Whether you’re obese or just want to shed extra pounds and tone your body, losing excess weight can be exhausting and scary. Sometimes excess fat refuses to budge, no matter how regularly you exercise and change your diet.
At this point, you will most likely lose hope and give up if nothing changes. But before you throw in the towel, here are the 9 best ways to start losing weight so you start seeing real changes.
Why you need to lose weight
Having a few extra pounds is normal, but if the extra weight is preventing you from performing normal tasks and leading a healthy lifestyle, you need to find ways to lose it immediately. Being overweight is bad for your health and can lead to serious complications, including death.
Even if your excess body weight does not cause health problems, it can affect you physically and socially. Here are the main reasons why you should lose weight.
1. Enjoy a good night’s sleep
What you eat directly affects the quality of your sleep. So, if you are used to staying up all night and waking up in the morning feeling exhausted and confused, you need to check your diet first. In addition, your diet is directly related to your overall fitness.
If you are used to eating too many carbohydrates without training, the excess starch is stored in your body as fat, causing you to gain weight. Excess body fat hinders the circulation of fluids in your body and causes you to sweat excessively at night. All these complications will not allow you to fall asleep, let alone enjoy your sleep.
Losing weight will change this and improve your sleep quality. As the fluid circulation in your body improves, you can relax and fall asleep easily. You’ll also feel well-rested when you wake up.
2. Minimizing joint pain
These extra pounds put a lot of stress on the joints, causing frequent injuries and inflammation of the joints. Your knees and ankles are the first victims because you use them to stand, walk and perform other important activities such as sports.
Therefore, if you are overweight, your knees and ankles will always be under enormous pressure, making them susceptible to injury. Losing excess weight will reduce the risk of joint inflammation and pain, thus improving your performance.
3. Increase your productivity
Lack of quality sleep affects every other aspect of your life, including your productivity at work. So you can get so many warnings from your boss for poor performance just because you are awake at night because of your extra body weight. If so, shed the excess weight and watch your performance soar again.
4. Enhancing your health and well-being
Being overweight may be the reason you get sick easily and always feel grumpy. When your body stores too much fat, it creates a domino effect that negatively affects all other areas of your life, including your physical and psychological well-being.
Thus, losing extra pounds automatically boosts your immunity, allowing your body to fight off opportunistic infections and chronic diseases more effectively.
5. Improving your social life
Many people who struggle with being overweight have low self-esteem and don’t like to socialize because they feel judged. It’s so embarrassing to be the only one covered in sweat at a wedding, family reunion, prom, or any other social gathering.
Getting rid of excess body fat can reduce sweating, allowing you to socialize without feeling weird.
6. Boosting your confidence
Are you always embarrassed to stand in front of people because of your bulging stomach and layered love handles? If so, the best way to regain your confidence is to lose the fat. When you shed excess weight and regain your youthful appearance, your poise in front of people automatically increases.
7. Improving your memory
When you are overweight, you forget even the simplest things like names and numbers. Excess weight burdens not only the physical body, but also the mind. Studies have shown that sugary foods and drinks disrupt the way your brain creates new pathways when learning new things and experiences.
So when you cut down on sugar, your brain cells become more active and can easily create new pathways for new experiences and memories.
9 best ways to start losing weight
For so long, people have been led to believe that regular exercise is the only effective way to lose weight. However, modern research has shown that exercise is only one of many effective ways to lose weight. Here are the top 9 ways to boost your weight loss journey.
1. Eat your breakfast
Some people think they will lose weight by skipping breakfast. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. So, eat breakfast before you go to work or start your day.
A complete, balanced breakfast is one of the most important meals. But that doesn’t mean intermittent fasting and morning cardio on an empty stomach don’t work. In short, you should not start your day on an empty stomach unless you are fasting.
2. Regulate your diet
NHS research has shown that eating regularly helps you burn more calories. So, plan your meals and avoid snacking. For example, if you eat three meals a day, stick to that schedule and avoid snacking in between. This gives your body enough time to burn calories.
3. Eat a lot of low-calorie foods
Since your goal is to lose excess weight, you need to reduce your calorie intake by adding more low-calorie foods, such as vegetables and fruits, to your diet.
4. Lead an active lifestyle
It is very difficult to lose weight if you spend most of your time sitting or lying down. You need to be active to keep your heart rate up. An active lifestyle also speeds up the metabolism, allowing the body to burn more calories.
Being active doesn’t necessarily mean spending hours in the gym; instead, it could mean walking for 30 minutes each day, taking the stairs instead of using the elevator, jogging in the morning, or any other form of physical activity that gets your heart rate up.
5. Stay hydrated
If you’re not into it, it’s very easy to mistake thirst for hunger. So, before you snack when you feel hungry, start with a glass of water. You might be surprised to learn that a glass of water is all you need. So, drink enough water to keep your stomach full and avoid consuming extra calories when you are hungry.
6. Add fiber to your diet
Foods high in fiber, such as fruits, vegetables, and unprocessed carbohydrates, take longer to digest, so your stomach stays full longer. That way, you won’t need to snack between meals. The fewer snacks you eat, the less weight you will gain.
7. Avoid processed sugar
Refined sugar is one of the main causes of obesity in today’s world. Unfortunately, most packaged foods contain processed sugar. This is why you should never buy food at the store before reading what’s on their labels.
8. Avoid junk food
You have to give up junk food if you want to lose weight. There are no two ways about it. Most of these foods are made from processed sugar, carbohydrates, and other high-calorie ingredients and are usually deep-fried and sweetened. Replace them with healthier foods like fruits, salads, rice cakes, oat cakes, juices, etc.
9. Reduce your alcohol consumption
Alcohol contains a lot of processed sugar, which causes rapid weight gain. So, if you want your weight loss journey to pay off, cut down on alcohol.
How to find inspiration to lose weight
Gaining weight is easy, but losing it is a difficult task full of pain and frustration. But with consistency and determination, you will get the results you want. Here are some tips to stay motivated.
1. Make it your daily goal
Start by identifying the specific reasons why you need to lose weight. Then make those reasons your daily motivation. It’s easy to get up and go to the gym when you’re clear about why you’re doing it.
2. Keep your expectations realistic
Sometimes those extra pounds around your waist can be stubborn, even if you’ve done everything right. This can be demoralizing, especially if you’ve spent a lot of time and money on special exercise and diet plans. To avoid disappointment, have realistic expectations.
For example, start by losing 1-2 pounds per week. Then increase your weight loss goals as you progress. It is unrealistic to expect to lose 10 pounds in a week.
3. Focus on the process, not the outcome
It’s very easy to lose hope when you focus too much on the outcome rather than the process. For example, if you want to lose 10 pounds in two weeks, you will feel demoralized when you realize that you only lost 2 pounds in the first week. So instead of focusing on how many pounds you’ve lost, you should focus on what you need to do to lose those extra pounds.
4. Choose a weight loss plan that’s right for you
Although there are so many simple and effective weight loss plans out there, not all of them will suit your lifestyle. It is very difficult to achieve the desired result with the wrong plan. So, if you are using a weight loss diet plan, consult a nutritionist for advice on the best plan for your lifestyle.
5. Celebrate your small victories
Always monitor your progress to know if you are making progress. Record your progress and take time to celebrate accomplishments, no matter how mundane they may seem. This will motivate you to continue.
6. Get social support
The weight loss journey is full of ups and downs that can demoralize you. Therefore, you need to identify a reliable source of social support. Positive comments and words of encouragement from your family, friends and colleagues will keep you motivated to achieve your weight loss goals.
