Weight loss tips for beginners: Start with baby steps that help you to achieve your goal
One of the most trending topics about fitness is “How to lose weight successfully?” If you want to lose weight successfully, you must enjoy the journey. The most common mistake in this journey is a lack of continuation. Therefore, if you want to start your weight loss journey you have to be prepared mentally along with other rules. Here, I share some baby steps that help to make your journey easier.
Follow your diet plan properly. Ensure you do not add any extra food items to your diet plan. Sometimes people add some chips, fried items, or sugary food as a snack to their diet, which affects their weight loss journey. Therefore, consult properly with a dietitian, discuss your food habits, and make a proper diet plan for you.
Focus on portion control. A very important point, especially for those who want to lose weight successfully. Research has shown that people tend to overeat when they have large amounts of food(1). You should have a clear idea about which food you can consume and their correct quantities. To get the best results, you can use different sizes of bowls, and spoons for different food items and make sure to fix the amount. You can also use your hand to fix the quantities of food items.
Eat your meal slowly. Most of the time we take our meals in a rush or watch television, use mobile, laptops, etc. This often results in overlooking how much quantity of food we consume. As a result, there is a big chance of overeating.
Take at least 15-20 min to eat each meal and chew properly. It helps to avoid overeating as well as better digestion. Not only that, when you eat your food slowly, your brain takes time to receive a signal of fullness and satiety. Therefore, you can easily avoid overeating.
Avoid refilling. It is common that when we have our meal, we refill one or multiple times. It also affects your diet plan because you cannot follow the proper portion of foods. Always try to fix your quantities of food. Before you start your meal, you must fix your plate, bowls, and the quantities of food. If you have a plan for weight loss successfully then you must avoid refilling food.
Drink water sufficiently. Drinking water is important for maintaining good health. Water helps to keep you hydrated, good for digestion, and much more. In summer, you must drink at least 12-15 glasses daily. Also, few researchers claim that drinking a glass of water before a meal helps suppress appetite. The stomach senses that it is full and signals the brain to stop eating (2). Along with water, you have to choose some healthy drinks like dab water, lassi, sattu drinks, different types of herbal teas, etc.
Check your sleeping habits. For both good physical & mental health, we must sleep at least 7-9 hours regularly. Good sleeping habit helps to reduce stress, improve the body's metabolism, and brain performance. When we are sleeping, it helps our brain to think, remember and create. Researchers explained that during sleeping, our brain removes waste from the system like kidneys (3). Therefore, if your brain performs well, your body also improves mentally and physically. So, if you want to maintain good health you must improve your sleeping habits.
Do exercise regularly. If you wish to complete your weight loss journey successfully you must exercise regularly along with your diet. When you are physically more active, it helps you burn calories, and when you burn more calories compared to the consumption level, it helps you lose weight.
Many people are not very keen on physical exercise. Therefore, it is good to start with 20-30 minutes regularly and try to increase the time gradually. A recommended list of how many calories you have to burn while doing certain exercises (4). You must include these options in your exercise routine:
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Yoga
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Aerobics like skipping, plank, spot jogging, cycling, Zumba, swimming, walking to maintain a constant speed, etc.
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Weight training is also a good option for your body. It helps to improve your lean body mass, which is good for both your weight loss journey and overall health. You can discuss weight training with your instructor and follow the instructions.
Reward yourself. The weight loss journey is not so easy. People often get demotivated because sometimes it takes more time than expected for several reasons. Sometimes, people who have hormonal disorders like thyroid, PCOS, or PCOD need to give more effort compared to the normal overweight or obese person.
Celebrate every small achievement during your weight loss journey. It helps to keep you motivated and positive. Consult with experts and follow their guidance to achieve your goal and most importantly to maintain a healthy body weight successfully.
Additional Sources for reference 4:
ACE Fitness. Physical Activity Calorie Counter.
Calorie Control Council. Get Moving! Calculator.
University of Rochester Medical Center. Calorie Burn Rate Calculator.
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