Are you having problems with losing weight?
Do you feel like you aren't going where you want to be and not losing as much as you should or anything at all?
Well in this article we are going to tell you just how some of the methods listed below can help you improve your weight loss and push you forward to a healthier life and physique.
So without further ado, here are all the possible methods to lose weight…
1. Give up alcohol
If you love drinking alcohol and want to lose weight, well one has to be sacrificed for the other. To be clear, giving up on alcohol completely is going to help you lose weight faster yes but drinking from time to time and in lower amounts isn’t a problem.
How does alcohol affect your weight gain/loss?
When you consume alcohol, the body is rather focused on the alcohol rather than the food you would take, that’s why it is also advised that if you are drinking it, do not eat at the same time.
Back on the topic at hand, you can look at alcohol as sort of a body poison, the body is focused on regulating this poison while neglecting the processing of the fat. Without the fat burn comes fat gain. And although that „poison” can perhaps help you strengthen your immune system, using it too much can also cause various health problems.
Alcohol also has a lot of calories that do not have nutritional value (we call these „empty calories”)
Alcohol is a neurotoxin, meaning it affects your brain which in turn affects your thinking, thought process and perception. Making it harder to realize you are full and making that one slice of pizza look much more appealing than it was when you were sober. Meaning it increases your appetite.
And lastly, when you consume alcohol your body naturally relaxes and you yourself become less likely to have the motivation and coordination for body movement and exercising.
2. Quit sugar for foods
Just like alcohol sugar is basically just empty calories (lots of calories and almost 0 nutritional value).
And just like alcohol it has the same effect, weight gain. Sugar and alcohol are like brother and sister, well literally because alcohol is in fact made out of fermented sugar in foods. That of course doesn’t mean that getting rid of one will make it easier to get rid of the other (if your consuming both that is). Although it might help somewhat, it will still be some work before you can quit either and/or both.
Of course, again, I’m not saying that you should quit them for good, if you really like either that much then it is recommended that you take them in moderate amounts. That way you can save your health and lose weight. Wow, what a win, I know I know.
Sugar is also essentially like an addiction, same as alcohol it gives signals to the brain of pleasure and people can abuse that pleasure by either drinking or eating more of it. This kind of abuse can also lead to mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, fatigue and overall loss of motivation. What happens is that the sugar increases insulin levels which in turn increases blood pressure and heart rate, but this only happens for a certain amount of time, then it drops exponentially faster, and when it does, you feel unnatural and crave even more sugar.
Sugar doesn’t give the satisfaction of filling up your hunger as normal food would and with a lot more nutrients, so as you would intake empty calories from the sugar you would also still be hungry after some time, and that would mean more calorie intake which in turn makes you gain weight.
All in all, sugar isn’t a bad thing if you intake moderately, eating a little bit is allowed if you have the strength to not eat more afterwards, and if you think that you cant eat little amounts, well we have a list of things that have low sugar mixed in but are still sweet tasting right here (insert link here).
3. Plan your diet
Diet is an integral component of weight loss. Who doesn’t want to have a healthy fit life and do your work with full energy and zest. As they say, you are what you eat; that means if you eat healthy and nutritious food, it doesn’t only make u physically fit but also mentally happy.
Now, this small word diet has a vast variety of advantages in it. A balanced diet lowers physical health problems including health diseases, lowers cholesterol, increases metabolism and much more but it should be kept in mind that there are many types of diets and each type has its own pros and cons.
If you start on a diet that isn’t giving you enough calories to survive the day, it might lead to malnourishment and can cause hazardous damage to your body, making you ill and tired. That’s why it’s better to have a balanced diet consisting of the crucial calories you need to survive. Despite that, your diet also shouldn’t include unhealthy stuff or it might lead to high cholesterol, obesity etc. (it’s bad)
In short, we can say the excess or the reduction of something can be very harmful so it’s better to keep the right balance. It’s better to consult your doctor or nutritionist before jumping on any diet plans you find on the internet as everybody has different ways to react to them.
