How many different diets are out there, really? The truth is people will do just about anything to lose weight and get lean. While the best diet is a lifestyle of clean eating and exercise, it can’t hurt to share some weight loss tips proven to be effective!
1. Water
I’m sure you’ve heard it before, drinking water helps with weight loss – it’s true.
Studies have shown drinking water increases your metabolism up to 24% within an hour of drinking it. Not only that, water fills you up, causing you to eat less. In a 2014 study, 50 overweight women drank 500 ml of water 30 minutes before breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus their regular water intake, for 8 consecutive weeks. At the end of the study they lost weight and body fat and reported their appetite was reduced.
Pro Tip: Start your day with a liter of water with lemon on an empty stomach. Add a dash of cayenne for fun.
2. Morning Exercise
Getting your exercise first thing in the morning can help boost weight loss in a few ways.
First, exercise increases caloric burn and increased caloric burn equals weight loss. If you have an unpredictable schedule, exercise in the morning can be better because there’s less of a chance you’ll miss your workout.
Pro Tip: Start with 15 minutes three times a week. Try a quick and effective yoga workout that packs a punch!
3. Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent Fasting is cycling in and out of periods of fasting and eating. It’s a great way to lose weight quickly and keep it off. It’s also been shown to ward off chronic disease, enhance memory and brain power and boost your energy.
Studies also show that intermittent fasting is great for reducing visceral fat which is that dangerous internal fat that spells trouble for your health. For more about visceral fat, check out this amazing article in Bulletproof.com.
Pro Tip: Start with fasting on a weekend. Fast until 2 pm, then build from there. Here are some great different types of intermittent fasting.
4. Sleep
Probably the single most important factor in weight loss, poor sleep has consistently been linked to weight gain.
Poor sleep increases your appetite. There are two hunger hormones involved with sleep, leptin and ghrelin. Short sleep lowers leptin and elevates ghrelin. Ghrelin is the one that makes you feel hungry, while leptin reduces your appetite.
Also, sleep increases your cortisol levels which is the hormone that also increases your appetite level and helps your body hang on to fat. Oh goody. The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7-9 hours for adults.
Pro Tip: There are many tips for getting more sleep, it starts with sticking to a sleep schedule, even on the weekends.
5. Coffee
Coffee was put on the “Naughty List” for some time but coffee is loaded with antioxidants and the natural caffeine found in coffee helps increase energy levels. That makes those workouts that much easier to do!
Studies have shown the caffeine in coffee also helps boost your metabolism by up to 11% and increase your fat burning up to 29%. Coffee anyone?
Pro Tip: Don’t like coffee, try a little Keto Cold Brew in your morning smoothie.
6. Eat Whole, One-Ingredient (Real) Foods
The best types of foods to resort to are whole, single ingredient foods. Whole foods tend to have a higher thermic effect (TEF) which is the increase of your metabolism after you eat something. Proteins tend to have the highest thermic effect of burning nearly 30 percent of the total calories through processing while fruits and vegetables are around 20 percent.
Pro Tip: Check out this list of 52 Thermogenic Foods and make them part of your daily diet.
7. Take Your Time
Taking your time eating has been linked to lower calorie intake at a meal. (1) First, eating slower produces more of the gut peptide that produces the feeling of fullness. And, in a study of 30 healthy women, feelings of pleasantness tended to be higher with the slow eaters. (2)
Pro Tip: Make it a habit to eat only when you are sitting down so you are relaxed and can chew slowly.
8. Small Plates
Studies show that for some reducing the plate size also reduced portion sizes. (3)
Although this doesn’t work for everyone, the logic here is you are mindfully eating choosing a smaller plate to eat less. In doing so, you’re becoming more aware of what you’re eating.
Pro Tip: Somehow in my world, it involved shopping to get new plates at Target. My argument is new dinnerware would definitely increase mindful eating.
9. Meal Prep
Meal Prep for weight loss has become a leading weight loss strategy. So much so that there are multiple companies that are now successful in this like Hello Fresh, Blue Apron and many more.
Some places, like Blue Apron even provide recipes. So after you pay for the service and you can kick start your own meal prep game.
Pro Tip: Do your own meal prep on Sunday. Wash vegetables and put them in containers and plan your lunches for the first three days of the week.
10. Chew Gum/Peppermint Oil/Peppermint Tea
Studies have shown chewing gum can reduce cravings, control appetite and help with weight loss. (4) Peppermint oil and tea has also been linked with appetite suppression while also effective with gastrointestinal distress. (5)
Pro Tip: Have a diffuser going at work with peppermint essential oil and keep sugarless gum handy for after lunch. Better yet, brush your teeth after lunch with peppermint toothpaste.
Be Healthy!
