|
We asked, and you delivered. Thank you to all who contributed. Literally hundreds of healthy weight loss tips were emailed in and posted on Facebook. All of the tips were compiled, and a common pattern began to take shape. Here they are - 20 of the best healthy weight loss tips from people who have lost over 50 pounds.
Drink Water
One of the biggest common denominators amongst people who lost over 50 pounds is they all switched over to drinking water. They gave up the sodas and sugary drinks and instead quenched their thirst with water. This tip alone helped hundreds of people lose weight.
See why drinking water is the secret to fat loss.
Keep a Food Journal
Write down everything that goes into your mouth. Most people were surprised to see how much they were actually eating. It wasn't until they wrote it down that they began to realize the cause and effect of what they were putting into their bodies.
Here are 6 convincing reasons to start journaling your food intake.
Count Calories
What a boring and tedious job, but probably one of the most effective undertakings for losing weight. There is no getting around calorie balance. If you want to lose weight, you have to eat less than you burn. I personally use the LoseIt app to track my food calories (calories in), and the BodyMedia FIT Armband to track my daily calorie burn (calories out).
Control Portion Sizes
In our super-sized food culture, portion sizes have gotten out of control. Eating portions the size of your fist is a good start towards controlling your food intake. Getting in the habit of measuring your food with a digital food scale is a great way to learn how to eye portion sizes. Also, don't feel like you always need to finish off all the food on your plate. Leaving a couple bites will teach you self-control.
Here's how to determine correct portion sizes for weight loss without calorie counting.
Don't Diet
The best "diet" is the one that best fits into your lifestyle. Once you find that, it's no longer a diet - it's just a way of life. One of the best healthy weight loss tips people sent in was to approach weight loss as a lifestyle change, and not as a diet. Once you get it out of your head that there's an end date, you can start focusing on the day-to-day realities of living a healthy lifestyle. Being fit is not a destination - it's a way of life.
Be Consistent
No one is perfect. We are all going to make mistakes. However, successful people are consistently living a healthy lifestyle. Over a period of time, they are eating healthy 90% of the time, and they are exercising several times a week. Make exercise and healthy eating part of your everyday routine and soon it will be as second nature as brushing your teeth.
Plan
A healthy lifestyle takes planning. Most mistakes occur from a lack of a plan. Plan your meals in advance so you know what to buy every week at the grocery store. Only buy what you plan on eating, and try to cook your meals ahead of time. The simple nature of reheat and eat makes it much more likely that you'll stay on track.
Make Small Changes
Make small changes consistently until they are habit and you no longer have to think about it, and then make another change. There's no need to completely change your lifestyle all at once. You'll be much more likely to stick with your new healthy lifestyle if you make small changes. Try changing one thing at a time.
Here are 10 baby steps towards better health and fitness.
Educate Yourself
Learn the whys. Don't just do something because someone said to. Understand the purpose behind it. Many people just want a meal plan or blueprint to follow for weight loss. However, the successful people that lost weight and kept it off long term started taking an interest in how nutrition and exercise impact their bodies. They learned the "whys" behind what they were doing, and they were more successful because of it.
Get Active
Nearly everyone who lost over 50 pounds added in some form of physical activity. Even if it was just a little bit, the fact that they were more active helped them lose the weight. The trick is to find an activity you enjoy. Not everyone likes the same exercise. Find an activity you love to do, and then push yourself out of your comfort zone. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Don't Beat Yourself Up
You're going to mess up. We all do. Successful people don't beat themselves up over it. They get right back on track. They don't wait until tomorrow to do so either. Their healthy lifestyle and weight loss continues to move forward and make progress because they allow themselves to make mistakes, learn from them, and then end up stronger as a result.
Surround Yourself With Positive People
We are highly influenced by the people close to us. Many successful people had to move forward with their lives and leave old friends and lifestyles behind. It was a hard decision to make, but they understood how important it was to surround themselves with people who believed in their dreams.
Start
How do you expect to accomplish your goals if you never start trying to achieve them? Beginning is half the challenge. Don't be afraid of failure. People who lost over 50 pounds stopped waiting for things to happen, and went out and made things happen.
Here are 8 common weight loss mistakes you should avoid.
Stop Making Excuses
Successful people made the shift and realized that the reasons for why they weren't reaching their weight loss goals were actually just excuses. It was a hard idea to accept, but once they were honest with themselves, they spent less time making excuses, and more time finding ways to accomplish their goals.
Do It For Yourself
Make ME #1. Lose weight for Me, not because of pressure from other people. We all have our own reasons for wanting to lose weight, but a common denominator amongst the healthy weight loss tips sent in was that the successful people undertook their new lifestyle because they wanted to. They weren't pressured into weight loss by friends or family. They did it for themselves, and as a result, they inspired others to do something for themselves too.
Be Patient
You didn't gain your weight overnight, and you aren't going to lose it that way either. We all want the weight gone quickly, but once you realize that weight loss is a process, you can stop beating yourself up for not reaching your far-fetched weight loss goals. Stop looking at weight loss as a day to day challenge. If nothing changes, nothing changes. This is a lifetime commitment to changing.
See why losing 2lbs per week isn't realistic for everyone.
Stay Positive
Negative thoughts lead to negative results. You are the result of what you think. Keeping a positive outtake on your weight loss journey increases the odds of your success. You will learn a lot about yourself during your lifestyle transition. There will be many challenges and difficulties, but it's important to understand that even though it might not be easy, it will be worth it.
Discover Your Relationship With Food
Why are you eating bad? Make the connection between your eating habits and your emotions. Get to the root of your negative lifestyle choices. Know when your body needs food and when it wants food, and find new ways to reward yourself other than with food.
Don't Try to Be Perfect
If your goal is to be perfect, you're already setting yourself up for failure. No one is perfect. Even the people who seem to have the most perfect bodies didn't get there by being perfect. Perfection is something many strive for, but ultimately something they will never achieve. Do your best!
Read why progress, not perfection, is the key to long-term success.
Never Give Up
Weight loss happens the moment you don't give up. Many people don't realize how close they were to achieving success. There comes a time when things just click, but that doesn't happen until you're ready to throw in the towel and call it quits. The longer you stick with it, the higher your odds of success. Keep moving forward, and don't ever give up! |
