Ways to Lose Weight: 36 Fast, Easy Tips best ways for weight
loss
Write down what you eat for one
week, and you will lose weight People who keep food diaries wind up eating less
food than those who don't. And, new research suggests logging what you eat is
one of the most effective and easy
ways to lose weight. Just watch out for weekends: One study found people
tend to consume an extra 115 calories per weekend day,
primarily from alcohol and fat. Click through the slideshow above for
more ideas!
Add a little
padding number of daily calories you think you're eating
If you think you're consuming
1,700 calories a day and don't understand why you're not losing weight, add
about another 400 calories to your guesstimate. Research shows that even
dietitians underestimate their caloric intake by more than 200
calories, while non-professional study participant underestimated by 400
calories.
Get an online
weight loss buddy to lose more weight
Researchers found that online weight-loss buddies help you keep the weight
off. Those who had several friends within the online weight loss community
nearly doubled the percentage of weight lost compared to those who didn't
have friends in the program.
Ways to Lose Weight
Get a
weight-loss mantra
You've heard of a self-fulfilling
prophecy? If you keep focusing on things you can't do, like resisting junk food
or getting out the door for a daily walk, chances are you won't do them.
Instead (whether you believe it or not) repeat positive thoughts to yourself. "I can lose
weight." "I will get out for my walk today." "I know I can
resist the pastry cart after dinner." Using meditation can be another tool—mindfulness meditation was shown to help reduce binge
eating and emotional meaning.
After
breakfast, stick to water
At breakfast, go ahead and drink
a half cup of orange juice. But throughout the rest of the day, focus on water
instead of juice or soda. The average American consumes an extra 145 calories a
day from soft drinks, according to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention. That's nearly 53,000 calories a year—or 15 pounds! And research shows that despite the
calories, sugary drinks don't trigger a sense of fullness the
way that food does.
Best ways for weight loss
Eat three
fewer bites of your meal
...or one less treat a day, or
one less glass of orange juice. Doing any of these can save you about 100
calories a day, and that alone is enough to prevent you from gaining the two
pounds most people mindlessly pack on each year. Here are 10 weight loss tricks that have nothing to do with diet or
exercise.
Watch one
less hour of TV
A study found the more that study
participants watched television, the more they ate—and the more unhealthy food choices they made. Sacrifice one
program (there's probably one you don't really want to watch anyway) and go for
a walk instead—in even just 15 minutes, you'll reap some amazing benefits from walking.
Wash
something thoroughly once a week
Whether that's a floor, a couple
of windows, the shower stall, bathroom tile, your car, a 150-pound person will
burn about four calories for every minute spent cleaning. Scrub for 30 minutes
and you could work off approximately 120 calories, the same number in a
half-cup of vanilla frozen yogurt.
How to make weight loss shakes
Wait until
your stomach rumbles before you reach for food
It's stunning how often we eat
out of boredom, nervousness, habit, or frustration—so often, in fact, that many
of us have actually forgotten what physical hunger feels like. (In fact, 38
percent of people surveyed said they'd eaten unhealthily to deal with stress in the past
month.) If you're hankering for a specific food, it's probably a craving, not
hunger. If you'd eat anything you could get your hands on, chances are you're
truly hungry. Learn how to recognize these feelings mistaken for hunger, then
find ways other than eating to express love, tame stress, and relieve
boredom. But talk to your doctor if you think you're always hungry for a medical reason.
Eat in front
of mirrors and you'll lose weight
One study found that eating in
front of mirrors slashed the amount people ate by nearly one-third.
Having to look yourself in the eye reflects back some of your own inner
standards and goals, and reminds you of why you're trying to lose weight in the
first place.
Best ways to lose weight for women
Spend ten
minutes a day walking up and down stairs
Walking of any kind is one of the
best and easy ways to lose weight, but stairs in particular work wonders for
weight loss. Research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows
that stairs
training in short bursts, for two to 10 minutes a day, helps lower
cholesterol and improve cardiovascular health—allowing you to train even more.