Another great advantage diet has is a positive impact on mental health. When you intake healthy food it makes your mind strong and releases certain chemicals which boost your energy and make you happy. Studies have shown overeating is a symptom of tension and stress, so eating more than what your limits are will make you obese, feel lazy and drained out of energy. It fills you with negativity and disturbs your mental health. That’s why it’s necessary to keep a check on what you eat.
A balanced diet has six components which are proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, water, minerals and vitamins; deficiency of any can lead to harmful diseases.
For example, a diet with high protein, potassium-rich food, no salt, no sugar etc… is a good way to lose weight. You don’t want to gain more calories than you lose.
Diet plans are an excellent way to organize a food plan and keep a record of the calorie count you are consuming. But as mentioned before there are many diet plans for example keto, military diet, Pegan diet etc… If you are interested to know the different types of diets plans here Is a link to the top 20 diet plans to help u lose weight. (Insert link)
Eat healthily, live happily!
4. Eat herbs and green vegetables
Yeah, you heard it right, herbs can have a great effect on losing that stubborn belly fat. Its often considered a myth that reducing the intake of spices can help to lose fat but you will be surprised to know that the normal spice you use in your daily life to make food can actually be a great tool for losing weight and helping you get that healthy body you’ve been trying to get.
Some of the spices which are part of daily cooking and can easily be accessed are turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, oregano, gymnema, fenugreek, cayenne pepper etc. To see how you can make these spices useful and add to your dietary plan check out the link below (link for ways to use spices in diet plans)
Not only the spices but the herbs and flowers can be used to make delicious tea which is like the cherry on top of your diet cake. Herbal teas fight cravings, boost up your energy and freshens up your mood with their herbal power. You can easily get them from your nearby stores or order them. If you are wondering how to make tea at home using flowers and herbs then we got you covered (link for the herbal tea recipe).
I know it’s hard to follow and eat the dull dietary meal and you often require the need of some flavours to make the diet less burdensome. That’s why herbs and spices not only fight inflammation, prevents heart disease and lowers cholesterol but also gives flavours, aroma and brings life to the boring meal, making the diet fun and enjoyable.
5. Eat spices
I’m sure that the spicy food lovers are really happy to see that the one thing they love the most can actually get them to their dream body. That’s right, spicy food can help you lose weight.
Recent studies have shown that people that consume spicy food lost a good amount of weight as compared to people who don’t consume spicy food.
Now, what miracle does spicy food have.. food such as cayenne pepper produces a chemical which is known as capsaicin. After intaking, it travels to the brain and initiates the brain to send signals to the effectors of the body and therefore the body produces heat, that’s why you get all sweaty and red, it speeds up your digestive system and increases your metabolism. That’s why some people feel the toilet rush after consuming spicy food.
Not only is spicy food a great helper in controlling your food cravings but the same delicious food plays a psychological trick on your body making it feel heavy because of the heat and the chemical effects, therefore, tricking it to think that you consumed a lot and leaving no space for more. MOREOVER! Spicy food can help you with cancer too.
But also keep in mind that every person has their limit for spicy food, don’t let these advantages get you carried away. Know your limits, eat spicy in moderation (unless you can really take it, then don’t let me stop you).
6. Portion control
Portion control is like a life hack for your weight loss journey and can do more than you can imagine. As it’s pretty obvious from the title itself, the control of your portions in your daily diet can really help you lose a decent amount of weight.
It’s like a mind trick where using smaller but more meaningful portions makes your brain think you are eating a lot and reduces the cravings of food, as cravings are the biggest battles you have to fight if you are willing to lose weight.
There are a lot of ways to understand portion control. You can reduce the portion size by simply using small-sized dishware. Another way is the division of your plate into small sections of different food consisting of high amounts of proteins, carbs, vegetables etc.
