25 Ways to Get that Weight to Stay Off

1. Drop soda! This means ALL soda. Diet sodas have artificial sweeteners in them that create a negative hormonal response in your body which increases fat storing hormones. This skyrockets the cravings your body has for more sweets and carbs especially right after consuming the diet drink. Regular soda is of course awful with all of the sugar it contains. Both of these drinks have harmful chemicals in them that can damage your bones in the long run. People who cut out all soda can lose 10-20 lbs in just one year!

Alternatives

• Buy yourself a filter like Brita and drink water. This will cleanse your body and make your skin gorgeous.
• If the idea of drinking only water bores you then get creative. When I first gave up soda I knew I’d miss flavor. So I always added fresh lemon to my drink.
• Think organic! Drink things that are freshly squeezed in your own home. When you buy juice in stores it usually has TONS of sugar added.
• DON’T BE FOOLED BY ITEMS THAT SAY NO SUGAR if its sweet it’s got something in it. Pretty much anything that ends in an –ose such as fructose.
• Juice is good in moderation, but it is loaded with sugar.

2. Keep track of what you eat. You have no idea how fast the pounds will fall off when you keep track of what you eat in a day. Now you can do this the traditional way and use a journal or you can go more modern and use apps like My Fitness Pal. I use this app and it is awesome. The first thing you do is enter in your current weight, your target weight, and the time frame to which you would like to achieve it. Then the application calculates a healthy calories intake per day that you need to try to achieve. When you go to the diary section there is a search bar to which you can enter what you have eaten. Then items will come up for you to choose from and it will list the calorie content. You can add workouts and how much water you drink in a day too. It is very efficient.

3. Eat five small meals at day instead of three big ones. This is great when it comes to boosting your metabolism.

4. Have a support system. If you find a workout buddy you can push each other when you fall off the horse.

5. Don’t think of it as a diet, that thought process will make this last only a few days. Think of it as bettering yourself and creating a new and improved you. Think of it as a new start.

6.Use smaller plates and bowls. I know it sounds strange, but if you think about it with a larger plate you will want to fill it up more.

7. MEASURE OUT YOUR SERVINGS. I did this one summer and lost 18 lbs. Typical servings of each item are ½ Cup. Meat and fish typically the size of your palm or fist.

8. Pay attention to colors. Oddly enough there have been many studies that conclude that red, yellow, and orange encourage eating. While the color blue suppresses appetites. So go to the dollar store and get yourself some blue plates or cover your table in a blue table cloth.

9. Get moving! Walk, run, or dance. Have fun with it. Mix it up too. Grab a home workout DVD such as Firm Pilates or a fun dance workout like the Pussycat Dolls DVD. Yoga is also awesome for weight loss and relaxation. While you might hate working out at first eventually you will become addicted to doing it. You won’t feel like your day is complete unless you do something.

10. Serve your dinner restaurant style meaning measured out portions on plates. Then pack away the rest and put it into the fridge That way when you are done there is no temptation for seconds.

11. Avoid white foods. Meaning your white rice, pasta, white flour, sugar etc. Go for whole grain foods instead. There are plenty of great whole-wheat or whole-grain pastas for you to choose from.

12. Hold the salt. Pay attention to how much sodium is in your food. You would not believe how much sodium food has. Opt for salt free if possible. Salt makes you retain water making you bloat.

13. If you must drink coffee go for regular coffee. When you go to fancy coffee joints they pack so many hidden calories into your drink. You could easily be drinking 400 calories. Go for regular coffee with skim milk.

14. Eat oatmeal! If you eat ½ cup of oatmeal every morning it encourages weight loss. I take my ½ cup, add a little water and skim milk, add cinnamon, and pinch of sugar. Then I put it into the microwave for 40 seconds. Always comes out perfect and gives me a big boost to start my day.

15. Avoid eating out. Not only will you save money, but you will also save yourself from eating a ridiculous amount of calories.

16. Eat slowly and drink a lot of water. This will discourage you from over snacking. Your brain lags behind your stomach by 20 minutes. So give your brain time to register that you are full.

17. Emotional eater? If this is the case then find a new outlet. Start by doing crafts, meditate, or do pilates. I really recommend pilates that’s what I do when I am stressed. Dancing around for fun is also a great thing to do. Dancing will make you laugh and boost your mood.

18. Keep a positive mind frame! You are awesome for even starting on your weight loss quest.

19. Go SPICY. Add hot sauce to your food for flavor or dip some whole-grain chips in salsa. These actually are known to encourage your body to burn calories. Mustard is also a great low calorie condiment.

20. Make a social outing an active one at least 1 every 2 weeks. Ideally you should do this once a week, but let’s get real. Meet with your friends to play tennis, go bowling, or take a beginners dance class.

21. Go from regular milk to 2 percent and then eventually to skim. Do this in steps, because usually jumping right into it doesn’t work for people.

22. Grab a handful of almonds instead of a sugary snack.

23. Watch one less hour of TV. Sitting on a couch watching TV encourages you to snack.

24. Stop eating by 8 pm.

25. Pay attention to those condiments. These are normally packed with calories.

Enjoy being you. Love your body and be make sure to go for weight loss in a healthy way.