Walk five
minutes for at least every two hours
Stuck at a desk all day? A brisk
five-minute walk every two hours will parlay into an extra 20-minute walk by
the end of the day, and getting moving is more beneficial than a standing desk.
And research shows that exercise in just five-minute spurts could help improve
your health and reduce the risk of death.
You'll lose
weight and fat if you walk 45 minutes a day, not 30
Research shows that 30 minutes of
daily walking is enough to prevent weight gain in most sedentary people, but
exercise beyond 30 minutes results in weight and fat loss. Burning an
additional 300 calories a day with three miles of brisk walking (45 minutes
should do it) could help you lose 30 pounds in a year without even
changing how much you're eating.
Try to avoid
prepared food...
... that lists sugar, fructose,
or corn syrup among the first four ingredients on the label. You should be able
to find a lower-sugar version of the same type of food—especially foods that
often contain hidden sugars, like salad dressing or pasta sauce. Also, avoid
partially hydrogenated foods, and look for more than two grams of fiber per 100
calories in all grain products. Finally, a short ingredient list means fewer
flavor enhancers and empty calories. Sounds impossible, but you can
actually learn how to give
up sugar without missing it.
How to make weight loss shakes
Put your fork
or spoon down between every bite
At the table, sip water
frequently. Intersperse your eating with stories for your dining partner of the
amusing things that happened during your day. Your brain lags your stomach by
about 20 minutes when it comes to satiety (fullness) signals. If you eat slowly
enough, you'll give your gut microbiome time
to alert your brain that you are no longer in need of food.
Throw out
your "fat" clothes for good
Once you've started losing
weight, throw out or give away every piece of clothing that doesn't fit, and fill your closet with
clothes that do. The idea of having to buy a whole new wardrobe if you gain the
weight back may serve as an incentive to stay fit.
Close the
kitchen for 12 hours
After dinner, wash all the
dishes, wipe down the counters, turn out the light, and, if necessary, tape
closed the cabinets and refrigerator. Late-evening
eating increases the overall number of calories you eat, studies
found.
Walk right
after dinner and you'll trigger more weight loss
A small study found that walking
right after you eat can increase weight loss over holding off on a
walk for an hour. Here are 13 quick weight loss tips from nutrition pros.
Make one
social outing this week an active one
Pass on the movies and check out
the views of a local park instead. Not only will you sit less, but you'll be
saving calories because you won't chow down on that bucket of popcorn. Other active
ideas: a tennis match, a guided nature or city walk (check your local
listings), a bike ride, and bowling.
Use a step
tracker, and aim for an extra 1,000 steps a day
Are you feeling like you need to
move more? On average, sedentary people take only 2,000 to 3,000 steps a day.
Adding 2,000 steps will help you maintain your current weight and stop gaining
weight; adding more than that is one of the easy ways to lose weight—and
the 10,000 step ideal is definitely in your reach.
Use smaller
plates and you'll eat smaller portions
Instead using regular dinner
plates that range these days from 10 to 14 inches (making them look empty if
they're not heaped with food), serve your main course on smaller
salad plates (about 7 to 9 inches wide). Instead of 16-ounce glasses
and oversized coffee mugs, return to the old days of 8-ounce glasses and
6-ounce coffee cups. That will discourage you from stuffing your plate—and your
stomach.
Eat 90
percent of your meals at home
You're more likely to eat
more—and eat more high-fat, high-calorie foods—when you eat out than when you
eat at home. Restaurants today serve such large portions that many have
switched to larger plates and tables to accommodate them. And research shows
that food
prepared at home is usually nutritionally better than that restaurant
meal.
Don't eat
with a large group
A study found that we tend to eat
more when we eat with other people, most likely because we spend more time at the table. But eating with your
significant other or your family, and using table time for talking in between
chewing, can help cut down on calories.
Order the
smallest portion of everything
If you're out and ordering a sub,
get the six-inch sandwich. Buy a small popcorn, a small salad, a small
hamburger. Again, studies find we tend to eat
what's in front of us, even though we'd feel just as full on less.
