12 SIMPLE TWEAKS FOR WEIGHT LOSS AND GREAT HEALTH

Most people are aware that weight loss isn’t something that happens overnight. It takes a good deal of persistence, knowledge, and patience to meet the goals you’ve set for yourself. What many people don’t know is the fact that small everyday habits can be tweaked to speed the whole process up.

You don’t have to transform your life completely to maintain a healthier well-being. Without much effort or change to your lifestyle, these small and simple tweaks can help you reach your goals much more quickly.

1. Drink Water Before Each Meal

Water will play an essential part in your weight loss journey. It’s one of the easiest yet most commonly overlooked aspects of losing weight. When your body is dehydrated it slows the metabolism and sends signals that your brain mistakes as hunger. Drinking a glass before you eat will help curb your appetite much quicker and keep you from excess calories. You can find more here more information about the top 10 factors that affect your metabolism.

2. Downsize Your Plate and Portions

Surprisingly there have been studies that link the size of your dinnerware to weight loss. It has been found that if you have a smaller plate, it helps you keep will power under control by putting a capacity on your portions. While you are enlarging the size of your water cup, you should also consider shrinking the size of your bowl or plate.

3. Use Your Legs More Often

Your legs are the strongest muscles in your body and burn a great percentage of calories when they’re put to good use. Look for opportunities throughout the day to use your legs more often. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park your car further away and walk to the store, and stand up for a while to break up long intervals of sitting.

4. Find Healthier Alternatives

You don’t have to starve yourself just to see weight loss progress. A lot of your favorite unhealthy foods can easily be substituted with healthier options without having to drastically cut down an entire meal or snack. Instead of coffee cream and sugar try low fat milk and half the amount of sugar, or use these sugar substitutes in moderation. Substitute granola with oatmeal, white bread with whole grain, and mustard for mayonnaise. The alternatives to unhealthy food choices can be delicious too.

5. Figure Out Why You Eat

Before you go snacking on something, think about why you’re doing it. Many people don’t actually eat because of a survival impulse like nature intended. Boredom, attractive food marketing, and emotional stress are all reasons the brain tells us to eat. If you aren’t actually hungry, find something to occupy your bored mind instead of snacking. You can find more helpful tips to overcome emotional eating here.

6. Reduce Unhealthy Habits Gradually

Like with most bad habits it’s difficult to quit unhealthy eating cold turkey. Make your transfer a gradual one and slowly cut down on unhealthy snacks each day. Substitute the bag of potato chips with a half a bag and some baby carrots. Or replace unhealthy fats with good sources of fat like avocado, nuts and seeds. Ease your way into it to avoid frustrating your body into quitting.

7. Start the Day with Protein

Whether its eggs, nuts, meat, or milk, protein should be at the core of your breakfast. After sleep your body is coming off of hours without muscle fuel. The right amount of protein provides your body with an energetic boost and helps you feel full for a longer time. It will also help you build lean muscle and prevent excess carbs from being stored as fat.

8. Eat Slowly and at the Table

It takes approximately 20 minutes for the brain to figure out that your stomach is full. If you slow down during your meal, it will keep you from overeating. Take smaller bites, set the food down occasionally for water, and sit at a table to keep you from speed eating too many calories.

9. Read Labeling (beware of misleading labels)

Don’t let the clever marketing campaigns behind unhealthy foods fool you. A product might say that it is “low fat”, but it won’t mention the loads of sugar added for taste. Look at the calories and macronutrients in each serving size to ensure you are buying good food and not a health-imposter.

10. Drink Green Tea Before Exercise

Green tea provides the perfect balance of caffeine and antioxidants to fuel your workout. It helps you feel more focus and energy and has also been linked to boosting metabolism. Studies have found that consuming a green tea product before exercise helped shed more fat percentage than those who didn’t.

11. Make Salad and Veggies the Center of Your Meal

Vegetables are a great way to fill up your stomach without packing on tons of calories. A decent sized salad will take longer to eat, provide you with essential vitamins and minerals, and keep you from eating more than your body can burn off. Try to consume various colored vegetables to combine different antioxidant in your daily nutrition for great health.

12. Reduce Sugar Consumption

Sugar is the hidden menace of weight gain. We hardly notice it when guzzling down sweet drinks or eating delicious snacks but a small amount adds a lot of calories. Look at the sugar content of what you buy and start gradually to reduce the amount of sugar you consume.

After you’ve tweaked your routine, it should take a bit of time to adjust. Luckily the changes listed here are small and hardly a burden to anybody’s daily affairs. You’d be surprised at how much a few small changes can drastically change the way your body functions.