Like many before you, perhaps you have tried everything at your disposal, but you are still unable to lose weight. If this has gone on for months on end, you may be wondering long and hard about how to start losing weight effectively. What are you doing wrong?
The truth is simple: losing weight is not easy. If someone told you that it is, they lied. It requires a lot of commitment, willpower, and the right combination of regular exercise and proper diet. Sometimes, it may require that you change your lifestyle completely.
However, if you have been on this journey for quite some time and are not seeing any satisfactory results, then you should consider visiting a doctor as it may be the result of an underlying medical condition. In this article, you will be provided with a guide to losing weight effectively. We also aim to make the process a bit easier for you by informing you where you went wrong.
Obviously, it is not going to cover all the reasons why you are not losing weight, as there can be fifty or so reasons for it. Instead, we are only going to list down the most common ones.
What You’re Doing Wrong
Losing excess weight should not be attributed to diet or exercise alone. In reality, these two work in tangent with each other to provide you with a healthier body and happier life. Additionally, it also involves getting rid of bad habits that abuse your body. Some of these poor habits include
- Living a sedentary lifestyle
- Munching on unhealthy food
- Drinking too many alcoholic beverages
- Not getting enough sleep
- Being too stressed
- Not drinking enough water
With that information in mind, are you now ready to take on a new lifestyle and work your way to becoming a better version of yourself? Then check out our tried-and-tested tips on how to start losing weight below!
How to Start Losing Weight Effectively
If you have a lot of extra weight to lose, it is important to keep in mind that some diet plans might cause hunger or cause you to lose your appetite. But we know you will be able to pull through. After all, we did say that it requires your full commitment.
On the other hand, other diet plans might improve your metabolism, which, in turn, would help you lose weight rapidly. Our bodies are different from one another. Therefore, the results might also not be the same.
Nonetheless, here are some tips you can do to kickstart your weight loss journey.
Limit your Calories
Losing weight, in a way, is like Math. If you have to eat more calories than you burn to gain weight, then to lose weight, you will have to eat fewer calories than you burn. It sounds pretty simple, don’t you think?
It is estimated that in order to lose weight, and lose at least one pound a week, you need to burn or cut 500 calories per day. This may be easier to burn through exercise than completely cutting out food. Besides, while starving yourself may produce fast results, it is not always long-term.
Cardio exercises provide a fast yet efficient way to burn hundreds of calories within a few minutes. If you are just starting off, burning 500 calories daily through exercise may be a task, so you can consider cutting a 250 calorie meal, and burning 250 calories via exercise.
Reduce Sugars and Starches
Cutting back on your carbs is essential if you want to lose weight. Normally, your body burns carbohydrates for energy. However, when you cut some carbohydrates from your diet, your body will feed off stored fat for energy.
Cutting carbohydrates is also good for your kidneys as it helps to reduce bloating and water weight by excreting sodium and water, as a result of lowered insulin levels. When you remove carbs from your diet, you may be able to lose as much as 10 pounds in the first week.
These 10 pounds will be what is described as water weight. When you cut carbs, your calorie intake is lessened. So, to replace your carbohydrates, you should eat more proteins, vegetables, and fats in your diet for you to have a reliable energy source.
Your meals should have a source of each. Proteins have been shown to increase metabolism and reduce cravings by about 60% in some persons. Low-carb vegetables such as kale, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, and all other vegetables that we didn’t want to eat as a child will contain most of the fibers, minerals, and vitamins that your body requires to be healthy.
If you are eating meals low carbohydrates, then fat is necessary for your diet. Though it may be a common misconception, some fats are actually important as it can also work as a fuel to the body.
Exercise Regularly
Generally, exercise goes hand-in-hand with a diet plan. If you want to lose weight, it is imperative that you exercise at least three times per week for at least an hour. In your exercise routine, you should spend some time doing cardio, and the rest doing some weight training.
You can either hire a trainer and ask for professional advice, or join some high-intensity classes like spin or aerobics. When you do your weight training, you are also burning calories and preventing your metabolism from becoming slow again. Lifting weights will also help to convert fat into muscle and tone your body after weight loss.
Limit Processed Foods
Even if you don’t eat junk foods, some processed foods are marketed as being healthy for you. Items coming out of a can are usually preserved until their expiry date. Obviously, a load of hard-to-pronounce chemicals was used to preserve food items.
If you want to avoid eating processed and chemically preserved foods, you should seek fresh vegetables and food items. You should also endeavor to consume more organic foods as most of the foods in our local supermarkets contain GMOs. You should, therefore, seek to eat “clean”.
Get Some Help
There is nothing wrong with getting some help. If you enlist the assistance of a coach or trainer, it is highly likely that you will lose weight quickly and effectively as they will keep you on the right track in terms of diet and exercise.
However, if you are more of a do-it-yourself type of individual, you can consider investing in the Lean Belly Breakthrough Series. This series was created for persons’ over 50 years old, but it can also generally be used by anyone who has issues getting rid of their belly fat.
The Lean Belly Breakthrough Series comprises of manuals that instruct you of a list of foods that you can eat to eliminate belly fats. It is a good series for people who are wanting to lose weight and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Final Words
When it comes to losing weight, even the smallest of lifestyle decisions might make a big impact on your journey. If you truly are committed to becoming healthier, then you should commit your entire well-being into doing so. After all, your body is your temple.