Being overweight or obese is a cause for concern as this can increase your risk of developing many health problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke. When you’re overweight or obese, you’ll also have difficulty in breathing, walking, and finding a partner. 

Maintaining a healthy weight is important for everyone’s overall wellness, but not everyone has been successful in losing those extra pounds. Not everyone can fully commit to making healthier lifestyle choices, which is why most end up unsuccessful in their attempts to lose weight.  

If you have been trying to lose weight for years, but to no avail, this article can help. You can try out these six tips for you to finally lose weight: 

#1 Eliminate Processed And Packaged Foods 

Processed and packaged foods are available almost anywhere, making them an obvious choice for people who live a busy lifestyle. Because most adults no longer have the energy and time to prepare meals from scratch, they would rather buy or order processed and packaged foods for their meals. If you’ve been living the same lifestyle for years, it’s time to change your ways.  

Processed and packaged foods are very convenient, but they contain unhealthy levels of fat, sugar, and sodium. A diet filled with excessive amounts of processed and packaged foods can result in obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. 

One way to lose weight is to eliminate processed and packaged foods from your diet and consume more whole foods, like fruits and vegetables. As published in blog post, you can also remove food with too much sugar from your diet as this can cause fatigue and weight gain. 

#2 Cut Back On Refined Carbohydrates 

The body requires carbohydrates for energy. However, if you’re trying to lose weight, you should pay attention to the kinds of carbs you’re consuming because eating foods that are high in bad carbs can do more harm than good to your body.  

If you want to lose weight, minimize or avoid eating foods that contain refined carbohydrates, such as white bread, white rice, pastries, sodas, and pasta. Although filling, foods with refined carbohydrates are made from processed grains and refined sugar that can cause you to overeat and gain more weight.  

You can still meet your body’s daily carbohydrate requirement by consuming foods that are packed with healthy carbohydrates, like quinoa, oats, and buckwheat. You can also add bananas, beetroots, sweet potatoes, and blueberries as these also contain healthy carbohydrates.  

#3 Eat More Fibre

Sticking to an unhealthy diet can prevent you from losing weight. In fact, an unhealthy diet is one of the most common reasons why people gain weight and have become unsuccessful in their efforts to lose weight. 

Aside from knowing which foods to remove from your diet, it’s also important to identify what to consume more. Consuming more fibre is a great way to lose weight because it can make you feel full fast and reduce your appetite. Studies have shown that eating at least 30 grams of fibre every day can do wonders in your attempt to lose weight.  

Some of the most common examples of fibre-rich foods are peas, bananas, and potatoes with skin. Fruits, such as oranges, pears, and melons, and vegetables, like broccoli, carrots, and sweetcorn, are also great sources of fibre.  

#4 Move Your Body 

At A Lean Life, they recommend doing daily cardio so it becomes part of your built-in routine. You cardio does not have to be intense. It can be walking, or gentle swimming, etc. Or it can be intense, things such as sprinting, HIIT training, and contact sports.

For the best results, it’s wise to include a bit of both i.e 2-3 days of intense cardio, and 3-4 days of low intensity cardio. Also it’s important to consider your current level of fitness, if you’re new to cardio then it is best to start off with low intensity and gradually build up over time.

Your efforts to lose weight will be useless if you don’t engage in regular exercise. Staying active is crucial when losing weight as this increases your body’s ability to burn more calories. The more physically active you are, the more calories your body burns, resulting in faster weight loss. 

Exercise comes in many types, which means that you can easily find and stick to a routine that suits your schedule. If you’re too busy to visit the gym, you can always walk or run around your neighbourhood. You can also buy a treadmill or stationary bike, and workout at home.  

The key to losing weight when exercising is to find a routine that you love and stick to it. You need to work out regularly, at least 3 x per week if you’re a beginner (ideally 4), so you can see results from your efforts. 

#5 Drink More Water 

The human body is made up of 73% water, so it needs water to function properly. Proper hydration is essential to your health because it affects your body temperature and lubrication of joints. Drinking lots of water every day will also help your body deliver nutrients to cells, prevent infections, and keep organs healthy.  

Water is important for many different reasons, but do you know that the amount you drink every day can also affect your chances of losing weight?  Drinking water can help with weight loss because it can boost your metabolism and help your body burn more calories.  

Moreover, water is a natural appetite suppressant, which means that filling your stomach with water will send signals to your body that you’re already full. Drinking water before meals will also prevent you from overeating because water can make you feel full fast. 

If you don’t like drinking water, then you could try flavoured water, or low calorie squash. You could also use supplements such as electrolytes to give you further hydration and enhance the flavour of water.

#6 Eat Regular Meals 

One of the biggest misconceptions people have is that they can easily lose weight when they skip meals. They think that because they’re not eating anything, there’s no way for them to gain weight. However, this isn’t true because skipping meals can slow down your metabolism and cause the body to burn less energy. Skipping meals can also result in overeating as starvation can make your body demand more food later during the day.  

If you want to effectively lose weight, eat regular meals. This can help you lose weight as this can prevent hunger pains, boost your metabolism, keep you energized, and encourage self-control. Eating meals regularly will also make it easier for you to maintain a healthy diet in the long run. 

It’ll Be Worth It  

Losing weight is achievable, but remember that results are never visible overnight. For you to be successful with your efforts, you need to have the discipline to drastically change your lifestyle, as well as work with healthcare professionals who can provide tips on how you can maintain a healthy weight. Doing all these can be challenging, but the results will be worth it.