When it comes to losing weight, it’s more difficult for some than it is for others. Many lucky people can shed it very quickly, while for others, it’s a constant struggle to reach their goals and keep the weight off.
Although carrying a few extra pounds isn’t a big deal, being extremely overweight can start affecting your day-to-day life. Over time, your joints may hurt, you may feel lacking in energy, depressed, and it can also be detrimental to your heart and overall health.
Regardless of how much you weigh or how much you want to lose, there are many things you can do to help you on your journey. With some perseverance and lots of willpower, there should be no reason you can’t start shedding pounds and transform into a new you.
Here are 6 things that may help you reach your weight loss goals.
Calorie tracking
Calorie tracking is a popular way to track and achieve weight loss. The first thing you need to do is establish how many calories you expend on average during any given day. This is called your Total Daily Energy expenditure (TDEE) and can be determined using one of the many online calculators available.
If your TDEE is, for example, 2000 calories a day, then that’s the calories you would typically eat in a day if you wanted to maintain your current weight.
If you are endeavoring to lose weight, you should eat less than that – this is what is called a calorie deficit – a 500 daily deficit equating (roughly) to a pound a week in weight loss.
Use calorie trackers such as Chronometer or MyFitnessPal to track how much you eat each day and stick to a reasonable deficit. It can initially take up to a month to see results, so don’t be disheartened if it isn’t immediate.
Reduce your intake of refined sugar
Given how common processed foods are these days, refined sugar is in almost everything we eat, but it comes at a price. Not only is it bad for our health, but it is also highly calorific so, if you want to not only lose weight but feel more energized too, cut as much sugar as you can from your diet.
Cutting processed foods in their entirety won’t be easy, but making healthier choices for most of the day should set you up for a good chunk of weight loss.
There are many sugar alternatives readily available these days such as date sugar, monk fruit erythritol blend, maple syrup, and honey. Using these instead of sugar can not only help you lose weight but are far better for your overall health.
Exercise
The more you move, the more calories you burn, so it stands to reason that exercise can help you to lose weight. This is, of course, providing that you aren’t eating all the calories you burn off!)
Cardio, in particular, will help you expend more calories, so activities like running, CrossFit, or even walking will help you get one step nearer to your goals. If you are keen on the idea of running but don’t feel like you are remotely fit enough, why not try a program like Couch to 5k, which helps you build stamina and recovery over a period of around nine weeks.
It’s important to find something you enjoy doing, or you are unlikely to stick to it, so have a go at several different activities until you find one or two that you love.
Another option that will help with motivation is to hire a personal trainer. They will put together a range of exercises to help you shed weight, strengthen muscle, and generally get a lot fitter.
Make sure you are eating enough
One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to lose weight is reducing their calorie intake to an unhealthy amount. Not only can it have the opposite effect of what you are trying to achieve, but it can lead to long-term health issues and other illnesses. So, if you fall into this category and are trying to live on 800 calories a day – it’s time to stop.
When our bodies aren’t provided with enough fuel to function, it panics and holds onto existing fat stores, so be realistic and up your calories in accordance with your height, gender, weight, and average activity levels.
Join a class
Trying to lose weight on your own can be quite a lonely place which is why so many people opt to join slimming classes. There are many different weight loss groups, but the basic principles are the same. For a small weekly fee, you are provided with an eating plan and invited to weigh in each week to have your weight loss results recorded.
Not only can these classes keep you motivated, but you might make some fabulous new friends along the way too. Many slimming clubs will give certificates and other rewards when you hit specific goals, so it’s a great way of maintaining focus and willpower.
If you aren’t sure what’s available in your area, search online, then do some research into the science behind each before deciding which is best for you.
Get out your tape measure
Although losing weight is the aim, bear in mind that you can lose inches even when your weight remains the same. It is more common when undertaking exercise that builds muscle, such as strength training.
Muscle is more dense than fat, so although you may weigh the same, it takes up far less room, and so you may notice fundamental differences in your measurements.
Some of the most common body measurements to take are waist, chest, and hips, but you can go further and take arm and leg measurements too.
So, next time you step on your scales and feel disheartened that you haven’t shed any extra pounds, get out your tape measure and check how many inches you have lost – the results might be surprising.
