At some point, we’ve all been bombarded with a million weight loss tricks, ideas, and downright dangerous diets. Although we may want to lose some weight to get healthier, look better or feel more confident, diets may not be the optimal choice to start. In case you’d like to lose a few pounds without significantly changing your daily routines, make sure to try these tips!
1. Don’t stress about it
The first mistake most of us do when trying to lose weight is that we stress so much about the whole process that we make it a bigger deal than it is. The whole concept of losing weight is fairly simple- you need to burn more than you consume. That means that your daily calorie intake should be 200-500 kcal lower than your daily calorie burn to lose weight. As you can see, 200 calories are not much when you know one Snickers bar has 280 calories!
2. Don’t drink your calories
Have you ever wondered why you gained weight even if you ate right and exercised? The culprit may be the juice you’re drinking or the soda you just had with your lunch. As we know, the average American consumes 17 teaspoons (71.14 grams) of sugar each day, while the recommended daily intake should be lower than 6 tsp (25 g). Although you may not be the average, make sure to swap your fizzy drink with water to cut down on sugars.
In case you’re a fan of ice tea, you can easily prepare it at home! Make your regular tea, cool it down to room temperature, add some lemon juice and a teaspoon of honey and let it cool in your fridge. Regular store-bought ice tea has 4-6 teaspoons of sugar (22-25g), while your homemade version has 5-10g if you use honey as a substitute! If you don’t, it has roughly 0!
3. Drink more water
You probably know all the benefits of drinking more water. What you, maybe, haven’t thought of is that water can easily help you avoid overeating. Before each meal, drink a glass of water to speed up your metabolism and fill your stomach a bit to avoid eating too much. Water has also been proven to speed up the metabolical processes in your body. A study conducted on 173 overweight women (aged 25-50 years) showed that increasing their water intake to over 1 liter (34 oz) per day resulted in an additional weight loss of 4.5 lb per year without making other dietary changes.
4. Stay active
Even if you don’t have the time to go to the gym or take that pilates class you’ve been postponing, you can still incorporate activity in your daily life. Make sure to walk around the office every hour or take stairs once you’re getting back from your break. In case you have your Leaf or Time, you won’t have to worry about measuring your daily active times as they will do it for you! If you don’t have them, now is the right time to see all the benefits they can bring.
5. Swap alcoholic drinks
As parties and celebrations are a part of our social life, alcoholic drinks are too. Forgetting about your diet can easily turn your 100-calorie drink into a 500 calorie one.
In case you don’t drink them- good for you, make sure to let us know below what your favorite party drink is! But if you’re one of us that does drink alcoholic drinks, you may be surprised at how much sugar they can have. A regular Sex on the Beach cocktail contains 32 grams of carbs and sugars and around 360 calories. At the same time, vodka-soda contains only 96 calories and 0 grams of sugar and carbs. Feel free to add a squeezed orange or lime to make it taste even better. Some of the drinks with the lowest sugar content are vodka, tequila, and gin. Now you know what to choose when going out next time!
Wouldn’t we all wish to just pop a pill and wake up a size smaller?
Yeah, that won’t happen. We’re constantly bombarded with various teas, gummy bears and belly wraps that promise us heavens, but cannot do anything for you (except make you pee-a lot).
Losing weight is more than popping a pill, but it can be as easy as that!