Shedding pounds does not need to be a hard thing. Small changes that shed big pounds may not be an easy sounding endeavor, but it really is.
Whether you are taking diet pills or not you can still speed up the process and even make sure you don’t have to diet again—or depending on the severity of the weight issue—not have to do it too many times.
Healthy Lifestyles versus Chronic Dieting
Chronic dieting is a way to throw your body into a metabolic Yoyo. This means your body becomes used to the process so—it eventually stops trying to lose weight and remains status quo. This is not a pleasant thing and it will cost you your weight and your health eventually.
Healthy lifestyles are a combination of good food choices and exercises that you can actually stick to. This is the key to making it all work long-term. You would be surprised how much of the obesity issue would be a non-issue if we made small changes that shed big pounds.
What are some small changes that shed big pounds?
- Change in everyday diet: Removing the more toxic foods from your diet will do the trick such as soda and other fizzy drinks as well as sweets. We aren’t asking that you remove the “fun” out of life, but until you learn what it is to be choosy and have a treat once a week instead of having access to it all week long—you may want to keep it all out of reach.
- Change in activity level: Only you know how sedentary you are. If you are sitting for an 8 hour work day, you should be walking on your breaks and on days off If you are too tired to walk at night in the beginning. It would be best though if you walked ten minutes at night and worked your way up.
- Change in your attitude: Your attitude towards food needs to change as well. If you are looking at food as a comforter then choose a piece of nice sweet fruit with maybe some whole grain crackers and cheese.
You will learn to actually look forward to these new habits each day after they have replaced bad habits in roughly 3 weeks. You can have a 10 lb. weight loss within a month due to these small changes that shed big pounds.
Start Keeping a Food Journal
According to Prevention, one of the ways to shed big pounds without needing to make drastic changes to your daily life is: start keeping a food journal! That’s right, the simple act of keeping track of what you eat and drink throughout the day can help you lose more weight.
How does this work? Well, imagine that you eat a lot of unhealthy snacks, but you don’t really notice that you’re doing it. Or, you might be consuming portions that are too large. If you write down what you have eaten, you might realize where you are making mistakes, and you can see more clearly what steps you should take to improve.
Overall, keeping a food journal can help you see just how much unhealthy food you are consuming, and it can help you make smarter choices about what groceries to buy, and what meals to eat throughout the week.
Drink More Water and Get More Sleep
A couple of other ways to shed big pounds: drink more water and get more sleep. That’s right, there is a connection between weight loss and water intake, and there is a connection between sleep and healthy weight. Here’s how it works:
- When you are thirsty, you might think that you are hungry. This means you will end up eating food when you really don’t need to. So, when you are feeling hungry, consider drinking some water first. You might notice that the hunger goes away. Also, throughout the day, to help prevent hunger, drink plenty of water to keep your body hydrated. And, if you drink some water before sitting down to have a meal, you might notice that you fill up faster, and you can eat a smaller portion more easily as a result.
- When it comes to sleep, research has shown that being sleep deprived even for just a few nights may cause you to gain weight right away. How is this possible? Well, think about your lack of energy and focus when you don’t get enough sleep. You likely find yourself reaching for fatty or sugary snacks, and making unhealthy choices regarding foods and drinks throughout the day. Plus, you don’t have the energy to exercise. By getting enough sleep, you will have more energy to be active, and to make smart dietary choices as well. All of that can lead to you being able to shed big pounds more easily.
There you have it: a few surprisingly simple ways to shed big pounds when you need to hit your target weight to improve your overall health. If you can make these small changes to your daily life, you might begin feeling better every day, and you will likely start seeing the number on the scale go down over time.