Weight loss is not as simple as it looks. After all, you don’t stop losing weight by controlling diet or exercise alone. There are easy ways to lose weight, but you need to be dedicated and committed to following a strict regimen. So, whether it is dietary tips, exercise techniques or lifestyle modifications, you need to consider each and every aspect when you are aiming for weight loss. So, without further ado, let’s delve deeper into how you can lose weight easily following these effective tips.
Easy Ways to Lose Weight
#1 Limit Alcoholic Intake and Cut Down On Cocktails
Happy hour is not a cause for celebration when you consider the toll exercise takes on the waistline. Alcohol, in fact, is one of the most common reasons for weight gain, especially if it is through fancy cocktails like rum and coke or margaritas, where alcohol combines with sugar concoctions. So, avoid excess alcohol if you are looking for easy ways to lose weight.
#2 Regulate the Medicines You Take
This may sound strange, but some medicines for common conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and depression can make it harder to lose excess weight. Consult your doctor about switching to weight-negative or neutral alternatives.
#3 Eat At The Right Time
What one consumes is only half of the equation. Irrespective of the diet chosen, what one eats is critical, too. Starving all day is a recipe for later bingeing. Instead, eat healthy, small meals and snacks at regular times through the day for curbing cravings.
#4 Have Plenty of Yogurts
The bacteria in the gut influence the complete body, including the weight. Consider that good bug-friendly bacteria can impact your weight, too. Fill up on probiotic foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, yogurt, and other fermented options. Another good way out is to take probiotic supplements each day. Certain gut-friendly bacteria also boost the metabolic rate.
#5 Have Restful Sleep
Resisting the urge to wind down by scrolling through your smartphone or using your tablet or television screen can prevent your circadian rhythms from being disrupted. This makes it easier to get a good night’s rest, too. Getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep in the night is the easiest way to lose weight.
#6 Stock Up On Veggies
Vegetables are wonderful for health and they can also trigger weight loss. It all depends on the fiber. All you need to do is add fiber-rich veggies to every snack and meal. This adds additional nutrients and also induces satiety, so you are less tempted to snack between meals. You also end up eating less.
#7 Monitor Your Stress Levels
Take just two minutes of the day to meditate and you can easily apply an app or continue breathing. Meditation, as well as stress release exercises, can lower stress hormone cortisol. This, in turn, can help to lower the weight, as cortisol is known to cause weight gain.
#8 Don’t Think Sugar-Free Foods are Calorie-Free!
Opting for a diet soda or eating cookies sweetened with artificial flavors may appear to be a good idea for weight loss, but that is actually counter-productive. Artificial sweeteners can also pile on those pounds. According to research published in a Journal on Applied Physiology, Nutrition & Metabolism, artificial sweeteners contain chemicals that interfere with important hormones and enzymes in the body. This leads to an increased waist size.
#9 Eat Mini Snacks to Stave off Binge Eating
For most people, the temptation to engage in binge eating happens during late afternoon or just before bed. These are the times when one is stressed and tired. Head off this urge to binge eating by consuming a mini-meal that contains healthy proteins and fats to fill up the stomach. A hormone which rouses the appetite called Ghrelin intensifies during periods of hunger, so mid-afternoon snacks can prevent overeating later on.
#10 Start the Day with Lemon and Hot Water
So many folks start their day with a warm beverage, but if you need to lose the flab, sweetened tea or coffee just won’t cut it. Instead, try a cup of hot water with a squeeze of lemon. This boosts the metabolism and further aids digestion, besides losing the weight.
#11 Try Yoga Stretches
Just because you are not trim or lithe, does not mean yoga is not for you. Forgetting the stereotypes is important because yoga is for every body type. Relaxation exercises can enable one to stave off emotional eating. Relaxation, yoga, meditation practices lower blood pressure, reduce stress and cut down on the hormone cortisol released in the body. This helps in losing weight, especially abdominal fat.
#12 Use Smaller Serving Dishes
Another way to exercise portion control is to use smaller dishes. Eating off eight-inch salads plates instead of ten-inch or larger dinner plates. Using small bowls instead of large soup bowls may seem a little stingy, but it results in fewer calories as per the Cornell Food Lab. Missing out on the extra bites is well worth the benefit in terms of weight loss.
#13 Give Up Sweetened Beverages
Give up on sugary beverages like soda, juice and even healthy sports drinks is one of the most effective and simplest ways to cut down on weight. Instead of drinking calories, it is important to stay hydrated. Cut down on calorie-packed drinks when they really need them, like parties or celebrations.
