Losing fat can be hard with all of the fitness myths out there, it is hard to stay on the right track and not fall into some bad information. Check out these 17 tips to help you lose fat.
1.) Eat Healthy
I am sure you were already thinking “I know I should eat healthy” or “I am already eating healthy.” Eating low-fat and low-sugar items may have fewer calories, but most of these products are filled with toxic chemicals and artificial sweeteners that can actually cause more problems than you imagine.
Eat a variety of fruit, vegetables, meat, and dairy and you are on a path to fat loss.
2.) No Drastic Changes
If you are used to eating out most nights then the nights you eat in you have a microwave dinner, switching to a completely different lifestyle will be terrible and you won’t keep with it for long. When you start changing your diet, gradually try to cook at home more instead of eating out and trying new foods.
Try to cut soda down slowly until you no longer have a desire for them. Replace soda with coffee, tea, and water for your main beverage. Be sure to keep diet sodas to a minimum also. There’s no reason why you can’t have a soda every once in a while!
3.) Stick to the “One Plate Rule”
If you have problems with portion sizes and just simply eating too much, try my “one plate rule.” If you find yourself going for seconds or thirds, make an effort to eat only one plate of food.
If you regularly go for multiple servings, cutting down to the one plate can help you cut a lot of calories without trying.
Once you are able to stick to the one plate rule, start to use smaller plates. This helps limit intake even more without anything other than the willpower to not go back for more.
4.) Focus When You Eat
Everyone has a problem to multitask while eating and lose track of how much we actually eat. When sitting down to eat a meal, keep all distractions away and enjoy your meal. We are growing up in a society where we have to cram food down and rush to eat in time. Changing a few habits and pay attention when eating will help you be satisfied much sooner and help you stop before you overeat from overeat.
Next time you aren’t paying attention and accidentally eat a whole bag of potato chips while watching a movie, you’ll see what I am talking about!
5.) Supplements Might be Okay
There are many different supplements that you could look into using while on your fat loss journey. Multivitamins are great for everyone, even if they are eating a well-rounded diet. Get blood work done and talk with your doctor to see what they think about supplementing with multivitamins.
Protein supplements are a great and healthy way to get protein, vitamins, and branch chain amino acids into your diet. Plan your diet correctly and use these wisely. Protein supplements do have calories so you won’t just lose weight because you drink protein shakes all day.
6.) Add Variety
Variety is the spice of life! Please don’t start eating oatmeal for breakfast, chicken and broccoli for lunch, and chicken and broccoli for dinner. This is not healthy and will not give you the correct nutrients you need to sustain a healthy lifestyle. Eat all types of vegetables, eat some fruits, and eat all kinds of different meats. Read your nutrition labels and plan your meals accordingly.
There is no reason you can’t have a steak and potato for dinner!
7.) No Fad Diets!
Please ladies, no fad diets. They will only hurt you in the long run and can cause unhealthy imbalances in your hormones, cause eating disorders, or simply make you give up trying to lose weight.
8.) Indulge a Little
You can have your cake and eat it too (literally). This is a lifestyle, not just a diet. If you want to enjoy a healthy life, plan meals in advance and set a day where you can have some ice cream or a nice hamburger from your favorite restaurant. Completely stifling and restricting your favorite foods will cause you to be sneaky and even binge on these foods when you can’t fight the urge anymore.
Planning is everything, so plan a day where you can have some chocolate cake and ice cream, or have pizza delivered. Life is great, enjoy it.
9.) Find Physical Activities you Enjoy
Find activities that you enjoy doing. If going to the gym and running on a treadmill doesn’t make you want to wake up and go run, find something that better suits your tastes. If you enjoy playing ping-pong, tennis, or riding bicycles you are more likely to play and be active doing those activities than going to the gym and walking on the dreaded step-mill.
10.) Make Time for a Healthier You
No more excuses! Make time for YOU and reach your fat loss goals. It is not selfish to take some time for you and get healthier. Friends and family will see you as a role model and you may motivate others to get healthy as well.
11.) Resistance Training
There’s nothing wrong going to the gym and doing some resistance training. Check out this routine that uses all machines so you don’t have to worry if you’re doing the exercise right. Lifting weights will not make you bulky!
12.) No Endless Cardio!
Doing cardio for hours a day will not make you lose weight. Some mantras I’ve heard are “I’ve worked hard and deserve this piece of cake” and can actually reverse all of the time and energy you’ve spent.
Use cardio as a tool to increase your conditioning and if you are interested, check out the other great things cardio can do for you. These include things such as lower blood pressure, faster metabolism, and overall better conditioning.
You cannot out exercise a crappy diet!
13.) Slow Progress is Progress
Remember, losing a pound a week might not be much to you, but it is progress. If you start to have multiple weeks in a row where you have not lose weight, cut calories down another 200 and keep up the work. Your body is adjusting to how many calories you eat compared to how many calories you burn. This is why slowly decreasing calories is important.
14.) The Scale is not the Only Indicator
There are many factors to indicate if you are getting closer to your fat loss goal other than the scale. Be sure to use a tape measure, gauge how your clothes feel, and how you look in the mirror to track your progress. If you start resistance training you could start building muscle. Building muscle with fat loss is toning up.
Fat weighs more than muscle so you could actually maintain your weight and still lose an inch around the waist.
15.) Check Inches not Just Pounds
Like I said above, use a tape measure to track your progress. I will provide an article on how to properly measure soon, but for now check the internet on how to properly measure.
Generally measuring your arm at your bicep, around your chest, around your midsection, and around your thigh, you will give you a good indication on if you are losing fat and where. You cannot spot reduce fat, so be patient with the stubborn areas.
16.) Invest in Body Fat Calipers
Invest in a good pair of body fat calipers and a scale. Check Amazon and other sites for reviews on them and find one that will fit your budget. In order to get a consistent reading, weigh yourself, measure, and use your calipers in the morning as soon as you wake up. Pick one morning you can do this every week consistently. Don’t do this multiple times a week, your body fluctuates day-to-day and hour to hour.
17.) Don’t Starve Yourself
Even if you don’t like any of the information I’ve presented here, take this one to heart and don’t starve yourself. Starvation diets do nothing but harm you in the long run and you could develop eating disorders and other problems if you try to starve yourself skinny.
Be sure to share this articles with friends and leave any comments or questions below!
