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Your weight loss journey can be complicated and such an emotional rollercoaster, am I right, ladies? Then to top it off, you’re doing absolutely everything right and the weight just isn’t coming off. This can be incredibly frustrating and demotivating for you, making it difficult to stay on track.
However, first, take a second and gather yourself, it’s going to be fine. As much as eating well and exercising regularly are the key to losing weight, there are many factors that can influence weight loss, such as:
- Age
- Gender
- Starting weight
- Health conditions
It’s really important that your journey starts with realistic goals in place. If you set a target that is impossible to hit, then you’ll be demotivated from the beginning and likely give up. The best place to start is by calculating 10% of your body weight, as this loss can be achieved by a change in diet and exercising regularly. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, you’d expect a loss of around 15 pounds.
After this loss, your body will try and resist it and work to maintain those fat stores. This means that you’ll still be able to lose weight, however, it may be a little harder and slower. Younger women may be able to lose up to 20% and those that are post-menopausal can expect about a five to seven percent loss. You may be sitting there thinking that doesn’t sound like much, but 10% of your body weight is a great achievement.
Let’s dive in and look at the changes you can make to shift those extra pounds.
1. Change up what you’re eating
Being in a calorie deficit will have you on your way to that 10% loss in no time. However, if you’re looking to lose more, you can’t just slash the calories even more, you’ll now need to look at what you’re actually eating.
Also Read: Too tired to workout?
Focus more on the quality of the calories rather than the quantity. Different foods are digested differently in our bodies. Sugary, processed foods will digest quicker, meaning you’re hungry again not long after. However, foods rich in fiber are better as they keep you feeling full for longer. Fiber-rich foods are foods like:
- Vegetables
- Fruit
- Legumes
- Whole grains
2. Keep track of what you’re eating
We are only human, therefore we easily dismiss our bad decisions and put more emphasis on the good ones. So, by tracking everything you eat, this is far more transparent. You can eliminate any bias with yourself and hold yourself accountable if you’re entering all your meals into an app or food diary.
3. Don’t drink your calories
This is a mistake we see all the time, you’re eating well-balanced, healthy meals, but not considering the fact that you’re consuming an extra 200 calories a day in what you drink. For example, if you’re hungry and you eat a 150-calorie cookie, you’ll feel less hungry. However, if you drink a soda that is 150 calories, this would have absolutely no impact on your hunger.
Fruit juices and sodas contain added sugars and therefore more calories. The same applies if you like hot beverages with sugar, there are roughly 15 calories to one teaspoon of sugar.
If you’re craving something sweet to drink, perhaps add a small amount of fruit juice to water or even chopped fresh fruit to water or plain seltzer.
4. Get good-quality sleep
Getting good quality sleep is important for many reasons and weight loss is one of them. A 2019 study of nearly 2000 people showed that those with a more structured sleeping pattern had more success with their weight loss goals.
There are life disruptions that will sometimes make this not possible; you may work shift patterns or have different family and work commitments. However, if you can create a pattern that works for you, then you’ll reap the benefits of it.
5. Drink enough water
Water can be really helpful for weight loss. It can help you burn more calories, has no calories and may even help suppress your appetite. Replacing the sugary drinks you have with water means you also cut down on sugar and calories. So, yes, drinking water is a good idea.
6. Manage stress and depression
Now I know that this is easier said than done and major life changes can often be a trigger for weight gain. When you’re stressed or depressed you’re not focused on your health goals, meaning your exercise routine and balanced diet goes out the window. Even though you may not feel like it, some light exercise may relieve some stress and symptoms of depression. There are also many other things you can do that may help manage your stress and depression; you could try:
- Going for a long walk
- Doing breathing exercises to bring down your heart rate
- Consuming less alcohol and caffeine
- Find a hobby that relaxes you such as gardening or baking
- Call a loved one
7. Eliminate distractions
I get it, ladies, we are all busy. It is so easy to grab lunch and sit at your desk or eat your dinner on the couch in front of the TV. Whilst it’s fine to do this occasionally, it’s not ideal, as being distracted makes you more likely to overeat. The communication between your mind and body becomes clouded and it’s not as easy to tell when you should stop.
Instead of these ways, try to actually take your lunch break and get away from your desk. When at home for dinner, sit up at the table and turn off all devices to avoid further distraction.
8. Eat enough protein
Protein has so many benefits from keeping you feeling full to building muscle and healthy bones. However, try not to overload yourself with animal-based proteins and instead incorporate some plant-based ones. This is because too much animal-based protein also tends to come with more fat, encouraging further weight gain and other health concerns like diabetes.
Also Read: 15 ways to cut calories with ease
Plant-based proteins are less of a worry as you can eat a higher amount of these without worrying about the effect on your health. The plant-based proteins you could include in your diet are:
- Legumes
- Whole grains
- Nuts
- Seeds
9. Be mindful of your healthy foods swaps
Making smart swaps in your diet is great, but all because you swapped your nightly dessert of ice cream for yogurt, doesn’t mean you can eat twice as much. The one exception here relates to vegetables; you can eat as many veggies as you like and still lose weight.
10. Push your cardio sessions
Remember what we said earlier about quality over quantity? That also applies to exercise. When you’re trying to lose weight by adding exercise into your routine, the intensity is more important than the duration.
Walking for weight loss would mean you’d have to walk about 10-12 miles a day. You’ll instead benefit from choosing activities that will get your heart rate up such as:
- HIIT
- Cycling/spin class
- Running
- Swimming
11. Get your body moving during the day
You may think it doesn’t make much difference, but you shouldn’t underestimate how much your body can benefit from regularly moving throughout the day. If you work a desk job and then come home to laze on the couch and watch a movie, the weight loss isn’t gonna happen.
Also Read: How to curb bloating
Working out before work is often the best way as you then don’t have to worry about where the day takes you. Perhaps a 10-minute workout before work and after work is what’s best for you, after all, something is better than nothing. There are also more little adjustments you can make to get more into your day, such as:
- Taking the stairs instead of the elevator
- Park further away from your building
- If you don’t live too far, cycle or walk to where it is you need to go
- Consider getting an under-desk exercise machine or a standing desk
- Take regular breaks to get up and move around
12. Limit your alcohol consumption
Sorry to be the one to tell you, but happy hour isn’t all that happy if it’s stopping you from reaching your goal. Alcohol is connected to weight gain for many reasons; for one it’s empty calories, there is no nutritional value and you will still need to eat. Not only that but it also changes your relationship with food, meaning you’ll likely eat more and not pay attention to what it is you’re eating.
If it is a special occasion and you’d like to celebrate a little, stick to clear spirits with diet mixers.
13. Stay within a calorie deficit
It’s pretty simple really, a calorie deficit is when you’re taking in less than you’re eating. You’ll need to work out your baseline calories and then keep track of what you’re eating all day. This is because you may notice that you’re consuming more calories than you thought. Not eating enough is also problematic as it can leave you hungry and more likely to overeat. Generally, you won’t want to be cutting any more than 500 calories out of your eating plan.
14. Try and create yourself a schedule
Having some consistency is important. Now we aren’t saying that you need to eat your meals at the same time each day, but when you eat at regular times, you’re less likely to be caught out and make bad food decisions.
15. Give Trimtone a go
If you’ve got all of the above and still feel like you could do with a little more, then Trimtone is here for you.
It contains 100% natural ingredients and is designed to burn fat, boost your metabolism and curb those awful sugar cravings.
Get yours today and be ready to smash those weight goals. You’ve got this, ladies.
