Weight Loss Tips

Losing weight is both a challenge and an adventure. The best weight loss tips are simple and effective suggestions on how you can overcome many dieting and weight loss pitfalls. In my personal quest for losing weight, many of the weight loss tips listed below helped me achieve my goals.

Any weight loss tip that contributes to consuming fewer calories and burning more calories for you is a good thing. Little things add up on any diet plan. And actually, the word diet is a problem for long term weight loss. The reason I say this is that you should really try to create more healthy and permanent eating habits, not just a short term plan to lose weight.

Diet plans are good in that they get you started and also help to achieve a specific weight loss goal. But for long term success in keeping the weight off, you really need to pay attention and try not to fall back into the routine that put you on the diet in the first place.

And a lot of these weight loss tips apply to the long term. Not all may work for you, but all have some merit and are worth a shot. What ever weight loss goals you may have, short or long term, many of these little tidbits of advice can help.

I thought about organizing them according to impact, or nature, or other ways. But many don’t really fit into tight categories. So I just used three very broad sections. Head stuff, eating, and exercise.

Keep checking back as I do get some input from readers and add to the list from time to time. 

Head Tips (keeping you eye on the ball)

When you decide to adopt a weight loss plan, be sure to include a long range goals. Once you loose the amount of weight desired, it's just as important to figure out how to maintain your new weight. So changing your eating habits will help a lot in long term maintenance efforts.

Although there are many effective weight loss diets, almost all successful ones abide by these 5 rules.

  1. If you fail, don't abandon your efforts. Never give up.
  2. Don't punish yourself, absolute denial is not necessary.
  3. Multiple meals per day are more beneficial than standard 3.
  4. Figure out how to work exercise into your daily routine.
  5. Watch out for carbs and sugar, choose the lower fat items.

Watch what you eat but don't just focus on your diet, try to eat healthy. Making good choices will work forever, and can greatly improve your health.

Don't cause yourself undo stress over eating the wrong thing. Try to change your eating habits gradually and realize that small changes add up. Don't panic and punish yourself if you run off the tracks. Just swing back into your plan and move forward.

The key to any plan is that you must burn more calories than you take in every day. If you really want that dessert, plan on burning extra calories by extending your exercise.

Leave notes on kitchen appliances, cupboards, pantries. Put alternatives in the notes to help motivate and give you a choice.

You don't have to have an absolute count of calories, a running total will work. It's impossible to accurately count restaurant items anyway, so just use a best guess and move on.

A good goal to start with is one pound per week. Don't set unrealistic goals and set yourself up for failure. One pound a week is great over a long period of time and will allow anyone to achieve their goals. 

Eating Tips (calories, fat, food)

Two American drink favorites, coffee and tea, combined with sugar are damaging to any diet. Caffeine can increase insulin in your body and reduce burning of stored fat. Throw in the sugar most people add and what little calories you may burn will be the sugar, not the fat. Try reducing caffeine by 50%.  

Speaking of caffeine and sugar, most soft drinks are loaded with both. So make sure you count them in your 50% reduction in caffeine intake. 

Eat slower! Allow time for your stomach to signal you it's full. Plus most digestive problems can be eliminated by eating slower, and drinking more water with meals. 

Eating foods with out sugar or fat can take away some of the taste and enjoyment of your meals. Use more seasoning (any kind of pepper) like garlic, herbs, and spices.

Don't skip meals, burning fat is all about eating too. Five or six small meals allows you more fat burning time and keeps your metabolism up.

Only eat when you're hungry, ignore the clock. Small meals every 3-4 hours is better.

If you like chocolate, go with the dark varieties rather than the milk flavored. Dark chocolate has more antioxidant properties and small amounts are actually good for you.

The best portion control trick (especially with restaurants that serve way too much food) is to eat half and take home the other half to eat in a few hours. And you'll save on your grocery bill too.

Use apple cider vinegar on vegetables. Apple cider vinegar has many beneficial effects and is known to prevent high blood pressure and for breaking down fatty deposits.

Sugar is to your weight loss goals as Darth Vader is to the rebellion. And it is every where you look. Because sugar can make anything tasted good, food manufacturers add it to everything so you'll like it and buy more. In the 1970s a new sweetener, corn fructose, was developed. If possible, it is even more detrimental to weight loss than sugar.

Like a glass of wine or an alcoholic beverage at night with dinner? So do I but it can add some calories. One way to reduce the caloric intake is to mix equal parts of wine with water (I have one glass serving but break it into two glasses - half water - after a day or two you don't even notice). Same with the hard liquor, use a half of shot in two instead of one with full shot.

Exercise (burning calories)

There is a huge debate on the best time of day to exercise. Some say the morning is the best since you are less likely to skip the workout and you start burning fat first thing in the day. Others say that you will burn more fat if you exercise late in the day or early evening. I say the best time is when you have the time and will do it.

When doing any kind of exercise, raise your level of activity for short bursts. This is called Interval Training and is supposed to be very effective for weight loss and burning more fat. It also helps raise the cardiovascular effect of any exercise routine.

Any daily exercise is good for losing weight. That being said, never push yourself beyond any physical limits.

Try to work your exercise into your daily routine, do something you like, do it with others, take your pet. Do what ever you can to make it enjoyable and something you look forward to rather than a forced participation.

Start out slow and warm up gradually. 

If you hurt yourself or feel any pain - that's from anywhere - stop immediately and seek medical help. Never take a chance with any chest pains or signs of labored breathing.

Walking, dancing, jogging, swimming, bicycling (stationary or real), sport activity like tennis, basketball, softball, etc. can all help you burn more calories.

Sitting at a desk all day? Get up and stretch every hour, tap your feet, walk around on your coffee breaks, park far away from entrance, take the stairs.