There are plenty of people who fall off of the bandwagon as it relates to healthy eating. As a result, they get discouraged and give up. Instead of falling into a never-ending cycle of yo-yo dieting and weight gain, utilize the following tips in order to lose weight and remain consistent.
1. Find healthy yet delicious alternatives
If you think that you’re going to be able to switch from eating fast-food burgers to homemade salads without a struggle, think again. When you’re used to eating a specific way, it can be hard to break that cycle. Ease healthy eating by maintaining tons of flavor in your meals.
If it’s bland, you’re not going to want it. Keep a food journal and count calories as you prepare and consume your meals. Pick one meal a week as your “cheat meal” in order to strike some balance. Before long, your taste buds will get used to delicious salads that are filled with nutrient-rich ingredients.
2. Avoid late nights
Oftentimes, people think that they’ll pack on the pounds when they eat at specific hours. Truthfully, it really doesn’t matter what time you eat. However, when you’ve been up all day and consuming a day’s worth of calories, you don’t need to stay up all night to eat either.
As you stay up later, it can become tempting to consume snacks. Instead of falling into temptation, go to bed. You can’t eat while you’re sleeping. Plus, in order to effectively lose weight, your body really needs the chance to recover and repair itself from the day before. Your hormones also need repair time in order to help you efficiently lose weight.
3. Get professional assistance
Professional help is important when you’re starting a new journey of weight loss. When you have an expert opinion, you’ll be able to improve your chances of sticking to your weight loss goal. Find a professional who specializes in nutrition consulting. During your sessions, you can talk about the different challenges you’ve faced in the past, your food weaknesses, and more. Together, you and your nutritionist can compile a realistic food plan in order to help you burn calories, lose weight, and provide nutritional support for optimal health.
You can also find a professional coach to help in training sessions. They can give you assistance and show you exercises catered specifically to your body. For example, if you have bad knees they can show you ways to strengthen them and give you exercises to do that put less stress on your joints. Yoga, for example, is a great activity that puts less stress on your joints, and you can find good yoga mat recommendations for bad knees online.
4. Remain busy
If you’re constantly stepping on the scale, measuring your waist, and counting every single calorie, you’re not going to see the results as quickly as you’d like to see them. A wise person once stated that “a watched pot never boils.” Though the process is happening, it takes time. Sitting, watching, and waiting will only frustrate you.
Instead, occupy your time. Create a schedule that allows you to remain busy and productive. When you have free time, find interesting hobbies to invest time into. Whether you start practicing the guitar or painting with watercolors, be intentional about filling up your schedule with activities that are both restorative and captivating.
When you’re hitting your different goals with your weight loss journey, they’ll happen when you least expect them because you’re actually living your life.
5. Drink lots of water
It’s so important to know the difference between hunger and thirst. They’ll consume unnecessary calories that lead to weight gain. Not only is water good for you, but it doesn’t contain any calories. To get into the habit of consuming more water, carry a water bottle or jug with you to sip throughout the day.
Consume water before you start your day. If you start by drinking one bottle of water before 9 am, 11 am, and 1 pm, you’re off to an excellent start. As you drink more water, you’ll feel fuller for a longer period of time. Before you reach for that mid-day snack, drink a bottle of water first.
Oftentimes, people talk about how difficult it is to lose weight. Truthfully, weight loss is more about finding a system that works for you as you wait it out. Patience is essential. If you try to lose 20 pounds within one month, you’ll probably gain a major portion of it back because that’s the unhealthy route.
If you focus on losing four pounds in one month, you’re more likely to lose those pounds for a longer period of time. When you commit to weight loss for the long haul, it’ll be a lot easier to watch the pounds slowly melt away.
