Weight Loss Tips - Beat Cravings, Burn Fat, Build Muscle

Weight loss tips that work – simple secrets revealed!

The right healthy weight loss program will help you beat cravings, feel energized and develop healthy eating habits.

If you are overweight, the secret to healthy weight loss is to start making small, gradual changes toward developing healthy eating and exercise habits.

Can it really be that simple?

In many cases, YES. This page gives you the tips and tricks to make it happen.

Before I give you the tips, there are four other things that I have to tell you about first because these things could make or break your weight loss efforts.

1. You must be confident that you can make each small change.

Lack of confidence = having a ‘failure’ mindset.

2. Your goal should be to ‘develop healthier habits’, rather than ‘losing weight’.

The habits cause the weight loss, after all. A good, specific goal could be “to exercise for five days this week, for thirty minutes each time.”

3. Change slowly, one tip at a time.

Trying too much at once is setting yourself up for failure.

4. Is your body fighting weight loss?

Some common health conditions can prevent weight loss. See your doctor or health coach to find out if this is relevant to you.

Now it’s time to look at the all-important weight loss tips.

As you read through them, pick a few that you’d find easiest to do. Then choose one or two to start with this week. Ask yourself, “Can I really do this every day for the next week?”

Here are my top 10 tips for weight loss.

These simple but effective tips are found in many expensive weight loss programs around the world.

Top 10 Weight Loss Tips

Weight Loss Tip #1 – Drink enough water.

Your body is over 70% water. Your body needs it to function properly.

If you function properly then your body will be more efficient at removing wastes and toxins, creating energy and healthy digestion.

All of these are critical for losing weight.

How much water is enough? Your urine should be very pale yellow. Lighter than a Post-It note. If you take vitamins or eat foods that colour your urine, then you need to simply drink about 2 – 3L per day.

This is a rough guide. For a start, you use about 1.5L per day just breathing and existing. But there are other factors that increase you needs for water, for example:

• Hot weather and windy weather

• Being near a heater or fire, fan, or air conditioning

• Being active or doing exercise

• Drinking caffeine (e.g. cola, coffee or tea)

• Digesting food

• Working outdoors in the heat – you might need up to 8L per day in some situations!

Your needs vary on a daily basis, so it’s safest to aim to drink at least 2 – 3L of plain water per day, possibly more if any of the other factors apply.

Weight Loss Tip #2 – Keep your digestive system happy.

This means drinking enough water (see Tip #1), eating enough fiber, getting enough vitamins and minerals and sometimes, correcting digestive problems and/or food intolerances. .

The best sources of fiber, vitamins and minerals are unprocessed fruit and vegetables. Whole foods unprocessed) nearly always have more of these vital ingredients than processed foods.

Sometimes people can’t get fresh fruit and vegetables or have other issues that increase their needs for vitamins and minerals. Supplements may assist in these situations. Digestive problems can prevent you from getting vital nutrients from your food. How do you know if you have a digestive problem?

Symptoms that might occur after a meal or regularly at other times include: burping, excess gas, abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, indigestion, heartburn, and reflux.

You need to correct these things with a healthy diet, good hydration and portion control, rather than a medication that masks the symptom but fails to address the cause.

Weight Loss Tip #3 - Make healthy food choices 90% of the time.

Even the world’s top athletes probably enjoy a little unhealthy food from time to time. It’s all a matter of moderation.

Being flexible with your eating and allowing yourself a few less-healthy foods means you’re less likely to feel restricted, so you’ll be less likely to binge on unhealthy foods.

Try keeping a food diary for a few days, and writing down everything you eat and drink, as an exercise in self-awareness. You will quickly discover what you are – and aren’t – putting into your mouth.

Are you eating junk in the afternoon to get you through until dinner? Are you buying unhealthy junk food for lunch because it’s convenient?

These habits will work against you. Your diary will soon let you know if they are an issue.

As I said earlier, it’s all a matter of moderation. Eating one chocolate biscuit in the afternoon is probably ok. But if you also have junk food for lunch, AND miss breakfast, AND overeat at dinner…….you get the picture.

