If exercising more and losing weight is what you aim for, forget about the marathon workouts and deprivation diet. It has been found in the research that taking small steps and not giant leaps, is the best way to get achievable results.
Research shows that people who adopt positive and smaller changes to their daily routine, such as walking more for five minutes or drinking a lot of water, lose more weight and keep it off.
When you focus more on small changes, you start maintaining certain healthy habits that would last longer, rather than approaching an all-or-nothing approach that most often is difficult to follow.
To help you feel good, eat less, and move more, here are the weight-loss tips from health experts.
1. Find the opportunity to move as much as you can
Here, we are not only talking about going for a walk during your lunch break. Start moving at the time of your favorite television shows. Run anywhere you like, do jumping jacks, go up and down the stairs, and start dancing. Perhaps, consider enrolling in a gym that uses an online fitness training software so it’s easier to purchase a membership and set appointments. Anything that up to your heart rate so that you start feeling breathless is the key to weight loss.
2. Keep a food journal
Eating a pack full of chips will polish off your routine and habits. But maintaining and keeping a track of all the snacks and meals can help in practicing better portion control.
With this, you can know about smarter food choices. Knowing about your routine will let you figure out the changes that are right for you.
3. Take more walks throughout the day
Many people use their cars for all trips which are less than a mile and 90 percent of the trips are one or two miles away, an additional hour you spend while driving increases six percent of obesity. Burn calories by walking if your destination is only miles away!
4. Limit intake of processed and packaged foods
Packaged foods are high in fat, sodium, and sugar, so make sure to limit them from your diet as much as you can. Pick the top processed foods that you like the most and downshift. If you eat this food six times a week, try four times a week. They can also be replaced with healthier foods and snacks.
5. Use the stairs whenever possible
Is there a choice between climbing and riding? Adding three to four minutes of climbing stairs covering four to five floors can burn a lot of calories which will eliminate the weight gain of one to two pounds a year. Taking stairs will also help to make your quads and glutes strong, so you get the benefit of strength training as well.
6. Start strength training and add it into your routine
Some of the bodyweight exercises such as push-ups and squats are best to develop a lot more metabolism in minutes at home without any need of weight. Your body doesn’t know about the difference between working against your body’s resistance and on any equipment.
The essential rule to follow is that each exercise you do should make your muscles fatigue within a minute.
7. Use a fitness tracker
Nowadays, fitness trackers let you control your health by providing essential data about your sleep, eating, and workout routines like this sleep calculator will help you track your sleep, whereas the fitness band will let you track your routine.
It is better to consider a tracker that helps in monitoring not only the steps that you take every day, but also the burned calories along with your heart rate, and eating habits. With this, you can also stay on track while sticking to the goal of getting 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week.
8. Enjoy dessert recipes
You might be surprised to see this, but the truth is, depriving yourself of treats will lead to overeating. Instead, take a portion of your favorite treat and enjoy. Smell it, and savor its every bite.
Chew slowly, don’t be in a hurry, move your mouth and focus on its taste and texture. Ask yourself and know whether you need another bite or it’s enough. Body tuning will help you eat mindfully and you will be more satisfied.
9. Prepare your lunch
You’ll save a lot of money and calories if you start preparing your lunch. Make your sandwich at home with whole-wheat bread, chicken breast, and tomatoes, a little mayo, and Romaine lettuce. This way, you can cut a lot of calories and sodium.
When you prepare and consume your food, you are not only controlling the portion and quality but also reducing the amount of salt, sugar, and fat intake which is significantly higher in restaurants.
10. Keep yourself hydrated
Sometimes you get confused between hunger and thirst, which leads to more food eating than you actually need. So, it is essential to stay hydrated and drink water throughout the day. Water also keeps digestion in check and improves metabolism.
You might have heard that eight glasses of water a day is necessary, but the amount of water intake for each person varies. People who take certain medicines, are very active, or have any illness should drink water often. You can also stay hydrated by eating vegetables and fruits rich in water.
11. Get a lot of sleep
Go to bed on time, and you’ll see the difference in your mood and energy levels. It has been shown in the research that only a few nights of sleep deprivation leads to immediate weight gain. This is because when you don’t sleep on time, you are unable to make a healthy routine. These habits will mess with your weight-loss efforts.
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle needs a balanced approach to eating and routine changes that you can implement now. This might look different for everyone and needs practice, be patient and kind as you get to know what living a healthy life is.