Losing weight can be difficult for a variety of reasons. For most of us, losing weight can take longer than expected. Staying on track, maintaining hope and knowing the extra tips can all make a huge difference when trying to lose weight.
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First Thing’s First
Everybody knows that diet and exercise are the most effective ways for long-term weight loss. Unfortunately, there is no set diet plan and exercise regime that works best for everyone. Regardless of how you exercise, a pre workout for women is usually recommended.
Before eating and working out, drinking water can have a major impact on dietary success. By drinking lots of cold water, you are doing two things for your body.
1.) Water can frequently reduce appetite
2.) Water is what muscles crave
Some studies suggest that drinking water can effectively reduce hunger. By drinking water before a meal, you can successfully fill up without actually adding calories to your meal. In addition to staying full, hydration can help aid in a natural and healthy digestion process. Drinking water can prevent the need for diuretics or laxatives that can have negative health consequences.
Drinking water before a workout is essential for body temperature regulation and joint flexibility. In addition to the technical functions within the body, staying hydrated can provide energy for both the body and mind. When your body is fully hydrated, you can think faster, perform better and even feel happier. To prevent stagnation and early retirement from a workout, drinking water can heal muscle cramps and prevent fatigue.
Walk When You Can
Most people think exercise must be vigorous to lose weight. Although running a marathon can do wonders for both mental health and weight loss, this type of workout will not work for everyone. Particularly if you are in the beginning stages of losing weight, it’s important to find something you can stick with.
Walking, while low impact, is great for weight loss. By walking in ten to twenty-minute increments just a few times a day, you can burn calories with minimal effort required. Not only will you burn calories while you’re walking, but it can higher the rate of metabolism after you’ve finished walking.
Walking doesn’t have to be done at a gym or fitness centre. Simply walking around the block twice a day may be enough for you to keep this type of exercise routine. Scheduling an exercise you can stick with is crucial in the beginning weight loss stages.
Popcorn and Raisins
Snacking throughout the day used to be frowned upon. Depending on what you’re snacking on, this can actually be a great tool for weight loss.
By eating throughout the day rather than having one or two large meals, you can save yourself calories while gaining energy. Eating small, healthy snacks every couple of hours can create healthy habits that keep you full and satisfied throughout the day.
Popcorn, while not a fruit or vegetable, is actually very low in calories (just check the butter content!) Some grocery store popcorn bags are only 100 calories with butter. This makes for a great movie or after-dinner snack. A cup of light yogurt in the morning will kick off your metabolism with something low calorie that can help boost your energy for the day. A handful of nuts and sunflower seeds is also a good mid-morning snack.
Trying to get through the mid-morning and afternoon without eating is often difficult for most people. Rather than push through the hunger pains so that you can eat more in a big meal, eating small snacks throughout the day can help curb hunger and keep your metabolism where it should be.
Weigh Yourself Regularly
This tip is hotly debated by many experts in the field. While weighing yourself every day can drive some people crazy, weighing yourself once a month may not be enough.
The time in which you weigh yourself must be consistent. If you weigh yourself first thing in the morning without clothes on and then weigh yourself the next day during the afternoon with clothes and shoes on, your weight will vastly change. Clothing may not seem like a big difference, but that can actually add or subtract pounds from the scale. This is also true if you weigh yourself at different times of the day. Water intake, meals, muscle swelling from exercise and bloating can all impact the scale.
Weighing yourself once or twice a week can keep you aware of your general weight without falling into an obsessive pattern. Weighing yourself monthly is generally not frequent enough to get an accurate assessment of weight loss or gain. By having a rough idea of where your weight is on a weekly basis, you can stay motivated and aware of weight change.
Don’t Get Discouraged
Weight loss is a scientific process that will work for almost anyone who sticks with their exercise and diet plan. Unrealistic goals and discouragement are one of the biggest reasons weight loss is not achieved. By starting with small goals such as walking and drinking water, you can build on the successes they are bound to bring. Weight loss does not happen all at once, but by knowing the small tips to include with diet and exercise it can definitely happen if you try.