27 Easy And Surprisingly Effective Weight Loss Tips
“Don't drink your calories. Want a glass of orange juice? Choose water. Want a pop? Choose water.”
1. Don’t drink your calories.
“Don’t drink your calories.
Want a glass of orange juice? Choose water.
Want a pop? Choose water.”
2. Prep your meals.
“Meal prepping. You would be surprised how much control you give yourself over your calories when you plan ahead. It also saves a lot of time and money.”
3. Use a calorie-counter app.
“I used a calorie counter app, MyFitnessPal. It helped me work out which foods and servings to have for my macros. I also exercised, a lot. Even if it was walking on the treadmill for half an hour, I kept active. Fat burners helped for a sweat, and to suppress appetite.”
4. Use a smaller plate.
“Use a smaller plate.”
5. Walk.
“Walking. It’s so underrated. Anyone can do it, can be done anywhere and it’s free. What I’ve been doing is leaving early for my bus to work and walking 30 minutes along the route before catching my bus. On the way home, I’ll get off early and walk 30 minutes home again. Adds an hour of walking a day with very little disruption to my daily routine. That plus eating better and I’ve lost a stone in about 5/6 weeks.”
6. Cut out alcohol.
“Cut out alcohol :(”
7. Follow the 70% Rule.
“The 70% Rule: Eat 70% of the meal. Take a break and talk for a while drink some water and enjoy the moment for a bit. You’ll find that the majority of the time the food will settle in your stomach and you won’t be hungry anymore.”
8. Calories In, Calories Out. You have to burn more calories than you eat.
“The only ‘diet’ that works is CICO. Calories In, Calories Out. You have to burn more calories than you eat. You can achieve that with any diet you want. It’s possible to be calorie deficient with a vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, keto, paleo, carbs only, bacon only, or fast-food-only diet. It’s also possible to have a calorie surplus with any of those diets….There is no secret solution to weight loss. CICO!”
9. WATER.
“WATER.
Drink plenty of it throughout the day, as lot of hunger is masquerading as thirst.
Ice-cold water burns calories (not appreciably, but some).
Drink a glass before a meal.
Cuts out liquid calories, which add up quickly and actually make you hungrier and you’ll consume even more calories.”
10. Do simple exercises like push-ups and sit-ups every night.
“Do simple exercises like push-ups and sit-ups every night. Start out with low numbers and by the end you’ll be able to do 100+ push-ups a day. It’s just involves making it a part of your routine.”
11. Fast for half the day.
“Fasting for half the day, you get used to not eating after day 2. And not eating too much before bed is great. Also cardiovascular exercise like crunches, burpees, mountain climbers in a circuit. Get your blood pumping and eat light after then go to bed.”
12. Cut carbohydrates and eat more protein.
“Cutting carbohydrates and eating more protein.”
13. Cook your own food instead of eating processed foods.
“I started learning to cook. As a result, I quit eating most processed foods (because the food I cook tastes better! Bonus!). That stubborn 15 lbs that I gained after an injury a few years ago just went away.
The only ‘effort’ I made was to find a few recipes that I love and practice cooking them on Sunday afternoons. Lunch for the week is packaged up by 5 PM. I’m living well, my friend, I’m living well.”
14. Cut out dairy.
“Cutting out/severely cutting back on dairy, cutting out soda and sugary drinks, drinking a cup of green tea daily.”
15. Split your meals into snacks so you are eating all day long.
“Split your meals into snacks so you are eating all day long.
Eat between 7 am and 7 pm and then stop.
Drink as much water as you can.
Give up as many carbs as you can-reduce or eliminate bread, cereals, potatoes, rice, alcohol and desserts as much as possible.”
16. Just stop eating sugar.
“Just stop eating sugar. I know it tastes great and is more addictive than cocaine, but if you’re serious about weight loss just cut out the sugar. It’s that simple. No counting calories, no special diet, no bullshit. This isn’t rocket science; it’s biology.”
17. Don’t keep junk food in the house.
“Don’t keep junk food in the house. I find myself eating in the middle of the night. Sometimes I’d wake up staring at the empty wrappers of lollies and chocolate I ate during the night. If I want something sweet I have to go to the shops and I only buy a small single serve. I have no self-control when it comes to lollies, so if it’s not in the house to eat there’s nothing I can do about it and I’m definitely not leaving my house in the middle of the night.”
18. Lift weights.
“Lifting weights is much better than grinding cardio for losing weight, and more importantly keeping it off. Lift as if you were trying to build muscle as optimally as possible. If you’re a beginner, you’ll probably build some muscle in addition to losing fat.”
19. Eat fewer than 20 grams of carbs a day.
“The number one thing that got me on track to actually losing weight was a low-carb diet.
It was less than 20 grams of carbs a day for the first 2-3 weeks, then one cheat meal a week, and just doing cardio and some strength exercises, upping it gradually as I got better at it and lost more weight. I improved a hell of a lot at my exercises as I progressed.