Weight Loss Tip #4 - Know and avoid unhealthy foods as much as possible.

Unhealthy foods are hard to digest and eliminate, and these processes use up a lot of energy that could otherwise be used to burn fat.

Knowing how to read food labels is an important skill that will help you to avoid unhealthy foods. Gradually go through all the groceries you buy regularly and read the labels. Choose one item per week and figure out how healthy it is. The next time you shop, see if you can find a healthier substitute.

Here is a list of worst foods, bad foods and just plain unhealthy foods, just in case you need help getting started. These foods could sabotage even the best weight loss efforts.

* White flour or white flour products (e.g. pasta, pastries, biscuits, cakes)

* Sodas/soft drinks, especially those with artificial sweeteners

* Fried foods (e.g. fried chicken)

* Very salty foods (e.g. hot chips, corn chips)

* Chocolate bars and lollies

* Processed cereals and grains (e.g. most breakfast 'flakes', 'quick' oats and cereals, cous cous etc)

* Museli bars (usually lots of sugar, salt, preservatives, fat)

* Alcohol

Now here's a list of healthy foods to help you make better choices.

Weight Loss Tip #5 – Healthy Cooking and food preparation

Healthy cooking and food preparation maintains the nutritional value of food, so you get more vitamins and minerals and fibre. Use healthy cooking practices to keep the goodness locked in, and to minimize unhealthy fats. Lightly steam vegetables, grill your meats, or dry-bake foods. Avoid boiling, deep frying or overcooking.

Weight Loss Tip #6: Eat every 3 – 4 hours, starting with breakfast.

Missing a meal or leaving a big gap between meals puts your body into ‘survival mode’. Your body thinks it’s being starved so it slows down your metabolism to meter out the calories, and it tries to store fat around your middle.

Weight Loss Tip #7: Get enough protein to burn fat, build muscle.

Protein is needed to build and maintain muscle, make hormones that help you boost your metabolism, make enzymes that help you digest food, and a whole bunch of other things. It’s incredibly important.

In your meals, it keeps you feeling fuller for longer and lowers the glycemic index of your meal so you’re less likely to crave caffeine, snacks or sugary foods. The act of digesting protein also burns more calories than digesting carbs!

Make sure you have complete protein with each meal to give you more balanced blood sugar and more regulated energy levels.

Complete protein contains all the essential amino acids that your body can't produce on it's own. Protein supplements can be used to help you meet your daily protein needs, and they're convenient and nutritious.

Weight Loss Tip #8: Eat until comfortable.

Eating too much or eating until you are full means you get more calories than you need. Then they tend to get stored as fat.

Eating too little can deplete your body's protein stores by sacrificing important, fat-burning muscle. And, very low calorie diets can affect hormonal balances that create central fat storage - the very thing you're trying to avoid!

See if you can make each meal last about 15 minutes. It takes 20 minutes for your brain to register that you’ve satisfied your hunger. So eating slowly and chewing thoroughly gives your body time to react to the food. You’ll be better able to eat until comfortable rather than full.

Weight Loss Tip #9: Fill up on fibre.

Fibre from fruit and vegetables will help keep you satisfied and less likely to snack between meals. Fibre is the ‘pre-biotic’ that feeds the healthy gut flora in your digestive system . A healthy digestive system will detoxify your body effectively and that’s important for losing weight.

Weight Loss Tip #10: Know your carbohydrates

This is probably the most important tip of all.

The right type and quantity of carbohydrates helps you regulate your blood sugar and keeps your metabolism working properly so you can maintain a healthy weight.

Processed carbohydrates and starchy carbohydrates from grains, cereals, breads, crackers, should be a smaller portion of the diet. Only one serve per day after exercise is best.

Replace those types of carbs with fibrous, low glycemic index carbohydrates like fruits and vegetables. They’re rich in vitamins, minerals, fibre and water.

These tips should be the basis for your food shopping, your menu planning, your meal proportions and your healthy eating plan. If you'd like help with your weight loss journey, feel free to contact me on the form below.

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