How to lose weight and keep it off

Losing weight is NOT easy. But sharing how to tips is! I have a few health tips and tricks that have helped me lose weight and keep it off. So, if you want to hear a few quick tips to help you lose weight and keep it off, then keep reading. I have created a video on this topic as well, in case you prefer to watch than read.

//  STAY AWAY FROM FAD DIETS

First of all, stay away from those yoyo diets and fad diets. They might help you drop weight quick after a few weeks of suffering, but they aren’t long term solutions. The key is to find a system that works for you and that you could see yourself doing for a long time. If there are all kinds of rules on what you can and can’t eat in your diet, this will add stress to your daily routine. Just keep your diet simple and don’t overthink it.
 

//  HOW TO APPROACH FOOD

Ok, now on to how to approach eating the food. Let’s assume you’ve made some healthy decisions on what you are going to eat a LOT of (umm, like fruits….and vegetables, right?) Just eat when you’re hungry, not necessarily forced meal times. You don’t HAVE to have a snack if it’s close to a meal time. Don’t eat when you are stressed out – just let that emotion pass and then decide later if you still want something to eat. If you CAN, find a replacement for eating as being the reward. Like maybe going out with some friends or going for a walk. Also, sometimes what you think is hunger might actually be thirst – so before eating something, try drinking water with lemon, or a cup of hot tea or coffee. Listening and respecting your body will help you approach food in a healthy way.
 

//  WHAT SHOULD YOU EAT?

So, what should you eat? Of course, try to eat as much whole food as possible. Stay away from packaged goods as much as possible. Eat lots of veggies and lean protein. Cut those sugars and white carbs out of your diet. Make healthy replacements like mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes. Eat a great big spinach bacon and egg salad or a hearty soup for dinner. Replace croutons with baked parmesan crisps. Grab for fruit as a sweet snack. And read labels at the grocery store to make sure there isn’t too much sugar or hard to pronounce ingredients. But overall, keep it simple. A nice baked salmon with a side of mashed cauliflower takes 20 minutes to throw together. Eating healthy does NOT have to be complicated.
 

//  TRACK WHAT YOU'RE EATING

It’s a good idea to keep track of your calories and macros. You can write them down, but I find that using a food diary app on my phone is easiest. I’ve been using loseit for years, but there are a lot of other great free options out there. These trackers can see your calorie and macro trends and help you figure out what works for your body. It makes sure you aren’t eating TOO much of one thing and not ENOUGH of another. If you upped your protein one week and lost a pound, you know you were doing something right. Or want to do a test and be really strict with calories, but not focus on macros? Try it for a week and see the results. These food tracker apps are a great tool to empower you to figure out what works for YOUR body.
 

//  FIND A FITNESS ROUTINE

I find that watching what you eat is 80% of the formula. Exercise is 20%. But you still want exercise because well, use it or lose it. It will keep your body younger for longer. So, you need to find a fitness routine that works for you. If it’s too hard to get out of the house, or you don’t have money for a gym membership, do fitness videos or free weights at home. Maybe just get a pedometer and try to get 10,000 steps in a day. You can do this just walking around your house. No excuses if the weather’s bad. I work from home and to take breaks from sitting at my computer, I try to get 1000 steps in every hour. You can walk anywhere and if that is the most extreme type of fitness you want to tackle, that is great. The most important thing is to keep your body flexible and strong. Now, the more muscle you can gain will keep you strong, while at the same time increasing your metabolism. I noticed when I started lifting weights more and really increasing the weight over time, my muscle mass has increased and I’m now able to eat more calories each day. My body is just burning that fat more efficiently now that I have that muscle sitting there.
 

//  BE PATIENT

Lastly, realize your weight loss goals aren’t going to happen overnight…unless it’s like ½ a pound. Otherwise you need to be patient and DON’T GIVE UP. Take the weight loss slow, have a strong goal in mind, but really the goal is to make this new eating pattern a lifestyle change. You’re creating a habit of eating healthier, eating less sugar and more whole foods, which could be a big change for you. Creating a habit takes at least a month. So, there can be set backs, but don’t let those missteps completely derail your progress. Just say “Whoops” and keep moving on. Now if cheating becomes more of a habit, you SHOULD reassess what your diet consists of. Maybe you aren’t getting enough fat and your body is craving it, causing you to binge on the wrong foods. Watching your weight isn’t about obsessing over it or following strict rules, it’s more about finding out what works for your body, looking at patterns and adjusting every couple weeks or so.

So, there were my quick tips and tricks on how to lose weight and keep it off. Let me know what YOUR tips are for healthy weight loss in the comments below. Thanks for reading and have a happy day!