Lost about 60-70 pounds in 2 and a half months—seriously, no bullshit. Never got it back, even years later, on top of that. I went from being a size 38 (men’s) to a size 33 (hell, I could even fit in 32). My shoulders got bigger and my waist got flat. I’m not in as great of shape as I was then and am a bit fatter due to a long period (years) of eating lots of junk food and not exercising, but I never got nearly as fat as I was before I started that diet.
The amount of respect I was treated with, even by people who never knew me before I lost weight, compared to before the diet, was absolutely night and day. It was truly weird in a depressing way (people—oddly, guys and girls both—really do treat you much better and life is easier if you look better), but a huge confidence boost nonetheless.
The trick was that I went into the diet with an absolutely determined mindset, adhering to it very strictly, making an effort to exercise and get better at it, and not quitting after only a few weeks. Food stopped being a stress reliever/comfort source and more of a source of nutrients and sustenance.
I stopped caring about food lacking the gushing, overpowering, and addictive flavors of something unhealthy that you get used to when you’re not on a diet and learned to like the subtle flavors of healthy food. When I did have a cheat meal, it tasted ten times better.”
20. Eat only 500 calories two days a week.
“I do the 5-to-2 diet. Basically this means fasting (eating only 500 calories) two days a week. You can even choose the days you want, and they can also be consecutive.
You can eat whatever you want on the 5 other days. Of course, if you do not only want to keep your weight but lose some, you shouldn’t binge eat fast food these days.
I feel generally healthier and lost quite a bit of weight, but I wasn’t really overweight to begin with. The only downsides I’ve experienced: My body doesn’t get “warm” on fasting days, but that is really just a problem in winter. Also I drink lots (1,5l /day) of calorie-free /-low sodas, when before I was just happy with water.”
21. Completely eliminate modern wheat from the diet.
“Completely eliminate modern wheat from the diet. Even a tiny bit of it screws with (actually stimulates) appetite. Then the weight will fix itself since you will eat less due to feeling less hungry. No calorie counting needed—those methods are not sustainable and not necessary.
Actually, google the book Wheat Belly by William Davis. There are also a few his talks on YouTube. In spite of cheesy title it explains how modern wheat (Triticum aestivum specifically; you can continue consuming other ones such as Einkorn or Emmer) is different and what does it do to your body rather well and references huge body of existing research.
It’s been 2 years and I keep slowly losing weight by doing nothing, and definitely not counting calories—ever since I made that single change. I did try many other methods in the preceding 12 years with no result.”
—ssps
22. Don’t eat fried foods.
“Don’t eat fried foods. Fried oil is bad for you. Eat lots of good saturated fat (from meats and veggie sources).”
23. Only eat within an 8-hour window every day.
“Intermittent fasting. I only eat within an 8-hour window most days. Actually, usually 6-7. Lunch around 12:30, dinner around 7. No other calories during the day at all.
And no snacking. Ever.”
24. Only eat when you’re actually hungry.
“This might sound like a joke but one thing that really worked for me was when I only ate if I was hungry.
If I pack a lunch of a sandwich, and apple, and a yogurt, then I would wait until I was hungry to eat the sandwich (even if I was taking my lunch at 3), but I would leave the apple and yogurt until I felt hungry again. Then I might eat the apple at 4:30, and I would be home before I finish my lunch. I ended up eating much less and more spaced out. I dropped weight pretty quickly.”
25. Cut out carbs, increase fats.
“Cut out any bread/wheat/rice/spaghetti type carbs and high sugar fruit like bananas, apples, and oranges, and increase cheese/eggs and animal fats. Carbs give you cravings for more carbs so you’re always hungry, but if you eat a high-fat diet, you won’t feel so hungry and can eat a lot less. Do watch out for fiber and water intake though because a high fat/protein diet will harden things up in the bowel area.
My old boss did this and in the 6 months after he left work, I did not recognize him when I saw him again. He was around 150kg when he left work, and when I saw him again was around 70kg. I met up with him one day and was staring straight at him talking on the phone and didn’t realize it was him.”
26. Get a detox.
“I had to get a detox.
I’d been trying unsuccessfully for months to take off 25 lbs and couldn’t figure out why it was not coming off, I was eating right, going to the gym, yet nothing was working—turns out I was full of shit. Literally.
Went in for a colonic (colon hydrotherapy)—got rid of about 5 lbs. of waste, continued on my fitness plan and the pounds began coming off.
Sometimes the pipes need to be cleaned so our body can work at its full potential.
Best decision I’ve ever made.”
27. Be patient.
“Patience. Losing weight (especially a significant amount of weight) takes a considerable amount of time. I lost 60 pounds, but it took upwards of 16 months of constant work. It was a shade under a pound a week.”
