weight.
Find a program with weekly challenges. This helps to mix up your workouts and can give you better exercises that work in the areas you want better than what you currently do. You may find that these challenges help you get the results you want faster than ever before, and your normal may take on an entirely new set of exercises.
Nutrition
Like it or not, your food choices have a much bigger effect on your overall health than exercising.
Have a Plan
Follow a weight loss meal plan. Healthy eating is not easily accomplished without a little help. Find a meal plan where someone has already figured out what you need, and all you do is eat according to a specific program. Gender-specific meal plans are far better since men and women burn calories differently, and our metabolisms aren’t too similar.
Eat a well-balanced diet. More than just what you choose to eat, it’s important to track everything you eat, as well. Begin by learning new cooking techniques, new recipes that support healthy eating, and even fresh foods to incorporate into your menus. Take all of the new things you learn and create a 30 day or one-month no-fail menu. By beginning with a plan that is in writing, you will be more committed to carrying it out.
Whether it’s creating a calorie deficit by counting the number of calories you eat a day, intermittent fasting, Keto, Whole 30, or something else entirely, pick something you will stick to and do it.
But remember, for long-term weight loss, fad diets, low calorie diets, aren’t sustainable or healthy. Avoid any diets that cuts out macro nutrients entirely (even carbs). Low-fat diets are especially harmful because your brain needs fat to work properly. Nutrient depravation can mess with your hormones, which can cause weight cycling (a yo-yo scenario).
Foods that are artificially engineered to be low-fat add sugar to enhance the taste. So while you can easily choose lean meats over fatty cuts of meat, but when faced with a choice between full or low-fat cottage cheese, go for full fat without guilt and enjoy the healthier, better tasting snack.
Cleanse
Do a full-body cleanse for a natural boost. This is a great way to rid of unwanted toxins that you can’t seem to discard on your own. It cleans out the body’s filter, so it can get back to helping you feel that much better all the time. This is something that can give you the extra pick-me-up you need. By the time it cleans your intestines, liver, kidneys, and even skin is cleaner, you may have already lost several pounds!
Be careful though, this is a short term, jump start to your weight loss. Not a permanant way of life.
Stop Drinking Your Calories
When drinking beer and soda, a dieter is drinking empty calories. When dieting, one must realize that a few hundred calories a week will add up quickly. A dieter who gives up alcohol and soda can lose weight fast as they are not taking in empty calories with these beverages. Even protein drinks have more sugar and calories than we need.
Drink lots of water and stay hydrated. Studies have shown that increasing your water intake can help speed up your weight loss.
Get rid of tempting cravings
You could be one of those people who cannot do without candy, junk food, and baked products. This can frustrate your efforts to lose weight. Every day you keep promising yourself that you are eating these unhealthy foods for the last time. A few months later, you realize that you haven’t stopped craving for them. Put a stop to this by avoiding refined foods containing white sugar or white flour. In their place, go for whole grains, fruits, beans, and vegetables. Food processing removes the nutritious part leaving you with products that are full of starch.
Exercise
Again… Plan
Exercise. Just as with diet, it’s essential to create an exercise plan and a way to track it. Instead of just saying you’re going to go to the gym three times a week, write it on your calendar, set a reminder on your phone, and do something that makes it more of an appointment than just an idea. Set and maintain this goal for at least a month, as well.
Lift Heavy Weights
Contrary to popular belief, lifting heavy weights does not make individuals big and bulky. Quite the opposite will occur when engaging in heavy resistance training. Lifting heavy weights by performing compound movements like squats, deadlifts, chin-ups, and presses help develop lean muscle mass. Developing lean muscle mass will speed up your fat lossby improving your metabolism. Lifting heavy weights also floods the body with hormones such as testosterone, HGH, IGF-1. These anabolic hormones are essential when it comes to increasing lean muscle mass and dropping body fat.
Perform High-Intensity Workouts
Workouts centered around High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) helps burn calories faster than performing traditional steady-state cardio exercises, i.e., jogging, walking at an incline, bicycling, etc. Performing sprints, Tabata, and other workouts that have intervals of explosive bursts spike the heart rate and metabolism, leading to higher caloric burn in shorter amounts of time. High-Intensity Workouts also have a higher after-burn effect. Even after performing a sprint interval drill for 25 minutes, the body will still burn additional calories for the next 24 hours to help recover from the intensity of the workout.
Try New Things
There are plenty of sports for everyone, and an exerciser should have no trouble finding a sport they enjoy. Instead of jogging or riding a stationary bike, one should consider more exciting sports such as tennis or mountain biking. Remember, with a fun sport; the athlete is likely to stick with the sport for the long haul.
Mix It Up
For many, simply changing up your exercise routine can help. As with many things in life, it is normal to get set on a routine and schedule that works. You may even find that you are eating similar meals all the time as well. Often when you hit a plateau or find that your current weight loss system has stalled, it’s time to change up your routine. Adding a new aerobic exercise class or activity can re-invigorate your exercise potential, for many weight loss will stall until you add weight and strength training to your routine. For others, you may need to change up the type of cardio exercise you do. One of the keys to continued weight loss is to continue to mix up what you are doing for exercise so that your body continually has to adjust.
Make exercising part of your daily routine
Whatever you do, make sure that you are involved in some form of exercise. Set aside 15-20 minutes per day for some exercise. If you are operating on a tight schedule, create some time for exercise. For those who can afford the membership fees and other costs, joining a gym is always a good bet. The instructors put you on a routine program that will see you shedding off the extra kilos. By exercising regularly, your body’s metabolism rate increases. This, in turn, leads to weight loss and elimination of stress.
You’re ready to fight the battle of the bulge and work towards that goal of losing weight. It seems that in today’s world, we are continually beginning a weight loss program of some kind or another. We keep looking for something different, hoping this time, and this program will finally work; when what it comes down to is that no one program or time will work; it has to be a complete change of lifestyle if what we’re trying is going to last.