58 Ways To Lose Weight: Effective and Proven Methods
- By Yelena B
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Losing weight is hard, but losing weight in a way that keeps you healthy is even harder. If you don’t have a strict deadline for losing weight, you can gradually develop healthy habits and lose weight without losing your health. Here are 58 ways to lose weight, from which you can choose the best ones and develop your own weight loss plan.
Despite the fact that the effectiveness of many methods is scientifically proven, they are not suitable for everyone. Try the most interesting ones and decide what works for you.
Proven Ways To Lose Weight
One study found that the amount of food eaten was influenced primarily by our consciousness, not by our sense of hunger. Two groups of students took part in the experiment. They were given the task of putting as many chicken wings as they wanted to eat and then coming back for more.
After the first portion, the waiters took the plates with the bones from half of the tables, while the other tables were left as is. The students were then offered to take their own refills. Participants who saw the number of bones from the wings they ate put in less food for themselves than those who sat next to the empty plates.
This proves that our minds affect portion size in the first place. Some students saw that they had eaten enough and their consciousness signaled that it was time to finish their meal, unlike others who were sitting at empty plates, which meant they weren’t full yet.
Many of the tricks you will see below are just based on psychological features of a person, others are based on purely physiological processes.
Nutrition Tips
1. Use blue items when choosing the dishes you eat from
Blue colored dishes suppress your appetite because blue is the least color that matches the color of most foods. Research shows that the more aesthetically pleasing and harmonious your food looks on your plate, the more you will eat. A small but useful trick.
2. Eat more often
If you skip snacks during the day, it won’t necessarily lead to weight loss, as a slowed metabolism can do the trick. Eating less than three meals a day may be good for those who are obese, but skipping meals during the day can turn into gluttony at night.
Also, uneven meals can lead to spikes in insulin levels, which increases the risk of “getting” diabetes. So it’s better to eat three meals a day and snack between meals to keep insulin levels stable.
3. Increase your walking perimeter
The next time you need to go to the store, walk around the sales floor in a circle. This is not to get slower to the groceries, but to avoid falling for store tricks. All healthy products tend to be located closer to the walls and farther away, and the most accessible rows place yummy products that are not very good for the figure.
4. Fill the fridge
On your day off, go to the store and fill your refrigerator with healthy foods. Keep fresh fruits and vegetables on hand at all times, and keep frozen berries and veggie mixes in the freezer. You probably won’t go out after work for another junk food, but use what you have in the fridge. As a result, you’ll consume fewer calories and more vitamins.
5. Eat in the first half of the day
Skipping breakfast to maintain your appetite for dinner is not the right strategy. However, you should think about your menu. One study showed that the number of calories you consume in the morning greatly affects the size of your dinner and lunch. So you can calculate how many calories you would like to get from lunch and dinner and compose your breakfast accordingly.
6. Distribute the supplies in your pantry
Put healthy foods closer together: beans, nuts, and whole grains. Every time you open your pantry, you will see healthy foods first and use them in your diet. In doing so, you won’t feel like you’re limiting yourself in anything, which means there will be no breakdowns into unhealthy snacks.
7. Eat away from pots and pans
If you eat next to a salad bowl, frying pan and tray, from which you can always get yourself some more, you will not be able to resist. So get yourself a portion you’re satisfied with, and get the rest of the food out of your reach – at least off the table.
After you finished one portion, wait for a while, 10-15 minutes, and then decide whether you want more. Satiety comes a little later than you finish eating, so by then you’ll just feel satiated and won’t be gluttonous.
8. Use small plates
This is another psychological trick. If you have large plates, a normal portion will look unconvincing on it, so you will always be putting more food on yourself.
Try getting a small plate: half the normal portion will seem like a real feast in it, so your mind will note that it’s enough.
9. Chew slowly
The slower you chew, the healthier the food becomes for your body. Well-chewed food is better digested, and you help your stomach absorb all the nutrients. Also, the slower you chew, the less you eat. As long as you chew your food, you’ll be full and won’t need a refill.
