When starting a weight loss or exercise regimen, it’s normal to wonder how much time and effort will be required to see results. This is dependent on many factors, including age, sex, medical conditions, and lifestyle habits. Genetics also play a huge role in weight management as some conditions can make it difficult to drop unwanted pounds, while others may have a tougher time gaining weight.
To help tackle any areas where you might be struggling with weight loss, here are seven best practices to work into your daily lifestyle, so you can achieve your weight loss goals and maintain a healthy weight!
1.) Eat a well-balanced diet
Eating a well-balanced diet aids in weight loss because it helps keep your metabolism running efficiently. Your metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories, which is also known as the thermic effect. Protein-rich foods, for example, require more energy from your body in order to be digested. This, therefore, increases your metabolic rate.
Likewise, if you eat too few calories for your body to burn, your metabolic rate will slow, which can make it difficult to lose the extra pounds.
Another benefit to eating a well-balanced diet is that it delivers the nutrients your body needs to function properly. It can also prevent you from overeating or making poor food choices.
To track your progress and daily eating habits, we recommend keeping an exercise log and journaling what you eat. This will not only pinpoint what is working; it will also hold you accountable, show how often you are active, and indicate where there is room for improvement.
2.) Get moving!
Finding an activity or exercise regimen that is enjoyable can make all the difference in your weight loss goals. Plus, it is much easier to stick with a workout plan when you enjoy it!
Exercising helps with weight loss in three ways, including:
- Increasing basal metabolic rate (BMR)
- Burning extra calories through physical activity
- Building muscle mass
The more active you are throughout the day, the higher your BMR will be, allowing your body to burn more calories even when at rest. This can help with weight loss by creating a constant calorie deficit, so you lose fat. This, coupled with calories burned during exercise and muscle building, can help you achieve your desired results faster.
3.) Catch those zzz’s
When it comes to weight management, sleep effects everything from appetite and energy levels to metabolism and hormone regulation.
For example, if you are overtired, you are more likely to turn to food to try and replenish your energy levels as quickly as possible. But this often leads to poor dietary choices that are rich in sugar or carbohydrates. In addition, a lack of sleep makes it difficult to exercise effectively and safely.
As for metabolic function, a good night’s sleep slows our metabolism, which is a normal process. But when we fail to give our metabolism this necessary break time, it can dysregulate metabolic patterns altogether, making it harder for our bodies to burn up calories consumed.
Lastly, sleep helps regulate hormones like insulin and leptin, which play an important role in managing your weight. While insulin works to convert glucose stores to energy, leptin regulates food intake and long-term body weight.
All in all, the more sleep you get, the better your body will feel and function, making it easier to lose or maintain a healthy weight!
4.) Set small, achievable goals for big results
Anyone who wants to lose weight or maintain a healthy body weight knows that it requires hard work. Of course, it’s important to watch what you eat and be active every day. But if you don’t set some realistic goals for yourself, it’s can be easy to give up before you even start.
By setting small targets, like walking around the block every night after dinner or committing to the gym three times a week, you will feel less overwhelmed and can establish consistency in your routine.
5.) Meal prep
Meal prepping is an effective way to maintain or lose weight because you can control portions and make sure there are healthy options readily available when hunger strikes throughout the day. It also saves you time during the week and eliminates the chance of choosing an easy, often unhealthier, alternative.
6.) Hydrate
Water is often overlooked when it comes to weight loss. But if you want to lose weight, it should be the first thing on your mind. When we drink water, our stomachs feel full and satisfied because of volume, not calories. In fact, if you drink a glass of water before every meal, you are likely to eat less food and therefore consume fewer calories by the end of the day! You should aim to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water each day.
For bonus benefits, drinking plenty of water can improve skin health and aid in the removal of toxins from the body.
7.) Focus on portions and try not to skip meals!
Have you ever thought about skipping a meal? Maybe you think it makes sense to skip breakfast and wait until lunch instead? Or maybe you’re extremely busy and don’t have time for a quick bite before work? While skipping a meal might seem trivial, it can be detrimental to your progress toward achieving a healthy body weight.
This is because when you skip a meal, your body goes into starvation mode and your metabolism slows down to conserve energy. This means that you burn fewer calories than normal when it is time for the next meal, which makes it harder to lose or maintain weight.
If you don’t prefer eating three large meals a day, we suggest eating smaller meals or healthy snacks every two to three hours to keep blood sugar levels in check, so cravings don’t get out of hand.
Although weight loss takes time, effort, and a bit of patience, attaining the healthy lifestyle you deserve is more than possible!