#14 Exercise Regularly & Lose Weight
Moving is important if you want to lose weight. Blocking out thirty minutes a day for physical activities is a must. Take an after-dinner walk with the spouse while catching up on the day or playing with kids matter.
#15 Try Vanilla Flavours
If you do want to snack on cakes, cookies or pies, vanilla could be your secret weapon for effortless weight loss, as per studies carried out by St. George’s Hospital, UK. Study participants who wore a vanilla-smelling patch reported lower cravings, especially for sweets and desserts. Opt for vanilla essence to curb the cravings.
#16 Brush Teeth After Meals
One way to stave off cravings for desserts and sweets is minty fresh breath. This leads to better oral hygiene and prevents after-dinner snacking. Once the mouth is freshened, it serves to prevent hunger pangs from intensifying.
#17 Take a Hike
Simply remaining in green spaces or going for outdoor excursions like hiking and trekking can help to initiate weight loss. Research by the American Diabetes Association found that if one is hiking, trekking or simply walking, this boosts blood circulation and your mood thereby reducing stress. These are the factors that influence weight loss.
#18 Combat Cravings
Hunger pangs can feel really intense, but short-circuiting these calories is simply a matter of exercising self-control when it comes to cravings. So, understand if you are engaging in emotional eating or stress eating. People eat for so many reasons besides actual hunger. So it is important to understand why you are really consuming items and whether food can fill that need or requirement.
#19 Eat Lunch Early
Taking the lunch break earlier on can help in losing weight, according to research. A study in the journal Obesity found that those eating lunch early in the day lost over 25 percent additional weight than those eating after 3 pm, even when the same items and an equal amount of calories were consumed. Waiting to eat until you are starving could trigger cravings for junk foods.
#20 Lift Weights
Lifting weights do not mean there needs to be a gym at hand; all you need is a heavyweight, which could be a pair of bottles or a brick. According to Boston University’s School of Medicine, strength training is essential for maintaining healthy body weight and metabolic rate, especially around middle age. The more muscles there are the more calories one burns.
#21 Avoid Sleep Deprivation
Sleep is known as the “third pillar of weight loss.” Receiving fewer than 7-9 hours of sleep in the night revs up the hunger hormone ghrelin and lowers the satiety hormone called leptin. Sleep deprivation also plays with impulse control, making it less likely that one will adhere to healthy food choices and control portions the day later.
#22 Try Healthy Smoothies
Protein remains the most satiating and hunger fulfilling macronutrient, keeping you full for longer time periods as against carbs or fats. If one needs to drop the pounds, it is essential to eat protein and cut down on excess calories in the form of fats and carbs. A good way out is to try delicious protein smoothie that adds spinach, berries, milk, yogurt or a host of other healthy choices.
#23 Welcome the Winter Cold
Central heating could well be a factor in obesity. According to the Journal Cell, regular exposure to mildly cold weather can help in fending off weight gain. Chilly air, for example, increases the metabolism by enabling the body to adjust to changing conditions.
#24 Say No to Treats
Doughnuts at the meeting, birthday cakes at a party or a holiday celebration are all part and parcel of life. It can be hard to stave off treat, especially when one is tempted. Remember that one pays the price with the waistline instead of the wallet. By refusing sugar or carb-heavy foods, one can guard their body and nutritional requirements.
#25 Eat Legume Rich Diet
Consume a legume-rich diet, and get nutritious, vegetarian food to trigger your weight loss. As per the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who consumed just 3/4 of a cup of peas, lentils, chickpeas or beans in a single day lost 1/2 a pound in a week without changing diet or exercise habits. You need protein and fiber to satiate you and trigger weight loss – legumes contain plenty of both.
#26 Always Have a Cheat Day
Waiting only a few days to indulge makes it easier to pass up on a treat in a given moment. Work to limit calories and sugar and stave off a binge. Emotional eating can really mess up your calorific intake, so avoid it by limiting the amount of time you can engage in binge eating.
#27 Weigh Yourself Regularly
Weighing yourself is essential, especially if the mood is tied to the scale readout. But if you never weigh yourself, you are likely to put on the pounds. Recent research by Cornell University found individuals who weighed themselves at a certain time every week not only fought off weight gain but even lost quite a few pounds without changing their diets. The numbers can make one mindful of what to eat across the week.