Eat
water-rich foods and you'll eat fewer calories overall
A body of research out of
Pennsylvania State University finds that eating water-rich
foods such as zucchini, tomatoes, and cucumbers during meals reduces
your overall calorie consumption. Other water-rich foods include soups and
salads. You won't get the same benefits by just drinking your water, though (but you will get other
benefits of staying hydrated). Because the body processes hunger and
thirst through different mechanisms, it simply doesn't register a sense of
fullness with water (or soda, tea, coffee, or juice).
Bulk up your
meals with veggies
You can eat twice as much pasta
salad loaded with veggies like broccoli, carrots, and tomatoes for the same
calories as a pasta salad sporting just mayonnaise. Same goes for stir-fries,
omelets, and other veggie-friendly dishes. If you eat a 1:1 ratio of grains to
veggies, the high-fiber veggies will help satisfy your hunger before you
overeat the grains. Bonus: Fiber is highly beneficial for preventing
constipation, which can make you look bloated.
Avoid white
foods
There is some scientific
legitimacy to today's lower-carb diets: Large amounts of refined carbohydrates
from white flour and added sugar can wreak havoc on your blood sugar and lead to weight
gain. Limit your intake of sugar, white rice, and white flour; swap them for
whole-grain breads and brown rice. Several studies have found that eating more whole grains makes you more likely to weigh less.
Switch to
ordinary coffee
Fancy coffee drinks from trendy coffee joints often
pack several hundred calories, thanks to whole milk, whipped cream, sugar, and
sugary syrups—and nearly 67 percent of us prefer our coffee with some sort of
high-calorie add-ins. A cup of regular coffee with skim milk has just a small
fraction of those calories. And when brewed with good beans, it tastes just as
great.
Enjoy
high-calorie treats as the accent, not the centerpiece
Eating dessert every day can be
good for you, as long as you don't overdo it. Make a spoonful of ice cream the
jewel and a bowl of fruit the crown. Cut down on the chips by pairing each bite
with lots of chunky, filling fresh salsa, suggests Jeff Novick, director of
nutrition at the Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa in Florida. Balance a
little cheese with a lot of fruit or salad.
Eat
high-fiber cereal for breakfast
One study found that people
who ate oat- or bran-based cereals had a lower risk of
obesity compared with those who did not. While people who eat fiber-rich
cereals may have other habits that also help prevent obesity, those types of
cereal also deliver more fiber and nutrients—and fewer calories—than
other breakfast foods. Make oatmeal, or pour out a high-fiber, low-sugar cereal
like Total or Grape Nuts.
Try hot
sauce, salsa, and Cajun seasonings
They provide lots of flavor with
few calories, plus they turn up your digestive fires, causing your body to
temporarily burn a few more calories. Choose them over butter and creamy or
sugary sauces.
Eat fruit
instead of drinking fruit juice
For the calories in one kid-size
box of apple juice, you can enjoy an apple, orange, and a slice of watermelon.
These whole foods will keep you satisfied much longer than that box of apple
juice, so you'll eat less overall. And research has shown that there's no
difference in the impact on your body between drinking fruit juice and drinking a soda or other sugary drink.
Snack on a
small handful of nuts
Studies have found that
overweight people who ate a moderate-fat
diet containing almonds lost more weight than a control group that
didn't eat nuts. Snacking once or twice a day is one of the easy ways
to lose weight that helps stave off hunger and keeps your metabolism stoked.
You can also pack up baby carrots or your own trail mix with the healthiest nuts
you can eat, plus raisins, seeds, and dried fruit.
Get most of
your calories before noon
Studies find that the more
you eat in the morning, the less you'll eat in the evening. And
you have more opportunities to burn off those early-day calories than you do to
burn off dinner calories.
Brush your teeth after every
meal, especially dinner
That clean, minty freshness will
serve as a cue to your body and brain that mealtime is over. Here are 7 mind tricks to stop emotional eating.
Serve food in
courses
Instead of piling everything on
one plate, bring food to the table in individual courses. For the first two
courses, bring out soup or veggies such as a green salad or the
most filling fruits and vegetables. By the time you get to the more
calorie-dense foods, like meat and dessert, you’ll be eating less or may
already be full.
Follows Emily DiNuzzo
Follows Emily DiNuzzo
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