Losing weight can seem like an overwhelming task, requiring long workouts and carefully planned meals. But there are small changes you can make to your daily routine that can help you achieve your goal.
Stock your kitchen with healthy foods and create structured meal plans. Keeping track of what you eat through a food journal or app can also help.
Eat a Healthy Diet
There’s a lot of conflicting diet advice out there, but the basic foundation for a healthy diet is simple: Choose whole foods over processed ones. Eat more vegetables and fruits, lean protein and “healthy fats” (like those found in olive oil or nuts). Cut back on added sugars and salt.
It’s OK to have occasional treats like fried chicken, chocolate or cookies, but make them small portions of the total calories you’re having each day. Eat a smaller size of the treat or share it with a friend so you can enjoy it without overdoing it.
Start by tracking what you’re eating and drinking for a week. This will help you identify unhealthy habits that need to change. Be patient, don’t try to completely change everything all at once – that often leads to failure and can make you feel worse in the long run. Instead, start with making some small changes and gradually work up to bigger ones over time.
Exercise Regularly
Exercising regularly is critical for a number of reasons, including helping you manage your weight. However, many people have difficulty making exercise a daily habit. The key is to find ways to make it fun. For example, listen to music while you exercise, walk in a mall if it’s raining or take the stairs instead of the elevator, or participate in social activities that require physical activity, check this site out.
You don’t need to spend hours in the gym or run monotonous miles to reap the benefits of regular exercise. Rather, it’s recommended that you do 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days. This can be broken down into two 15-minute sessions if that’s easier for you to commit to.
It may take some time to get into a regular exercise routine, but once you do, it will become as natural as brushing your teeth. It will also improve your overall health, both physically and mentally. Try to schedule your workouts on a calendar so they don’t get pushed aside.
Get Enough Sleep
Many people don’t realize that sleep is just as important as diet and exercise when it comes to weight loss. In fact, getting too little sleep can hamper your efforts to lose weight by affecting hormone regulation and increasing appetite.
When you get too little sleep, your body releases cortisol – a stress hormone that triggers your body to hang onto fat as a source of energy. Consequently, your hunger hormones become unregulated and your body craves high-calorie, high-fat foods.
To avoid this, try to get between seven and nine hours of restful sleep each night. Keep your bedroom free of electronics (phones, TVs, computers) and set a consistent bedtime routine that includes turning off the lights and preparing for sleep. It can also help to eat dinner earlier so that you don’t have too much time to snack between meals.
Avoid Mindless Eating
One of the most important things you can do to lose weight is to avoid mindless eating. Mindless eating is when you eat while distracted and ignore your hunger or fullness signals. Eating while watching television, chatting on the phone, or playing video games are common examples of mindless eating.
Eating while bored or eating out of stress are also examples of mindless eating. Emotional eating can lead to binge-eating or overeating and is a leading cause of obesity and other health issues (7).
Conclusion:
To stop mindless eating, try keeping a food diary or using a diet tracking app to help you stay aware of what and how much you are eating throughout the day. This will also help you improve your meal planning so that you are not tempted to reach for unhealthy foods. Also, remember to hydrate frequently throughout the day so that you do not mistake dehydration for hunger. (8). If you are unsure of how to make healthy changes to your lifestyle, speak to your healthcare provider. They can provide helpful tips and strategies to help you break old habits and achieve your goals.