Portion control and the addition of nutritious food is like a rocket to your goal in this weight loss journey you are having. If you plan to work on a diet and not exercise, then portion control is very helpful. Keep in mind the process can be slow but very effective over a longer period of time.
Some small secrets in addition to portion size and diet can be drinking a glass of water before your meal. Drinking water 30 minutes before your meal, or if anything just before your meal can help you control overeating.
Another secret is munching on your food slowly, taking small bites rather than devouring your food quickly and eating fast. Fast eating can make you feel like you didn’t eat much, throwing you into a trap of overeating.
Portion control can also be thought of as eating food that is higher in weight but doesn’t have as many calories. Because if you plan to only eat fat and food rich in high calories then all efforts might go to waste.
You can start by eating less oily food and then shifting to a healthy balanced diet.
7. Sleep
Sleep is like brain food, except this food doesn’t intake calories. Having less sleep can cause you to disbalance your appetite, increasing it and losing the feeling of fullness, therefore, eating more and gaining more weight.
It is more likely that a sleep-deprived person is to eat more also because he has more time in the day as a normal sleeping person has less time in the day.
When your sleeping your metabolism slows down but only by a minor percentage which is around 15%, and of course you are not moving and not burning calories, but you are not intaking calories either which you would because you would be using them if you were not sleeping and therefore getting more hungry.
Your brain also starts to dysfunction and your food preferences change for those that are high in calories and carbohydrates.
Does irregular sleep increase weight?
While your sleep is irregulated you will also be less likely to move your body around and exercise, you would be lazy and have less motivation for movement and calorie burning.
Continuing to disrupt your sleep can also cause metabolic dysfunctions and an increase in stress, mood swings, agitation, headaches and an increase in insulin levels which of course again lead to an increase in weight.
And one last and very important thing!
DO NOT EAT BEFORE YOU GO TO SLEEP
8. Exercize
In every weight loss plan there is also a part where exercise is included. Of course to lose weight you technically don’t need to exercise as you just need to keep your calorie intake lower than what your body weight should expect therefore losing weight throughout a specific time frame. But of course, people include this part in the weight loss plan because it’s one if not the most effective method to losing weight.
We won’t cover the specific exercises you should do or any big exercise plans you should follow. You can find that here (insert link). Instead, we are gonna in quick words tell you what is the most effective and least time-consuming method to get you fit.
So, first of all, you need to choose which exercise plan you should follow, if you follow a plan that is more enjoyable to you, then you can keep doing it and you won’t think of it as a chore.
There are many types such as aerobic (better known as cardio) that include walking, running, swimming, cycling, jogging, dancing, etc. These exercises include lots of body movement and are the best ones for burning calories.
There are weight exercises involving training with weights. These make you lose weight and let you gain muscle, it is recommended to work on all major muscle groups if you are doing this type of exercise. Yoga, which is also of course good for losing weight but is good for working on your flexibility. There is also almost every single sport you could get into that can help you burn calories.
Now the secret for an effective but fast training schedule. It’s basically a high tempo, an intense and vigorous training session that takes less time but burn the same amount as other lighter in tempo exercises such as just walking or jogging and such. What happens is that you increase the adrenaline levels which in turn quickens your heartbeat, fastening blood flow especially in the muscles, your breathing quickens meaning your body is trying to use all its sources to create energy enough for your movements. In that created energy calories are also used up. And these intense exercises send signals to your brain to speed up your metabolism, so even if you are resting your body’s metabolism will still be going for some time.
If you do these 10-minute exercises every day you will quicken your weight loss by a large margin and not lose at the same time you will have a much bigger space for the rest of your day. So instead of walking or jogging for hours on day, you can use this short term program and save a lot of time and get identical results at the same time. (link here for the 10-minute exercises)
Warning
Talk to your doctor or medical professional first before you start any training and especially this vigorous one. Consider speaking to one if you have things such as heart and circular problems, diabetes, problems with breathing, arthritis, kidney problems and anything else that you might find troubling. It is always recommended to speak to a healthcare professional first.