#28 Avoid Sitting for Long Periods of Time
Remember that sitting really takes a toll on weight and health. But it is a risk factor that can be remedied easily. All you need to do is stand up more often. So, you can either invest in a standing desk or an active sitting chair and ensure you remain fit, active and healthy throughout the day.
#29 Learn to Multitask
Besides counting your steps, a way to get your numbers up when it comes to exercise is simply multitasking while you walk. Put on a movie in front of a treadmill or load an audio-book or music album and hit the walkways.
#30 Eat Apples
An apple a day keeps not just the doctor, but weight gains away as well. Fruits are teeming with nutrients and fiber. Therefore, eating a couple of servings per day helps in losing weight, according to research. It was found those who ate at least one apple per day lost more weight as compared to those missing out on fruit.
#31 Turn Off the Television at Night
When you are unwinding by binge-watching a television program, what you’re really doing is messing with sleep and hormonal levels. When it comes to health, vitality and weight loss, sleep is preferred over nutrition. Even a single hour of shut-eye lost can make you eat more the next day.
#32 Get High on H20
Drinking water remains one of the best tried and tested tactics for weight loss. It lowers cravings, raises energy levels and helps you to stay full longer during mealtimes. Fruit contains water, but an average of 6-8 glasses a day is essential if you want to keep your weight in check.
#33 Opt for a Treat That is Healthy
If you’re craving something cool on a hot day, try frozen fruit with coconut water for a low calorie, healthy refreshing summer snack.
#34 Maintain a Good Posture
Standing or sitting straight is something we tend to forget about. Slouching on the desk or walking with a bent back can be really bad for weight loss. How so? Well, apart from looking visually slimmer, maintaining a good posture also works your core, by pulling in the stomach and tightening the muscles.
#35 Get Your Daily Dose of Sunshine and Fresh Air
Getting some sun and fresh air can be really beneficial for your waistline. Whether you jog or walk, fresh air can be really advantageous for losing weight, according to a study by researchers from Northwestern University.
#36 Chew Your Food with Care
How you eat can be just as important as what you eat, when it comes to weight loss. One of the easiest things to control is the speed with which one chews. Chewing through each bite ensures you only take in as much as your body needs. If the satiety signals reach the brain, you are less likely to overeat and more likely to lose weight.
#37 Maintain a Food Journal
Research has found those who keep food diaries eat about 15% fewer foods than those who do not. A University of North Carolina study found individuals tend to consume an additional 115 calories per day on weekends from fat and alcohol alone. The focus is on cutting down on calories from sauces, drinks, condiments, snacks, spreads, and dressings. This can make the difference between weight loss and gain.
#38 Evolve a Peer System
A University of Vermont research found online buddies for weight loss can help one to keep the weight off. Researchers followed the respondents for another 18 months. Those associated with internet-based weight maintenance program sustained weight loss better than those meeting F2F in a support group.
#39 Craft a Weight Loss Mantra
If one focuses on things that can be done, like resisting junk food or getting out for an everyday walk, repeat these positive thoughts and repeat phrases before long.
#40 Avoid Soft Drinks
At breakfast, it is important to drink orange juice. However, the rest of the day, the focus should be on water rather than soda or juice. Average Americans consume an additional 245 calories per day from soft drinks, which works out to 90K calories a year or at least twenty-five pounds. Research shows despite their calorific value, sugary drinks do not trigger a sense of satiety the way food does.
#41 Walk and Lose Weight
Walking of any type is the best way for losing weight, but stairs specifically work wonders for weight loss. Centre for Disease Control says ten minutes of walking on stairs is all it takes for shedding as much as 10 pounds per year. Walk 5 minutes for at least 2 hours.
A Duke University study found that a 45-minute walk results in fat loss and weight loss, while a 30-minute walk daily is enough to prevent weight gain. Burning an additional 3 hundred calories a day with 3 miles of brisk walking can help in losing 30 pounds in a year without changing how much is eaten.
#42 Don’t Opt for Packaged Foods
Packaged foods that list fructose, sugar or corn syrup are among the four ingredients on the label. One should find a lower-sugar version of the same kind of food. If you cannot, opt for a piece of fruit instead especially if there are signs too much sugar is being consumed. Salad dressing, mayonnaise, and ketchup are just some packaged foods you should limit. Avoid foods that are partially hydrogenated and look for more than 2 grams of fiber per 100 calories in different grain products. Check the ingredient list before consuming certain foods.
