Are you in a hurry to lose the weight you’ve carried for years? First, you must realize that you didn’t gain the extra pounds overnight. Then again, you will not get rid of it that quickly either.
Thankfully, you can do some things to enhance your weight loss plan. If you’re ready to kick your weight loss into high gear, then there are 25 things you can do to help.
25 Ways to Kick Weight Loss Plan into High Gear
Are you looking to supercharge your journey to better health and a trimmer figure? Try these new habits.
1. Change Your Lifestyle
Don’t look at your efforts as just another diet because most diets are short-lived. Instead, focus on making better food choices and creating a healthier lifestyle. When you make gradual changes in your old eating habits, it can be easier to lose weight and keep it off for good.
2. Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise is one of the best workouts for your heart, mental, and overall health. The American Heart Association recommends this type of workout to help keep your heart fit. It’s known to lower blood pressure and help manage blood glucose levels too.
3. Walking Daily
Walking is one of the best exercises around because it helps you move your entire body, plus you can enjoy the scenic views of nature too. Whether you use a treadmill indoors or the track outdoors, walking daily can quickly help you in your weight loss plan.
4. Resistance Bands
Resistance bands have recently made a comeback. They’re very inexpensive, can fit in your suitcase when you travel, and give you a good workout without oversized equipment.
Using the power of science, resistance can help you to build muscles and lose weight too. Plus, you can target areas like your arms and legs with ease.
5. Use a Smaller Plate for Portion Control
The average-sized plate in America is 14”. Psychologically, when you see a large plate, you feel like they need to fill it up.
Switching to a 10” dessert plate can help you in your weight loss plan. You won’t have room to pile on the goodies, and you shouldn’t go back for a second helping either.
6. Switch to Heart-Healthy Fats
No matter how amazing your eggs taste when fried in bacon fat, it would help if you switched to more heart-healthy fats like coconut, avocado, or olive oil. Using canola, lard, and vegetable oils are harmful because they have unsaturated fats that cause inflammation.
This inflammation can fill your blood vessels, causing a buildup of plaque, which can lead to a heart attack. You need to use an oil that is good for your body and not one that causes health risks. Inflammation can also be counterproductive to your weight loss plan as it will put water weight on you, and it will reflect on the scales.
7. Supplement Your Diet with Probiotics
Probiotics are great for your gut health, which has a direct link to your mental health. These beneficial bacteria can help your body protect against infection, aids in digestion, and will strengthen your immunity.
8. Eat More Fiber
You can find fiber in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. The more fibrous foods you eat, the less your desire to snack. Any healthy weight loss plan must have fiber. Plus, it will keep your bowels regular too.
9. Spice Up Your Meals
Did you know that some spices can help you burn fat and make it easier to lose weight? Adding flavors like turmeric, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, ginger, rosemary, cumin, and cardamom. No wonder the Spanish tend to be heavy with the spices; they don’t seem to have the weight problems of Americans.
10. Get Enough Sleep
Why are Americans backward? When you’re depressed, you eat. When you’re tired, you eat too. Sadly, when you are exhausted, you will often consume extra calories and drinks to keep yourself awake.
If you’re not getting the right amount of sleep, your body cannot function at optimal levels. Plus, you may be inclined to snack and drink caffeinated drinks to keep yourself going.
11. Stay Hydrated
Water helps to flush impurities from your body. No, diet soda won’t do the same things for you as water. If you’re drinking diet beverages, it could be harming your weight loss plan more than helping. Avoid caffeine as much as possible and stick to good, refreshing water.
12. Try Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting is all the rage these days. Rather than eating around the clock, you only consume foods during a specific window of time. Research has shown that those who incorporate fasting into their life can lose way more weight than those who eat three meals.
13. Eat More Protein
If you’ve read about the Keto plan or other similar diets, then you’ve learned that protein and good fats are what you need to lose weight quickly. Your body needs protein to help keep your glucose levels stable and to burn fat. Additionally, protein helps to fill you up faster, so you don’t overeat.
14. Cut the Carbs
Carbohydrates are in everything from pasta to potato chips. A carb is a combination of sugar, starch, and fiber, and your body has a more difficult time breaking down these particles. You should strive to eat under 100 carbs per day unless you’re on a restricted weight loss plan that calls for under 50.
15. Get Healthy Together
Getting an accountability partner is probably the most significant thing you can do in the weight loss journey. You need someone to help you along the way. It helps if the person who is assisting you lives in your household, but that’s not always necessary. Just having someone to go to the gym with or taking a walk with you is extremely helpful in you reaching your goals.
16. Eat Slowly and Chew Better
Did you know that Americans eat way too fast? It’s true; people are in such a hurry to get to the 100 places that they need to go that they eat quickly.
The problem is that when you eat slowly and chew each bite, you will consume less. Try to chew each bite to the count of 10 and see if it makes a difference in how much you eat.
17. Calories Still Count
Even if you’re on a low carb diet, your calories still matter. Most people have a misconception that as long as you eat foods low in carbs, you can eat all you want.
In theory, having two double cheeseburgers from a fast food restaurant without the bun would work, but the calories would be more than you should consume in an entire day. You won’t lose weight eating like that, so you must still count your calories no matter what plan you’re on.
18. Eat a Variety of Fruits and Vegetables
Mother nature has a bounty of fruits and vegetables for you to consume. While some are higher in sugar than others, you don’t have to cut those out, just limit them. Fill your plate with nature’s offerings, and you will find that it fills you faster and has fewer calories.
19. Kick the High-Calorie Drinks
As hard as it is, you must get rid of your soda, juices, lattes, and other sugar-filled drinks. They are high in calories and sugar and can sabotage your weight loss plan. Stick with water, coffee, and an occasional diet soda if you must.
20. Limit Your Sugar and Sodium Intake
You already know that sugar is terrible for your weight loss plan, but did you know that sodium can be detrimental to your diet? Sodium is found in abundance in things like canned soups, potato chips, and other processed foods. It can cause inflammation and water weight, plus it’s not good for your heart either.
21. Enjoy Whole Foods
If you prefer white bread, then it’s time to switch to whole grain. You need the fiber; plus, white flour is highly processed and has things that are hard on your body. You don’t need white flour in your diet when whole wheat is a better option.
22. Avoid Overly Processed Foods
Overly processed foods, like boxed potatoes, mac-n-cheese, and a million other things, will do more harm than good to your body. They use preservatives like MSGs that are harmful to the body, and they can cause digestive issues. There’s no reason to eat processed junk when you have nature providing amazing things that are pure and good for you.
23. Drink Coffee and Herbal Teas
In addition to coffee, which is a non-calorie drink, you can also enjoy herbal teas. Many teas have significant benefits for weight loss, such as cinnamon. When you feel the urge to splurge outside of your allotted food for the day, a lovely warm tea can help to fill your gut and keep you satisfied.
24. Avoid Drinking Diet Sodas
Though the subject of diet soda has already been touched on. But you should honestly know why it’s so unhealthy for you. Did you know it can cause metabolic dysfunction? The first three letters of the word diet are “die,” and you should remember that those artificial sweeteners are not going to make you healthy.
25. Change Your Mindset
While there are many things that you can do to help your weight loss journey, perhaps the most significant is to change your mindset. If you think you will fail, then you will. You must start each day with the passion and drive that you will be successful no matter what temptations you face.
Final Thoughts on Making the Changes That Supercharge Your Weight Loss Plan
Set realistic goals and expectations for yourself, and you must remember that it’s a journey that you will walk for life. Set small obtainable targets, and you will master every one of them before you know it.