10. Get the food out of sight
Make sure that the leftovers of your lunch that “didn’t fit” stay in the fridge until your next snack, and not on the table. Otherwise you will finish them in half an hour or an hour, and not from hunger, but rather from a feeling of incompleteness.
11. Take a walk
After dinner, it is better not to stay in the kitchen, but even better to go for a walk. It takes your body about 20 minutes to realize that you are full. During this time, the glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream, and the feeling that you need a refill goes away.
12. Have a snack before dinner
If you have a little snack shortly before dinner, like a glass of yogurt or some fruit, your feeling of hunger will be somewhat reduced and you won’t rush into food.
Here, again, your mind is of great importance. If you feel very hungry, you are more likely to eat more than you need to satisfy it, and only later, when you get up from the table, you will realize that you have eaten too much. When you start to eat without feeling very hungry, you will eat exactly the amount you need to be satiated.
13. No Information
If you eat in front of the TV or at a book, you stand a good chance of gluttony. When you get information, you don’t notice when you’re full, you can’t taste or smell the food.
Also, it becomes a habit, and you will constantly chew something while watching movies or reading.
14. Only fruit on the table
Remove the vase of candy from your desk and the candy from your office desk. Hide cookies away, for example, in the lowest drawer of the desk. At home, leave only healthy foods on the table, such as fresh fruit. So you can snack when you feel like it, and at the same time, do not gain extra calories.
15. Lots of protein
Protein helps you gain healthy weight (muscle mass), which is why there are many protein diets. Vegetarians can get protein from lentils and soy.
16. Fats are necessary too!
Vegetable or butter is a lot of calories, but there are other foods that are high in fat. For example, avocados, bananas, mashed apples. Even in a diet, fats should be present because we need them to process and absorb vitamins like A, D, E and K. They also help us feel satiated. So include avocados, fish, nuts and seeds in your diet. In moderation, of course.
17. Stay away from simple carbohydrates
Hunger is related to blood sugar levels, and simple carbohydrates, found in sweets, baked goods and white bread, quickly relieve hunger but contribute to fat accumulation. Instead, try to eat more whole-grain foods, including pasta, rye bread, and various cereals. Complex carbohydrates take a long time to break down, do not contribute to fat accumulation and provide a stable blood sugar level and therefore a feeling of satiety.
18. Add vegetables to different meals
To cut down on calories, you can replace half of your meal with vegetables. For example, instead of cheese, add vegetables to pasta, add them to omelets, casseroles and porridge. Vegetables contain a lot of fiber, which makes you feel full longer. In addition, you will eat the same amount of food and get fewer calories.
19. Substitute high-calorie foods
If you can’t give up your favorite foods, you can at least reduce their caloric content. For example, instead of fatty mayonnaise and sour cream, add lighter dressings to your salad or make your own light mayonnaise.
20. Spicy Sauces
Cayenne pepper and red spicy sauce can not only speed up your metabolism, but also protect you from the urge to eat something fried, sweet or salty. Some studies even suggest that spicy foods help you absorb fats better and use them as fuel for your body.
21. Chewing Gum
If you chew sugar-free gum while cooking, every third bite won’t go to your mouth. Studies show that gum can reduce cravings for sweet and salty foods and reduce appetite between meals.
22. Less juice, more fruit
Modern juices seem to have more sugar than natural juice, and 100 percent juices are expensive. In any case, it’s better to eat real fruit, which has no artificial sugar but lots of fiber.
23. Do not forbid, distract yourself
Cravings for food – it’s normal, so do not strictly forbid yourself to eat and scold for every breakdown. This only makes it worse: you feel guilty and eat your guilt away.
Instead, admit that it’s normal, and during the craving for food, try to distract yourself with something, such as a favorite activity. Get creative, go to the gym, go for a walk with friends or by yourself-there are tons of ways to forget about food.
