5 Weight Loss Tips To Apply To Your Lifestyle

When we get that surge of motivation (or guilt) to lose weight, we are quick to jump on the hottest current trend  without doing our due diligence.

Juice cleanse, sugar detox, no carb or master cleanse.  Between spicy, sour drinks and bland boring foods, the common thought is in order to lose weight we must be both restrictive, drink and eat nasty concoctions, and have an unfavourable experience.   Forget having a social life..if you want to shed those pounds, you better lock yourself inside with a glass of lemon water and a head of lettuce.

Fortunately, this is far from the truth.

I’m here to tell you 5 simple weight loss enhancing tips that you can add to your daily routine that still allow you to live your life and doesn’t include spending hours in the gym and weighing out your food.

1. Snacking

To put it very simply, we eat food, our body digests that food and once that food is burned off, our body pulls from our fat stores converting it into energy to keep us going. If we are consistently eating adding more food to this process like snacking in-between meals, our body will just keep digesting and burning that food leaving our stored fat patiently waiting at our waist side. Literally.

In my experience, I have found the best results when incorporating 3 main balanced meals. This means each meal has an adequate amount of protein, carbs and fat, always accompanied by a base of vegetables.

If you are constantly feeling the need snack, it’s time take a look at your meals making sure they are supplying you with the right nutrients to keep your energy stable throughout the day avoiding blood sugar crashes that have us reaching for excess calories.  I also recommend speaking with your doctor or naturopath and getting a blood panel done to make sure you’re not lacking in any essential vitamins or minerals.

2. Recognizing the different types of hunger

Did you know there are different types of hunger? Most of which have nothing to do with our body’s need to fuel!  Recognizing these different types of hunger is the first set to cutting snacking and adding unnecessary calories to your diet. 

Thirst

 One of the easiest most effective ways to drop a few unwanted pounds and shed water weight. Drink more water! Hunger and thirst trigger the body in a very similar way. We commonly feel a bit of emptiness in the stomach and often confuse this signal as a need for food. Depending on your body type and physical activity your water intake should start at around 2 liters per day. An increase of water helps flush out toxins from the body, keeps our skin hydrated and glowing and improves digestion (drinking a large glass of water at least 30-40 minutes before and after the meal, not during). 

Next time you find yourself aimlessly searching through your cupboards in-between meals, down a large glass of water, wait 20 minutes and see how you feel. Most likely, full, satisfied and ready to get back to work!

Habitual

Ever find yourself in your kitchen peering into the fridge first thing when you get home or walk into your parent’s house? You know you’re not hungry but somehow you end up there…out of habit. Congratulations! Step 1 complete. Recognize the habit! Step 2. Don’t try to be a hero and cut the habit completely, that will leave you feeling deprived and often resulting in a binge. All you have to do is alter the habit. If you find yourself walking into a cafe to grab your usual mid-afternoon treat, still take that walk but aim to walk around the block instead, or if your willpower is strong enough, walk into the cafe and opt for a hot water or tea instead. Find a healthy alternative in your pattern and watch the pounds melt off.

Hormonal

Ladies…. I feel you on this one! Come that time of our cycle gloves come off and it’s fair game on the gluten-free vegan dark chocolate cookies am I right? When we are able to take a step back from the situation and shed light on why we’re feeling this way, it becomes so much easier to walk away. Calm the sugar-addicted hormonal devil on your shoulder with a few deep breaths and reviewing your goals.

During our periods our natural serotonin (our happy hormone) decreases and our body goes on a search for a quick pick-me-up, aka sugar and simple carbs. I recommend supplementing with 5HTP for a couple days to increase your feelin’ good vibes and taking a little time to do something you love and find relaxing. This will bring a sense of calm and give you a natural lift.  Not to mention, you will feel 1000% better knowing you made it through the storm like the dedicated badass babe you are.

Actual hunger

Ok, so there is a thing called actual hunger and it’s incredibly important to become familiar and recognize the signs of when your body requires nutrients in order to reach your goals.  Depending on your lifestyle, how active or sedentary you are, your height, weight age, and goals, everyone’s needs are different. But now you have the tools to know when and what to eat to get you closer to your weight loss goals. When you start daydreaming of food and get a sense of hunger, go through your checklist, have you drank enough water? Am I ‘hungry’ out of habit? Is it that time of the month? Or did I have an overactive day and my bodies calling for a little extra energy?

