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20 WAYS TO LOSE WEIGHT - Focus on Three Factors
Losing weight can be hard. It takes a lot of commitment to stick to a diet and fitness plan and to make sure that any weight you lose stays lost and doesn’t creep back on when you take your foot off the pedal. A lot of people fail to consistently lose weight because they don’t think about how to make the necessary life changes. The truth is – all you need to do is to concentrate on thse 20 tips broken down into three major factors:
1. Mental Attitude
The first step to losing weight is WANTING to lose weight. Then, deciding
that you WILL lose weight. You then need to work out a way of losing weight
that will work for you – this will generally involve switching to a healthy,
balanced diet and engaging in some form of exercise. So...
- Commit to sorting out a diet and exercise plan – and then do it.
- Accept that you’ll have good days and bad days – don’t beat yourself
up on a bad day, a
good one will follow.
- Persuade a friend to lose weight with you – support here will greatly improve your chances of losing weight.
- Set a target weight that you want to achieve and a deadline for you
to reach this target - stick your target on the refrigerator door so
you can see it regularly (and it’ll put you off snacking!)
2. Diet
It doesn’t matter how much you exercise you won’t see the right kind of weight loss if you don’t eat healthily at the same time. So…...
- Start eating low fat options and lots of fruit and vegetables – don’t buy unhealthy snacks (if they aren’t in the house, you can’t eat them!) but keep a store of healthy snacks around (like vegetable sticks)
- Cut down on your carbohydrate intake – you can still eat pasta, bread
and potatoes but take smaller portions and eat them less frequently.
- Don’t fry food – it’s far better to grill, steam or boil.
- Don’t shop on an empty stomach – shop when you aren’t hungry and you won’t be tempted to buy unhealthy food.
- Cut out sodas – water is far better for you as all a soda will give you is empty calories.
- Eat at the right times – don’t skip meals or eat late at night and make sure you have breakfast EVERY day.
- Don’t be scared to treat yourself – you won’t focus on junk food if you use it as an occasional daily treat and it’s better to have a small unhealthy snack every now and then than to gorge yourself on junk food every few days when your willpower cracks.
- Eat less – let your mind play tricks on you by eating from a smaller plate than usual as it’ll think it’s actually eating more than usual and you’re feel fuller!
- Drink water – water is great for you and it also fills you up so have a glass before a meal and you’ll eat less.>
- Avoid ‘magic’ diets – these diets may see you lose weight to start off with but it’ll come straight back on when you start eating normally again.
3. Exercise
It’s important to devise an exercise plan that will work with your diet and help you lose weight. Once you get into exercising you’ll get a real feel-good feeling that will make it far easier to stick with your overall plan. So…..
- Start small – if you’re not used to exercising then start off with just 10 or 15 minutes a day and build up from there.
- Write down your exercise plan – it’ll be easier to stick to.
- Try to do something you enjoy – if you like running, then jog; if you like water then swim; if you like dancing then join an aerobics class. Don’t do something you hate as you won’t stick at it for long.
- Use weights: strength training is a great way of helping your metabolism burn more calories and it makes your whole body more efficient when you do exercise.
- Exercise when you can – you don’t have to go to the gym to exercise. You can take the stairs rather than an elevator, power walk to work or run up and down stairs for five minutes every night.
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