#43 Eat Home Cooked Meals
One is more likely to eat high-fat, high-calorie foods especially when one eats out then at home. Restaurants serve larger portions and tables to accommodate huge calorie consumption. If you eat restaurant meals on platters, you don’t lose weight. Try small sized cutlery and dishes and home-cooked meals, because once the plate is empty, there is no reaching for seconds.
#44 Order the Smallest Portions
Ordering the smallest portion of everything is important if you must eat out. Buy a small salad, moderately sized burgers or popcorn. Studies find one tends to eat what is in front of a person, though we feel just as satiated on less.
#45 Consume Water-Rich Foods and Eat Fewer Calories
A vast amount of research from Pennsylvania State University found eating foods rich in water content like tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers reduce overall calorie consumption. Other foods rich in water include salads and soups. The same benefits won’t accrue from drinking plain water. This is because the body possesses thirst and hunger through different mechanisms and it does not register a sense of satiety with tea, soda, coffee or juice.
#46 Avoid White Carbs
There is scientific value in following low-carb diets. Large quantities of simple carbs from white flour to added sugar can create a lot of havoc on blood glucose levels and exacerbate weight gain. While avoiding white flour, white rice, and sugar, one should eat plenty of brown rice and whole-grain bread. A Harvard study of 74K women found those who ate more than 2 daily servings of whole grains were 49% less likely to be overweight than those eating white carbs. Eating whole grains is really beneficial.
#47 Choose Fat Releasing Foods
These type of foods can help in averting bingeing and preventing deprivation due to higher calorie foods. Honey has 64-fat releasing calories in a single tablespoon. Eggs, on the other hand, have 70 calories and are loaded with fat-release proteins. Partially skimmed ricotta cheese has 39 calories in a single ounce, packed with calcium that releases fats. Dark chocolate has over 168 calories in a 1-ounce square, but it comes packed with fat releasers. A University of Tennessee study found those who cut 5 hundred calories per day and ate yogurt 3 times a day for 12 weeks lost more body fat and weight than a group that cuts calories. Researchers concluded calcium in low-fat dairies triggers a hormonal response inhibiting the body’s production of fat cells and boosts fat breakdown.
#48 Enjoy Rich Foods Coupled With Healthier Options
Eating dessert each day is wonderful, as long as one does not overdo it. Try ice cream with fruit, chips with loads of fresh salsa, and cheese with plenty of fruit and salad.
#49 Eat Cereal For Breakfast 5 Days a Week
Research finds that individuals who have cereal for breakfast each day are less likely to be obese and diabetic. They also consume additional fiber and calcium and have less fat, than those consuming other breakfast foods. Make oatmeal or pour out low sugar, high fiber cereal like grape nuts or total nuts.
#50 Salsa, Hot Sauce, and Cajun Seasonings Should Be Part of Diet
They provide lots of flavors with no fat or fewer calories, plus they turn up metabolic rates, causing the body to temporarily burn additional calories. These need to be chosen over butter, creamy or sugar-filled sauces.
#51 Eat Fruit Instead of Fruit Juices
For checking the calories in a kid-sized apple juice box, one can enjoy an orange, an apple or a watermelon slice. These foods keep one satisfied for a longer time period than apple juice, so one eats less overall.
#52 Opt for Nuts
Studies have revealed that overweight subjects who consume a moderate-fat diet containing almond lost additional weight, as compared to control groups that did not eat nuts. Eating nuts 1-2 times a day is the way to lose weight by staving off hunger and keeping the metabolism rise up. Eat trail mix or baby carrots or even calories for a snack
#53 Eat More for Breakfast
Studies found that more food is consumed in the morning, the less one eats in the evening. More opportunities are there to burn off calories consumed earlier than later.
#54 Serve Food in Courses
Another way to lose weight easily is to bring food to the table in individual courses. For the first two courses, bring out soups, veggies or dishes that are fiber-rich and you’ll be less likely to eat calorie dense food items like dessert and meat and one may be full.
#55 Eat a Grain-Free Diet
Longevity and health are centered around eating grain-free diets to the extent possible. If one cannot go 100% paleo, losing weight is about eating whole foods from nature. Food is fuel and you need to ingest the highest quality of fuel possible. Weight loss is effortless when one eats effective foods.