24. Half a serving
Try this trick: put down your usual portion, then divide it in half and remove half. Eat slowly, concentrating on your food, not on the TV or a book. Chances are you’ll feel full before you think, “What the hell? I’m definitely not half full enough.”
Another benefit of this technique is that you’ll have to cook half as often, because you can always finish your leftovers next time.
Weight Loss Drinks
25. Green Tea
Green tea helps break down fats and speeds up the metabolism, helping you lose weight.
26. More Water
Water reduces hunger and speeds up weight loss. With enough water in the body, calories are burned faster and salt and toxins are flushed out of the body.
27. Drink before you eat
Before you eat, drink a glass of water. Your stomach will turn on and be ready to digest your food quickly. It will also help you get full faster.
28. Avoid Pairing
Milk and cookies, orange juice and French toast, wine and cheese – there are some foods that just need a liquid partner. But you should avoid these drinks, especially if they contain sugar, which, like any fast carbohydrates, increases body fat levels.
29. Mix it up with water
If you can’t imagine your morning without a glass of juice, try diluting it with water. This way you get the right amount of liquid and reduce the calorie content of the sugary drink.
30. Tall and narrow glasses
It has been proven that people consume less liquid from tall and narrow glasses than from wide and low ones. So pour your sugary drinks in tall and narrow dishes. The same goes for alcohol.
31. Less alcohol
Alcoholic beverages have plenty of calories, and it also reduces your self-control. Under the influence of alcohol you are more likely to eat pizza, chips and other unhealthy snacks late at night, not caring at all about your figure.
And later on, you’ll miss your workout at the gym because you don’t feel well.
Behavioral Tips
32. Brush your teeth
Immediately after eating, brush your teeth. Not only will this help you keep your teeth healthy, but it will also help ensure that you feel fresh after you eat. You’re unlikely to want to eat anything else after you’ve brushed your teeth, and you certainly won’t crunch on snacks while watching late-night shows or movies.
33. Set realistic goals
It’s so tempting, finishing a huge pizza, to promise yourself that tomorrow you’ll go on the cruelest diet and fit into your favorite jeans in three days. But such plans only serve to appease yourself and reduce your sense of guilt. Better set realistic goals: for example, lose weight for 3 months of healthy eating and exercise for 3-4 kg and keep the weight.
34. Stay positive
Many weight-losers just hate certain foods and berate themselves for not being able to give them up. Instead, stay positive: “I can control my eating,” “I’m proud that I ate healthy today.”
35. Think about it
How we feel a few hours after eating depends not on how much we ate, but on how we think about how much we ate. Pay attention to your food, “eating with your eyes” included.
36. Write reminders
Place so-called weight loss and health mantras in your apartment: pictures of slim people, motivational affirmations. They will remind you of your goal and strengthen your resolve every day.
37. Get rid of stress
Many people binge on their stress and get fat because of it. Learn to cope with stress without food: through meditation, communication, sports, a favorite activity.
If you are constantly stressed, no diet will not help you, you will gain weight simply because of the psychological reasons. So, before starving yourself, get rid of psychological problems and constant stress: change jobs, deal with relationships in the family and so on.
38. Add instead of deny
Instead of focusing on giving up sodas, sweets, fatty foods, better focus on acquiring healthy habits.
Eat more fruit, exercise, drink more water. After a while you will notice how healthy habits displace harmful addictions from your life.
39. One habit at a time
Instead of trying to change all your bad habits “from Monday”, it’s worth introducing them gradually, one at a time. Let go of all your old habits except one, and focus your attention on it. When a useful habit is fully incorporated into your life and will be performed almost on a subconscious level, change the next one.
40. Visualizing
Take some time to visualize the results of your changes. Thoughts materialize, and the more you think about weight loss (in a positive way and with patience, without “I want it now! God, why am I so fat?”), the more you lose weight.
