Weight Loss Aids-Think Outside the Bottle

We all want to look our best, and losing weight is in the forefront of our minds when we think about looking our best. While weight loss is important to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, we must consider what are the best options and aids in achieving healthy weight loss and lifestyle.

If you are already engaged in a healthy weight loss or fitness program and you are still finding it hard to lose weight, you may want to ask your doctor about what weight loss aids could help you in the process. But if you are not yet involved in a weight loss program that includes proper diet and exercise, consider thinking outside the weight loss pill bottle.

When I think of weight loss aids, I stay away from the pop-a-pill solutions. The keys to my weight loss and maintenance are diet and nutrition, exercise, adequate sleep, and appropriate release of stress. My extra weight was making me tired, sucking all my energy out, and making me a very unpleasant person to be around. By applying these weight loss aids, I found a healthier, happier, more well-balanced solution than I had found in any previous attempts to lose the weight by taking a pill.

There are a lot of products on the market that guarantee rapid weight loss. There are pills, diet, programs, and supplements that tell us rapid weight loss can be ours without changing our diet, increasing our exercise, or impacting our lifestyle. Of course that is what we all want to hear.

Vitamin and herbal supplements that make claims to impact your weight without you making a change to your lifestyle are everywhere. The old adage, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” is a good rule of thumb here. However, as I began to look at general nutrition and adding vitamins and supplements to my diet, it did have an impact on my ability to stimulate weight loss and keep my weight balanced once I lost it. The key is to take vitamins and supplements, under the supervision of your doctor, that promote overall health and nutrition. If overall health is your goal, weight loss will be a result.

Another weight loss aid I employ is healthy exercise. That does not mean I became an exercise guru. I simply made an effort to take the stairs at work more often. I began by using the stairs rather than the elevator when I first arrived in the morning. The next week, I added the stairs at lunch time. A third week I added the evening as I left the office.

On top of my stair climbing, I added a walk around the park near my office at lunch hour 3 days a week. It required planning ahead so I could remember my walking shoes, but it was worth it. Within a week, not only did I see pounds fall off, I also had more energy. I had not realized how lethargic I had become sitting behind my desk all the time.

It doesn’t take a 20-hour-per-week commitment. It only takes a commitment to change your lifestyle, a little at a time.

Another aid for my weight loss is diet. I found that all the fast food and executive lunches were adding calories and vast amounts of food my body did not need. I changed a couple things in my thinking that made a huge impact on my eating habits. First, I only allowed myself my favorite greasy dive food one meal per week. Second, when we went to those fancy lunches, I chose the grilled instead of fried foods, and I boxed half of my meal to eat another time. Restaurant portions are twice what I should be eating, and leftovers make a great meal, especially when I don’t want to make a lunch to take to work. Third, I added more salad and vegetables to my diet. I know they are not always popular choices, but there are so many flavor varieties available. Find one that you enjoy and go with it.

Making these simple, low-drama changes to my eating habits contributed to the effectiveness of my subtle exercise changes and the weight began to drop off. Once it started to fall and my energy began to increase, my desire to better care for myself, and my ability to hold myself accountable for my weight began to increase.

A third key to my weight loss was proper sleep. It was hard at first, but I began to force myself to bed at a reasonable time. I discovered as I got seven hours of sleep regularly, my energy level jumped, and exercise and eating right became easier. Not to mention, my family began to like me better.

Finally, eating right, exercising, and sleeping well all lead to an appropriate release of stress, which is another key to weight loss. I discovered how much I stress eat, which added MANY unwanted pounds to my body. I decided that when I couldn’t stand to sit at my desk for one more minute, instead of hitting the break room with snacks, high-fat coffee creamer, and my girlfriends, I hit the hallway with my walking shoes and my favorite tunes. Ten minutes of walking, instead of eating and gabbing, was so much better for my weight loss efforts.

If you struggle to keep yourself on the straight and narrow, you can join a weight loss center that will help you in this area with friends and counselors who understand your struggle. Always talk to a doctor if you begin a weight loss program, and remember, instead of trying to take the easy way out, make a commitment to yourself (and those who love you) to develop a healthy system of nutrition, sleep, stress reduction, and exercise. These are the weight loss aids that have changed my life.