Losing weight is challenging. Finding weight loss tips that have been proven effective is even more challenging! If you are finding yourself losing your mind trying to just get started with getting in shape, or maybe you’ve fallen off the wagon a time or two, then this article is just for you. I’m going to talk about 10 effective and practical tips I used that helped me lose over 50 pounds in less than a couple of months. These tips are a great starting point for you to get started on your way to a new you!
1. Stop reducing carbs. Yes, you read that correctly! I know that may sound a little unorthodox considering that just about every bit of advice to lose weight you’ll see will indicate reducing carbs. Doing this will cause issues. The reason why is because your body needs GOOD carbs (fiber). If you reduce fiber too much, then you run the risk of developing digestive issues, potential illnesses, and you can end up reducing your metabolism as well. With that said, it is important to reduce bad carbs… better known as sugar and foods made with white flour.
2. Stop reducing fats. Yup, yet another surprise! The reason why it’s important to avoid reducing fats is because again, there are also GOOD fats that you need to eat as well. The fats you MUST eat to not only help with losing body fat, but with also improving many areas of your overall health (especially heart health) is omega 3 fatty acids and monounsaturated fats. Some of the foods you’ll find this fat in are nuts, fish, olive oil, fish oil, and more. Now the fat to decrease as much as possible is saturated fat and the one to run very far away from is trans fat.
3. Stop reducing calories. Yes, I am full of surprises today aren’t I (lol)?! Okay, why is it important to NOT reduce calories too much if you want to lose weight? Well, you see, if you severely reduce calories, then your body is only going to burn off that specific amount. Also, doing this can end up causing your body to THINK you are starving. Why is that so important? Well, if your body senses starvation, it slows the metabolism down and will then begin storing the calories you eat as body fat!
Now the best thing to do is to only slightly reduce your calorie consumption by say 300-500 calories below your maintenance level (which is how many calories you need to eat to MAINTAIN your current weight) and utilize proper exercising to burn off the remaining calories to successfully lose weight. By the way, one pound of body fat equals 3500 calories.
4. Detoxify your body. Once I cleansed my body, I felt a tremendous difference. I had more energy, I stopped feeling bloated all the time (which really was one of my biggest annoyances by the way!), and I generally just felt more healthier. What I did to detoxify was I consumed much more fresh filtered water, I had more antioxidants (such as berries and green tea), and I had 3 servings of apple cider vinegar a day.
5. Shrink your plate. Shrinking your plate will equate to you shrinking your stomach and waistline in no time! When you eat smaller portions of food, you are allowing your body you successfully digest and process nutrients, you keep your metabolism active, and you’ll feel more energy. On the other hand, if you eat too much food at once, then this will slow your metabolism down, decrease your energy levels, and force your body to store excess calories.
6. Eat often. In #4 above and with what I just mentioned a second ago with eating smaller meals might make you think I was contradicting myself, but this is not the case. What you want to do is never reduce your total calorie intake too much for the day, you want to eat smaller portion sizes, AND you want to eat more often (such as with 4-6 meals) instead of just 2 or 3 meals.
7. Avoid making unrealistic goals. Set SMALL goals that you KNOW that you KNOW that you KNOW you WILL accomplish. For example, set a small and very simple goal to let’s say… lose one pound in one week. You see, by setting smaller goals… and then accomplishing them, you will build up your motivational levels to accomplish your ultimate goal!
8. No matter what, DO NOT quit! Stopping and starting a diet is not healthy both physically and mentally.
9. Decrease stress. Too much stress can cause many issues in regards to weight loss and your overall health. Excessive cortisol levels (which causes stored body fat), a loss of motivation, susceptibility to comfort foods, and more. What I do to help decrease my stress is deep breathing exercises, regular exercising, heavy bag boxing, watching some of my favorite YouTube channels (such as The ShayTards and CTxFc!) and Chinese hand massage balls.
10. Eat lots of protein, a moderate amount of good carbs, a small amount of healthy fats, and foods containing lots of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. That proper ratio of nutrients is pretty much the foundation of a successful diet.
What put it over the top for me to be able to lose 50 pounds in 8 weeks was I used a sensible and powerful fat burning program that taught me how to take those foods I just mentioned and eat them in a way that will elevate my metabolic rate as high as possible.
What’s even more great about following all of those tips above and a powerful fat burning program is that once I got in the best shape of my life, I have stayed that way permanently. This is because making those changes above and going on a REAL program is all about making a “lifestyle change” and not just “dieting.