41. Healthy Sleep
Healthy sleep helps get rid of stress and depressive moods. It also affects blood sugar levels and metabolism.
If you go to bed at 10-11 p.m., not a single sneaky cookie will enter your mouth, and you can have a healthy breakfast in the morning.
42. Communicate
There are many social resources where people talk about their figure, give advice, and describe their accomplishments. You can communicate there, find support from people with similar problems and make it easier for yourself to lose weight – because it will be nice to tell your friends on the Net about your achievements (this is additional motivation).
Track Process and Results
43. Food diary
You can use different apps to record your diet and count calories. Many people prefer a traditional pen and notebook. Either way, you’ll know how much and when you’ve eaten, and you can change your eating habits.
44. Apps are more effective
Recent research in the field of getting rid of excess weight shows that people lose weight faster and more efficiently by using apps. Counting your daily activity, the number of calories you need, rewards and incentives – in apps, it’s like you’re playing a weight loss game, and it’s fun and motivating.
45. Move Tracking
There are wearable devices and apps that track the amount of activity throughout the day, and not just at the gym. With them, you’ll know how many calories you need for your normal lifestyle and how much activity you need to burn off your usual calorie allowance.
46. Take photos
If you keep an electronic diary, you can supplement it with food photos. Get in the habit of taking pictures of your portions, and you’ll always have a clear picture of what you ate on which day. Also, striving for a more aesthetically pleasing picture can help you reduce your portions and add more healthy foods.
Exercising
47. Make a list of music
Studies show that faster-paced music helps you speed up during a workout and get more done. In addition, upbeat music that you like distracts from exhausting stress and helps you stay energized and positive.
48. Avoid injuries
Don’t neglect the warm-up and don’t overexert yourself. It’s understandable that you want to do more and lose weight faster, but overdoing it won’t help. You will simply lose your desire, or, what is worse, get injured, which will shut off access to the gym for a while.
49. Functional Exercises
Do functional exercises from natural movements. This will not only help improve your health, flexibility, and strength, but it will also make everyday activities, such as climbing stairs with a heavy bag, easier.
50. A little caffeine
A little caffeine before a workout keeps you strong and provokes the use of fat primarily for energy production.
51. You can do it at home, too
You don’t have to buy a treadmill to work out. You can make a great gym at home and use your own body weight to work out.
52. Find a partner
A Michigan State University study found that we perform better at running and cycling if we do them with a partner: a friend, relative or acquaintance.
So drag a friend to the gym or stadium and train together. If none of your friends agree to work out, you can find a like-minded person on the same social networks.
53. Don’t rely on the gym’s equipment monitors
Often the gym monitor displays too high a number of calories burned, and if you believe that, you can afford to have a hearty lunch after your workout.
54. Dumbbell training
Lifting weights (in reasonable limits) speeds up the metabolism, helps build muscle mass, and provides a great mood and self-confidence.
55. Interval training
It has been proven that interval training with high intensity exercises is the best way to burn fat. They speed up the metabolism, and due to the intervals the duration of the workout increases significantly, so that the period of accelerated metabolism and fat burning increases as well.
56. Have sex
Active sex burns up to 144 calories in just half an hour. In addition, sex reduces stress levels and lowers blood pressure.
57. Work standing up
It has been proven that sedentary work often leads to obesity, back pain and other problems. If you can, get up more often or go out to get some air. In addition, there are now office desks that make it convenient to work standing up. Of course, while you stand, more calories are burned than when you sit.
58. Walk more
This applies not only to exercising, but also to moving around during the day. Make a habit of walking up to the floor (if you live on the 16th floor, take the elevator up to the 10th floor and then walk), get off the transport at a stop farther from home, go to a distant cafe for lunch, go for a walk on weekends. In general, make a conscious decision to walk more.
These are all the ways you can create an effective weight loss program, and most importantly, without ruining your health.
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