Turn to R.A.D. to dictate your hunger situation. Recognize, the type of hunger.  Asses how your feeling and React in a goal supporting action. 

3. Break up with overeating

Overeating causes weight gain. Duh right? But we’ve all been there probably more like we like to admit. Unbuttoning our pants to release the pressure brought on by our food baby. Charming.

We feel crappy and regretful when it happens, yet we continue to do it time after time again. This could be for a couple of reasons. A) We ate too fast. B) We ate distracted like watching TV or eating while working. C) We waited until we were too hungry or D) We let the meal get the best of us and threw our self-control out the window. Sound familiar?

Have no fear. I have answers. But first the effects.

Overeating overloads the digestive system causing stress in our bodies. Just like other forms of stress, it can lead to breeding grounds for diseases.  When we eat and digest our liver and pancreas secretes various enzymes to break down fats, carbs and proteins so we can utilize the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients to be stored for energy. When we overeat these organs go into overdrive, and as our energy stores become full, the excess calories are stored as fat. When this occurs regularly it can result in issues with our metabolism, decreased libido and growth hormone, insulin resistance, and heightened cortisol…No thank you!

So how do you break this habit?  Eat your meal in an undistracted environment, chew your food, eat slowly, and create the habit of pushing that plate away the moment you feel satisfied and content.

4. Deeper sleep= better results

Better sleep, better results. It’s not just about the amount of time you sleep, but the quality of your sleep that can make or break your weight loss efforts. They don’t call it beauty sleep for nothin’!

The human body is equipped with a circadian rhythm that tells us when to sleep and when to wake up which corresponds with the daylight outside. When the sun comes up cortisol is released waking us up and getting us prepared for the day. As the sun goes down, our body started to produce the hormone melatonin which makes up sleepy and puts us into a deep restful sleep. When we watch TV and look at our phones and computer screens, the blue light emitted from these devices interrupts the melatonin production and signals cortisol to be released keeping us awake.

This can cause an imbalance of hormones making it even harder for weight loss and wellness results to appear. Studies have even shown people who use their phone and computers late at night lost an average of 16 minutes of restful sleep per night, felt fatigued and had a harder time focusing the following day. When we’re tired, our body searches for quick sources of energy aka carbohydrates. So, in short, turning off your devices 1 hour before bedtime can supply you with the extra boost of willpower you need in saying no to that tempting cafe muffin.

Another factor affecting our quality of sleep is our last meal of the day. As mentioned above in number 3. Digesting takes a lot of energy. When we rest at night we want to make sure our whole body is able to recoup and recover as the quality of our sleep can have a major effect on our fitness, wellness, and weight loss efforts. If we are eating a huge meal close to bedtime, our body spends the first few hours of our nighttime Zzzz’s working away as opposed to rejuvenating. Warm up and prepare your body for a rejuvenating sleep by reading a book, journaling, meditation or yoga and aim to have your last meal 2 1/2-3 hours before you call it a night.

5. Don’t Be A Hero

Did you know, being accountable to someone increases your success rate by 65% and if you have a specific appointment for an accountability check-in, that success rate increases to 95%!

Personally, looking back I spent way too long trying to lose weight and fight this uphill battle on my own. Being accountable for just yourself is committing to a consistent game of gambling and negotiating with your inner overweight ego.

As humans, we don’t like to let people down but we can also tend to be a bit lazy when it comes to ourselves. Scrolling through insta or watching a show can seem much more appealing in the moment then gathering the energy for a workout. On the contrary, if you know you are meeting a friend for a sweat sesh, then you’ll never reach for that remote, you’ve got a place to be!

Save yourself the time and energy and find yourself an accountable source that will not only offer support but give you a little tough love when you’re feeling unmotivated. Schedule a weekly/daily/bi-daily meet up or phone call to keep you focused, motivated and well on your way to pushing yourself far beyond what you thought was possible for yourself.

There you have it! 5 simple steps you can apply to your lifestyle to boost your efforts and results.

Need someone to be accountable to? Contact me and let’s get you on the road to success.