Some people can lose weight in a few weeks, while others can feel like they do all they can and still don’t see a change when they look to the scale or mirror. Weight loss doesn’t happen instantly which can make it difficult to keep up with if you aren’t seeing results in the average amount of time. Some weight loss hacks can help you enhance your weight loss experience that you might want to try out.
Drink Lots of Water
Water is great for you whether you need to lose weight or not. Did you know that being just 1% dehydrated can make changes in your mood? Drink up!
Drinking water does more than just make you functional, studies have shown that increasing your hydration can contribute to a more significant weight loss. Scientists believe this is because when your body is dehydrated, your mitochondria (also known as the powerhouse of the cell) starts to malfunction which can lead to:
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Cardiovascular Disease
- Cancer
- Alzheimer’s Disease
The study also has shown that being dehydrated can decrease your brain volume, which can lead to more malfunction and disorders. The best rule of thumb is to drink every time you are thirsty. After all, that is our body telling us what it needs!
Make Active Choices
Your day is filled with decisions. What will you wear for work today? What will you have for breakfast? Are you going to take the backroads for work today or does traffic seem pretty fluid? Decision making gets overwhelming when you have to make so many, but one decision that you can turn to default is choosing active options.
When you are looking for a parking spot at the mall, park in the back and walk up to the building. During a commercial, instead of scrolling through your phone get up and do some squats. When there is an option to take the elevator or the stairs, take the stairs. Yes, even you who is on the 8th floor of the building. The less you rest, the more calories you burn, so get active!
Eat the Right Portions
There is a phrase I learned as a kid that helped me remember how I was supposed to portion meals. Eat like a queen for breakfast, eat like a noblewoman for lunch, and eat like a peasant for dinner. While of course, this meant for breakfast I at least needed a tiara; this set a precedent for the rest of my life to have healthy diet portions.
Studies stated that this theory of eating through the kingdom is true. Eating large meals for breakfast gives you large energy intake for the day and by dinner eating smaller meals will give you smaller energy intake. In the study where they had participants practice this, they found that those who followed this style of eating had more success in weight loss.
Portion Control for Treats
You might not be ready to give up your treats cold turkey. Considering that sugar is addictive, it makes sense you might have a hard time eliminating treats with sugar in them from your diet. And this is totally fine because once you start getting healthier and start eating right, your body won't crave those foods anymore and you won’t have to work so hard to avoid them. Instead, you’ll start craving healthy food.
In the meantime, before your body has exiled unhealthy foods from its domain, try to portion out your treats. Instead of eating the whole bag of candy, just pour some into a little cup or pre-portion it into bags so you can have your candy or whatever unhealthy vice you are holding onto without devastating your weight loss plans.
Fill Up on Healthy Foods
If you are hungry, you are likely going to eat. If you are eating and you are still hungry, you are likely going to go find more food. Our bodies are built to eat to survive, and that hunger is your body telling you that it needs its fuel. The problem is that some foods that you eat aren’t filling and are a waste when it comes to nutrition. You end up eating more junk, and your body is still going without. A great way to combat this is to choose foods that are full of nutrition and filling.
Eating a lot of protein is a good way to fill up because it gives you energy, is filling, and helps you build muscle. Eating bowls of vegetables before your meals to take up space in your belly in a healthy way is also a great way to fill up on health so you don’t overeat junk.
Double your Fiber Intake
Studies have shown that adults only consume half of the amount of fiber that is suggested. Scientists believe that the fiber in our diet plays a huge role in weight loss and encourage people to start eating more things with fiber. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes are all great foods to add more fiber to your diet.
Choose Your Social Circle Carefully
An alcoholic getting clean would be advised to avoid bars and don’t hang out with their drunk friends anymore. And this is good advice! When struggling with self-control, it’s best not to put yourself in a situation to fail until you know you are strong enough to overcome temptation. This goes the same with any big changes you are trying to make in your life.
If you hang around people with no self-control, it is likely that they might not encourage you to stick to your own goals. Not because they don’t care about you, but because they don’t see the importance of it because it isn’t their reality. If you hang out with people who congratulate you on weight loss, sticking to your diet, and encourage you to make the right choices, you are much more likely to succeed.
Smart Fasting
Fasting is something that hasn’t been proven scientifically, but there is evidence that it may work. But fasting is NOT STARVING YOURSELF. This isn’t keeping food from your body for days or depriving it of nutrients; it is choosing a different way to eat at different times and lowering your calorie intake. Not completely obliterating it.
Harvard has a review stating that intermittent fasting could be a tool used in weight loss. This type of fasting cycles between brief periods of fasting and then periods of unrestricted eating. The idea is that it promotes a change in body composition through the loss of fat mass and weight and improve the markers associated with disease.
It is important to know that having a low-calorie diet for prolonged periods of time can have devastating effects on your body. If you want to lose weight, YOU HAVE TO EAT! Calorie restriction can actually hinder future weight loss because your body is confused, not knowing when it will get fuel again and going into conserve mode. It is also important to note that while studies have suggested intermittent fasting may work, the research isn’t consistent.
Carbs can be Friend or Foe
A lot of people are scared of carbs, and it is most likely because many diets tell you to be scared of them. But some recent studies have shown us that with the right diet, carbs can actually be your friend.
In the study, there were two groups of people. The first group was on a high-plant, high-carb, and low-fat diet avoiding all animal products and adding oils. There were no limits on their caloric intake or how many carbohydrates they could eat. In the other group, the control group, they continued on with their life eating what they normally eat throughout the experiment. Both groups made no changes to their exercise routines to keep the study more accurate.
At the end of the trial, they found that the BMI, body weight, fat mass, visceral fat volume, and insulin resistance was decreased significantly in the group who was on the plant-based high carb diet.
Try CBD Oil
Adding CBD oil to your day might be able to help as well. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a chemical that comes from the cannabis or hemp plant that has a wide variety of healing benefits. It doesn’t just have healing properties; it has some say in how your body burns fat as well.
You have two types of fat, white fat, and brown fat. The white fat is the fat you see in the mirror. It is what keeps your body safe from the outside world, and it is the stuff everyone wants to get rid of. Your body browns this fat and turns it into something that can be used for energy, which is what trims the fat off of you after exercising. CBD oil has shown in studies to promote the fat browning process, effectively helping you lose fat more efficiently.
