5 things you can do right now to lose weight
Don’t get me wrong, you won’t lose weight right now but you will definitely start the ball rolling.
1 Drink more water
You may be thinking, what does drinking water do to help me lose weight? Well it does a number of things but the one we are concerned with is losing weight. So how it helps in this is by firing up your metabolism. There has been evidence that drinking a cold glass of water first thing in the morning increases your metabolic rate by around 30%. A good start to the day, I’m sure you’ll agree!
2 Eat less junk and more fresh food
Food is probably the single most important factor in losing weight. Eating too much will make you put on weight, it doesn’t take a genius to work that out. It’s not just the amount of food but the quality of food that is important.
Processed foods are worth steering clear of at all costs. Fresh fruit and vegetables, and fresh meats, poultry and fish are a must. Meat, poultry and fish will provide you with good sources of protein as well as some other nutrients. Fruit and vegetables will provide you with fibre, vitamins and minerals needed for healthy digestion and metabolism.
Heavily processed foods will be laden with either salt, fat or sugar to prolong their shelf life or make them taste better. One of the best ways of changing your diet is to a) learn to cook using a few ingredients and b) make a large batch of a healthy meal that can be divided into daily portions, frozen and heated up needed.
3 Move more to lose more
Reducing your calories through dieting is a great way to start losing weight, if you add some form of extra movement to that you will not only lose weight faster, you will increase your metabolic rate further meaning even after training your metabolism remains elevated for some time.
It is recommended that sedentary adults do around 30 minutes of activity each day. To begin with you can break it up into 2 sets of 15 minutes or 3 sets of 10 as long as you do 30 minutes total. The simplest way to move more is walk! It costs nothing except time. Try it and see how much weight you lose. If you can walk for 30 minutes each day it will make a huge difference, if you can’t, just do as much as you can, NOT as much as you want!
4 Build a support network
This could be friends, family, or a fitness professional or gym. Most people going it alone will fail, unless they are particularly focused and self motivated individuals.
Having a good network of like minded or supportive people around you will keep you motivated and driven towards your goal. Buddying up with a friend always works well as you can push each other and keep each other going.
5 Believe in yourself
If you believe you can or you believe you can’t you’re always right! This is a quote from one of the most successful men in the world, Henry Ford, pioneer and founder of the Ford motor company.
Belief is a choice, if you choose to believe in yourself, nothing will get in your way. Having a solid belief in yourself is not being arrogant or selfish, it’s just having a positive outlook and overcoming whatever obstacles may come your way, and there will be some. Greet them as a challenge, overcome them and glow with pride when you have.