#56 Practice Intermittent Fasting
You need to have an 8-hour feeding window and sixteen hours fast. Whether you follow a strict protocol for fasting, you will definitely benefit from intermittent fasting. This type of fasting can help in building muscles and a ton of health-related benefits.
#57 Eat Slowly
If you want to lose weight faster, you will eat more slowly. Slow eating serves as an important weight loss trigger. How does this work? One reduces the insulin spike by slowing the glucose into the bloodstream. This wards off insulin, a fat-storing hormone from storing calories in fat cells. Additional fat storage results from excessive insulin. One also eats less. Eating less makes an individual feel full faster while reducing different calories consumed.
#58 Watch Out for Gluten-Rich Foods
Gluten can be life-changing. Clean out your pantry and you’ll be able to be super picky while eating out. This is the missing link to lean bodies one is trying to achieve.
#59 Take Quality Fish Oil With Each Meal
Fish oil comes enriched with Omega 3-fatty acids that can help to balance out the omega-6 prevalent across modern diets. This is more so for processed foods. Correcting the balance provides a massive benefit to the body, specifically weight loss. A good way to get a daily Omega-3 intake to consume sardines.
#60 Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness focuses on a single object and enables you to cut off the noise in terms of stress, worries and thoughts going through the head. This helps in cutting down on and preventing chronically-raised insulin and cortisol levels and warding off stress and anxiety. Techniques for mindfulness include breath meditation, meditation, going outdoors, and focusing on sounds and sights.
#61 Cut Down on Sugar, Stock Up on Healthy Fats
Fat does not cause a person to become fat. Sugar, seed oils plus processed gains make an individual fat. Fatty-Omega rich fish, grass-nurtured beef, bison, lamb, coconut and olive oil, butter or clarified butter, avocado or macadamia oil are therefore a good idea because these contain healthy fats. Fat is the most neglected nutrient for many people because of misinformation. Close to 60 percent of the calories need to come from fats. Your diet should include protein, fat and complex carbs.
#62 Perform Resistance Training and HIIT Exercises
Resistance and weight training offer incredible weight loss benefits.High-intensity interval training is another important factor. Intervals are short, hard and fast.
#63 Play Different Sports
Different sports offer great value for not just weight loss, but overall health, muscle building, mobility, social development, and mental relaxation.
#64 Engage in Full Body Exercises
Intense, fast, full body exercises such as sprinting offer thermogenic and massive effects on the body. It turns the body into a calorie burning fest. Sprinting also builds massive muscles.
#65 Drink Green Tea
Green tea contains a lot of antioxidants and a bit of caffeine excellent for fat burning. This is excellent for breaking down foods, too.
#66 Perform Complex Functional Movements
Train the body as a whole to eat up calories for fuel. If one can perform these complex functions, it signals the body to burn calories.
#67 Perform Tabata Intervals
Tabata intervals involve twenty seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest. Picking a movement like air squats and start a timer for the best results. Perform as many air squats in twenty seconds as possible. Go ahead after 10 seconds of rest. Repeat till 4 minutes are up and 8 rounds are completed. Tabata intervals are a simple, effective protocol you can do without movement or exercise.
#68 Take Zinc, Magnesium and B6 supplements
Magnesium aids weight loss and there are a host of other bodily functions, which improve sleep as well. Individuals sleep deeper, longer and fuller. Zinc and B6 offer incredible weight loss benefits, too.
#69 Utilize Rest Days
For those days when you feel tired and an active rest day is in place, do light rowing or jogging, work mobility, use barbell exercises, foam rolls, stretches, etc. It is also important to go slow and easy at a deliberate pace. This improves recovery, reduces bodily stress, helps to recover the CNS and gets the body moving. This also burns fat and builds muscles.
#70 Read Food Labels
Food labels can help in losing weight. It is important to consider calories, serving sizes, fats, cholesterol, sodium, carbs, protein, minerals and vitamins. For example, pick water packed than oil-packed tuna.
#71 Light Use of Oil is a Must
Nonstick sprays can be used to saute foods. Or use a paper towel with oil on the saucepan or cooking utensil for the lightest coating possible. The best oils for cooking include flaxseed oil, olive oil, and avocado oil. Stay away from palm oil and hydrogenated oil high in trans fat and saturated fats.
Conclusion
Thus, these 70 plus tips offer incredible benefits when you are looking for easy ways to lose weight. Weight loss is all about understanding that there is no one single magic bullet. A concentrated and determined effort along with multiple strategies and techniques can trigger weight loss more efficaciously.