Bored of hearing the same old weight loss advice?
Fed up with counting calories or measuring out portion sizes?
You are not alone; dieting for many people is daunting.
A diet always starts the same way, with great intentions but let’s be completely blunt, dieting is often hard and it takes so much discipline too.
It can be incredibly restrictive.
For example, you might perhaps feel you have to turn down that invitation to dinner because just one night off could really ruin your carefully planned daily allowance.
It’s time to turn dieting on its head and explore different ways of shifting those unwanted pounds.
Why not try this list of ten excellent weight loss tips that you’ve never tried (or heard of but never really believed in)?
You will certainly lose a little more weight, as long as you continue to follow a healthy lifestyle factoring in thinking carefully about what you’re eating and daily exercise.
1. Try Green Tea
For healthy weight loss, natural is always best.
Green tea is a natural, herbal tea that has been proven to speed up the metabolism.
Switch out your regular coffee and tea for Green Tea and in just a few days you’re bound to have shifted at least an extra pound, as long as you don’t over-eat unhealthy, fatty and sugary food.
Green Tea contains caffeine and flavonoids, in those flavonoids there is something called “catechins”.
It’s an antioxidant that helps to breakdown fat and speed up the metabolism so win-win!
2. Drink Water
Hunger and thirst are often confused by the body.
So, next time you start to feel those hunger pangs, try drinking a tall glass of water first.
You can always naturally flavor it by adding some slices of fresh fruit or perhaps try cucumber or mint.
That glass of water will stave off hunger pangs for a while and it’s so much better than reaching for a sugary snack.
3. Be Motivational
You may have an old photograph of yourself, slimmer and fitter than you are at the moment.
Try pinning that on the front of the fridge to stop yourself getting to those unhealthy snacks, or stick it on the cupboard where you store your chocolate and sweets!
If you don’t have an old picture of yourself, put up a picture of someone else inspirational, perhaps a slim friend or a celebrity instead.
4. Give Yourself a Different Goal
For every one pound you lose, reward yourself, not with something sweet but why not put away a little amount of money (e.g. £5, or $5 depending on your currency)?
When you’ve lost a significant amount of weight, take that money and buy yourself something gorgeous to wear to show off your new figure.
5. Don’t Spend your Day Sitting Down
Change how you work; if you sit down all day then you won’t burn up as many calories for example as if you stand up.
So, try standing while working in front of a computer.
It changes your posture too and it actually helps you to focus more rather than being slumped in front of a screen.
By standing up, you’ll burn more calories than by sitting down.
It’s surprisingly comfortable too.
6. Go Dancing!
If you hate exercise, go dancing instead, it’s still exercise but far more enjoyable!
Once a week, with your friends or your partner, hit the dance floor and throw some shapes.
Dancing is an all-over body workout and you’ll work out a sweat while really having fun.
Did you know that an hour of energetic dancing burns off around 350 calories (average weight)?
7. Try Mouthwash
Instead of a snack, rinse your mouth out with mouthwash or brush your teeth (but don’t over-brush your teeth too much as it’s bad for the enamel).
When you’ve got a minty fresh mouth you’re unlikely to want to eat something sweet or sugary because it doesn’t taste good, and the toothpaste/mouthwash will keep hunger pangs at bay for a little while longer…
8. Buy Ankle Weights
This little trick is so easy.
Invest in a pair of strap-on or Velcro ankle weights and wrap them around your ankles so you’re giving yourself an extra work-out all day.
If you can’t wear them at work, put them on as soon as you leave so it’s part of your walk back to the train station or to your car.
Walk around the house wearing them; in fact, put them on at any opportunity.
This will help you to burn a few extra calories, remember, you can do the same for your arms too!
9. Pre-Pack Snacks
You know that feeling when you want a small bite to eat so you look in the fridge or the snack cupboard only to see the fattiest, sweetest possible food?
Stop buying it.
Of course, you might have a family and they need access to snacks, so try this tip instead.
Pre-pack your snacks.
Buy some small Tupperware boxes and add healthy snacks like chopped up fruit, nuts, and seeds or chopped up vegetables.
Have these ready for those “need a pick-me-up” moments.
10. Plan Your Hungry Moments
You might already know when you feel hunger (we’re not talking about regular mealtimes here, we’re talking about in-between meals), if not, try diarising your hungry moments for a few days.
Once you see a pattern, use this to plan things to do around those hungry periods.
So, if you know that at around 11.00am you feel hungry; have a glass of water (with a slice of fruit chopped up and in the bottle/glass) and then go for a walk.
This will keep the hunger at bay for a little longer and you’ll burn some calories.
Then, once you’re back, it’s only around half an hour to midday so you can have another glass of water and wait for lunchtime when you should eat a healthy, balanced meal of protein and vegetables.
Leave a Reply