Losing weight is hard. Especially now, when for the past two years, we’ve had to self-isolate and limit our interactions with others. The last couple of years have been particularly disruptive, and people have been very limited in what they can do to stay active and maintain healthy body weights. Basketball leagues canceled, gyms closed, and personal trainers moved to virtual settings. It hasn’t been easy.
Still, just because things are more challenging now, it doesn’t mean people can’t lose weight. What we know about increased risks tied to obesity and carrying just a bit too much weight should serve as motivation for many of us to get moving. Losing weight is a challenge, for sure, but the payoff is well worth it. The way you’ll feel about your body and the sense of accomplishment you’ll get from doing something are amazing rewards.
If you don’t know where to start, or you feel like you’ve already tried everything, we’ve put together a list of six strategies you can try that will help you be more successful. Find what works for you and stick with it. Remember, weight loss needs to happen slowly and steadily to hold. Plenty of people follow crash diets that work short-term. However, after the initial excitement of losing five or ten pounds wears off, it comes right back on. You have to commit to changing your lifestyle, and these strategies will help.
Strategy 1 – Drink More Water
It’s simple but true. Drinking more water will help you lose weight. Not only does water during meal times and throughout the day makes you feel fuller, but it also speeds up your metabolism. When you drink a glass or two of water before a meal, you’re much more inclined to eat less than you would have if you had not drunk a thing. Drinking water is great for your skin, will give you more energy, and it will stop you from drinking all of those unhealthy sugary drinks that too many of us love. Buy a gallon jug or a large water bottle and start carrying around with you at work, to the gym, and at the dinner table. It will become part of your diet, and you’ll start to see some of those pounds start to melt off.
Strategy 2 – Go on Daily Walks
A lot of people start diets and fail because they join a gym or start going to a cycling class, but they come home from the gym exhausted and ready to eat! Unfortunately, they eat more than they should, and sometimes in excess of the calories that they just burned at the gym. Generally, people are worse off when that happens.
If you’re not used to exercising, ease into things. You need to monitor the food you eat with the amount of exercise you’re doing. Going on daily walks or multiple walks a day is a fantastic way to get low-impact workouts that won’t trigger binging. You’ll get all of the health benefits of being outdoors in the sun and burning some calories without hating it.
Strategy 3 – Get More Sleep
Sleeping is a secret strategy that will lead to weight loss success. If you sleep more, you have less time to eat. It’s as simple as that. Well, not in reality as simple as that. Yes, you certainly cut short your eating window when you go to sleep earlier, but there are other benefits on top of that. When you sleep more, you’re in a better mood, manage stress better, and can make better decisions when it comes to your diet. You’re less likely to have some unpleasant experience at work, school, or at home trigger a desire to binge eat or go for those unhealthy snacks you’re used to eating. Stress eating is a real thing, and getting more sleep is something you can do to avoid it.
Strategy 4 – Find the Right Foods
Learning about what foods have, how many calories, and how they affect your weight matter a great deal. Find snacks you can eat that don’t break your diet. Things like celery, rice cakes, fruits, and other healthy snacks are perfect replacements for the candy and chips you used to eat. Sometimes you just need a small snack to get you to your next meal. Do what you can to make it a healthy one.
Strategy 5 – Make It a Game
Build some friendly competition into your weight loss journey. Whether it’s just you or you can find a friend to go along with, making your diet a game will make it more fun and give you something to work toward. You should be tracking your calories and weighing in regularly, so it shouldn’t be too hard to make goals and reward yourself when you hit your milestones!
Strategy 6 – Finding New Ways to Lose Weight
Thankfully, we live in a time where there are more weight loss aids than ever. We have better choices when it comes to foods and supplements that help us along the way. One thing people love to try on their diets is peptides.
One peptide named HGH Fragment 176-191 earned the nickname of “lipolytic fragment” because testing in animal models showed it has substantial fat burning and weight loss properties. In animal tests, there was almost a 50% weight reduction in obese animals over three weeks. Interestingly, the weight loss was shown only in obese animals – the lean animals maintained their normal body weight.
