13 Proven Tips to Lose Weight Effectively and Sustainably
1. Get more activity
a. This one sounds like a no brainer. But the reality is, in today’s society with access to everything we need at our fingertips, we do not move enough. Movement can be a beneficial aid for digestion, lowering blood sugar, elevating your heart rate, and more.
2. Eat less calorie dense foods
a. The foods we all love, the sweet, the savory, they are all loaded with calories. Don’t believe me? Go check out the calories in a snickers bar. These foods are not “untouchables”, but they should be eaten sparingly. Calorie dense foods are foods that are high in calories but small in size/volume. The less calorie dense the food is, the fuller you will feel with less calories.
3. Cook a few meals from scratch throughout the week
a. If you take the time to make meals for yourself there are two benefits. You know what it is you are eating and how many calories go into cooking them. Secondly, you don’t resort to “what’s easiest” when you have food prepped and ready to go. Not only does this help with your goals, but it can also be a great way to connect with friends and loved ones when you choose to include them. If you choose to include them in this, it only grows your support system.
4. More veggies, more fruit, more fiber
a. As I said above, these foods are not calorie dense. That means we can eat a ton of them without adding a load of unnecessary calories. There’s a rule I give clients from time to time, and that is “Eat a Big Ass Salad for dinner”. You can add proteins to the salad, but because it’s so much volume of food, and so little calories in comparison to other options, it helps with hunger feelings that may come later in the evening when we want to snack.
5. Drink more water
a. Are you drinking half your body weight in ounces of water per day? Yeah, me neither, but that’s a solid amount to reach for. Especially when water can push off hunger pangs. Sometimes when we feel hungry, it’s actually a sensation our brain confused with hunger. It’s our brain telling us to drink some water. It takes a 2% loss in body weight via water to cue the thirst signal. So, for someone who is 150lbs, that means you have lost 3 pounds of water weight before you start feeling thirsty. And if you never catch up with that hydration, and you confuse the signals, you may always feel hungry when in fact you are thirsty and dehydrated!
6. Don’t drink your calories
a. Avoid things like high calorie juices, sodas, etc.…. they do not fill you up, they do not really affect our hunger signaling, and it’s so easy to over consume these drinks. Instead, switch to something like a flavored sparkling water, diet soda, or just plain ‘ol water.
7. Change your drink choice at the bar
a. This one involves our choices while maintaining a social life. Instead of getting a super sugary drink, try a vodka soda. Instead of a whiskey Coke, maybe order a whiskey Diet Coke. Instead of a high calorie beer, go for a lite beer. If you, like me, have more than a few drinks when you go out, you could save many hundreds of calories by opting for these lower calorie drink choices.
8. Get a dog
a. Obviously this one will depend on your living situation. However, if you’re even a 2% good human being, you cannot just look at your dog and choose to not walk them. Dogs need physical activity. Coming from someone who has 2 of the most energetic dogs ever (a boxer growing up, and a border collie currently) I really need to emphasize this point. THEY NEED EXERCISE. Use this as an excuse to go on more walks, be more adventurous, and even potentially make new friends.
9. Plan ahead
a. It is an unfortunate fact that most people live for their weekends. And when those weekends come, we want to do nothing but relax. However, with a little effort, some research, and some time we can really set ourselves up for success. If your formulate a grocery list either Friday night or Saturday morning, you can get your grocery shopping done the same day, and then spend some of each of your weekend days cooking meals for the upcoming week. All it takes is a little planning. If you are one that loves cheesy quotes about motivation and mindset, you’ll love this one for this point. “Failure to plan is planning to fail”.
10. Track your calories
a. There are so many apps that make this way easier than you could ever believe. I personally am a fan of My Fitness Pal. It’s hard to know what your body weight is going to do, or plan ahead for where you want it to go, if you don’t know exactly what you’re putting into your body. If you have never tracked calories before, I have a free guide HERE on how to get your account set up for My Fitness Pal. As you explore deeper into the application, you will find a spot where you can add your own recipes, tricks to make tracking easier like copying a meal or an entire day to an upcoming day, and even search their database to plan ahead and help build your grocery list.
11. Limit Yourself to two palm sized snacks per day
a. By limiting the size of the snack, you do not restrict types of food. That means that you can still enjoy a beer with a friend, a cookie when you have an insatiable sweet craving, or a handful of sunflower seeds while watching a baseball game. Allowing foods, you enjoy into your diet is the key to long term success. Most people think that this will cause them to then binge on the food they want, but it's actually the opposite. The creation of the rule that you “can’t eat _____” is what then causes people to get into the binge mentality. Remember, we are playing the long game. Being able to enjoy your diet is going to be key.
12. Don’t eat things unless you’re sitting down
a. I know this sounds weird, but how many places offer things like chocolates, M&M’s, mixed nuts, etc. in small bowls you can grab from as you walk past? This will limit your unconscious snacking. If you are sitting down to eat, you are conscious of the food you are about to consume. If you are on the go, you will easily forget foods you’ve consumed. If you don’t believe me, ask a friend to list off everything they ate the day before. When they’re done, ask them follow up questions like “what about any snacks? Did you drink anything?”. You will be surprised how many more things suddenly get added to that list.
b. Imagine this now. You’ve been trying extremely hard to lose weight. It’s been months and you’ve seen some progress, but lately nothing seems to be happening. You’re tired, you’re hungry, and you can’t figure out what’s wrong. You’re feeling defeated and like it’s hopeless…. Now imagine how upsetting it would be to realize the reason you’re not losing weight is because you unconsciously grabbed a few handfuls of nuts from your desk throughout the day…. Sound ridiculous? Well one handful of mixed nuts can be upwards of 500+ calories… and a 500-calorie deficit equates to 1 pound of weight loss per week if done daily.
13. Eat your veggies before anything else in your meal
a. This is a strategy I use myself and have used for years now. I want to fill up on the low-calorie options in my meal first before I get to the higher calorie density foods. By prioritizing the low-calorie, high-volume foods, you put a limiting factor into how much you can eat in that meal.
b. If you want to take this a step further, start with veggies, move to protein, take a few minutes break, then move on to any carbs that are on the plate. I use this strategy when we go out to dinner, when I cook for myself, and when I’m being served meals at events. Give it a try!
