1. Drink Water, Especially Before Meals
It is often claimed
that drinking water can
help with weight loss, and this is true.
Drinking water can
boost metabolism by 24-30% over a period of 1-1.5 hours, helping you burn off a
few more calories.
One study showed that
drinking a half liter (17 oz) of water about a half an hour before meals helped
dieters eat fewer calories and
lose 44% more weight.
2. Eat Eggs For Breakfast
Eating whole eggs can
have all sorts of benefits,
including helping you lose weight.
Studies show that
replacing a grain-based breakfast with eggs can help you eat fewer calories for
the next 36 hours, and lose more weight and more body fat.
If you can’t eat eggs
for some reason, then that’s fine. Any source of quality protein for breakfast
should do the trick.
3. Drink Coffee (Preferably Black)
Coffee has been
unfairly demonized. Quality coffee is loaded with antioxidants,
and can have numerous health benefits.
Studies show that the
caffeine in coffee can boost metabolism by
3-11%, and increase fat burning by up to 10-29%.
Just make sure NOT to
add a bunch of sugar or other high-calorie ingredients to it. That will
completely negate any benefit you get from the coffee.
4. Drink Green Tea
Like coffee, green tea also
has many benefits, one of them being weight loss.
Green tea contains
small amounts of caffeine, but it is also loaded with powerful antioxidants
called catechins, which are also believed to work synergistically with the
caffeine to enhance fat burning.
Although the evidence
is mixed, there are many studies showing that green tea (either as a beverage
or a green tea extract supplement) can help you
lose weight.
5. Cook With Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is very healthy.
It is high in special fats called medium chain triglycerides, which are
metabolized differently than other fats.
These fats have been shown to
boost metabolism by 120 calories per day, and also reduce your appetite so that
you eat up to 256 fewer calories per day.
Keep in mind that this
is not about adding coconut oil on top of what you’re already
eating, it is about replacing some of your current cooking
fats with coconut oil.
6. Take a Glucomannan Supplement
A fiber called glucomannan has been
shown to cause weight loss in several studies.
This is a type of
fiber that absorbs water and “sits” in your gut for a while, making you feel
more full and helping you eat fewer calories.
Studies have shown
that people who supplement with glucomannan lose a bit more weight than those
who don’t.
7. Cut Back on Added Sugar
Added sugar is the
single worst ingredient in the modern diet, and most people are eating way too much of
it.
Studies show that sugar (and
high fructose corn syrup) consumption is strongly associated with the risk of
obesity, as well as diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and others.
If you want to lose
weight, you should be cutting back on added sugars. Just make sure to read
labels, because even so-called health foods can
be loaded with sugar.
8. Eat Less Refined Carbs
Refined carbohydrates
are usually sugar, or grains that have been stripped of their fibrous,
nutritious parts (includes white bread and pasta).
Studies show that
refined carbs can spike blood sugar rapidly, leading to hunger, cravings and
increased food intake a few hours later. Eating refined carbs is strongly
linked to obesity.
If you’re going to eat
carbs, make sure to eat them with their natural fiber.
9. Go on a Low Carb Diet
If you want to get all
the benefits of carb restriction,
then consider taking this all the way and going on a low carb diet.
Numerous studies show
that such a diet (or “way of eating”) can help you lose 2-3 times as much
weight as a standard low-fat diet, while improving your health at the same time.
10. Use Smaller Plates
Using smaller plates
has been shown to help people automatically eat fewer calories in some studies.
Weird trick, but it seems to work.
11. Exercise Portion Control or Count Calories
Portion control
(eating less) or counting
calories can be very useful, for obvious reasons (27).
Anything that
increases your awareness of what you are eating is likely to
be useful.
12. Keep Healthy Food Around in Case You Get
Hungry
Keeping healthy food
close by can help prevent you from eating something unhealthy if you become
excessively hungry.
13. Brush Your Teeth After Dinner
Although I’m not aware
of any studies on this, many people recommend brushing your teeth and/or
flossing right after dinner. Then you won’t be as tempted to have a late-night
snack.
14. Eat Spicy Foods
Spicy foods like
Cayenne pepper contain Capsaicin, a compound that can boost metabolism and reduce your
appetite slightly.
15. Do Aerobic Exercise
Doing aerobic exercise
(cardio) is an excellent way to burn
calories and improve your physical and mental health.
It appears to be
particularly effective to lose belly fat,
the unhealthy fat that tends to build up around your organs and cause metabolic
disease.
16. Lift Weights
One of the worst side
effects of dieting, is that it tends to cause muscle loss and metabolic
slowdown, often referred to as starvation mode.
The best way to
prevent this from happening is to do some sort of resistance exercise, like
lifting weights. Studies show that weight lifting can help keep your metabolism
high, and prevent you from losing precious muscle mass.
Of course, it’s not
just important to lose fat. You also want to make sure that what is beneath
looks good. Doing some sort of resistance exercise is critical for that.
17. Eat More Fiber
Fiber is often
recommended for the purpose of weight loss. Although the evidence is mixed,
some studies show that fiber (especially viscous fiber)
can increase satiety and help you control your weight over the long term.
18. Eat More Vegetables and Fruits
Vegetables and fruits
have several properties that make them effective for weight loss.
They contain few
calories, but a lot of fiber. They are also rich in water, which gives them a
low energy density. They also take a while to chew, and are very filling.
Studies show that
people who eat vegetables and fruits tend to weigh less. These foods are also
super healthy and nutritious,
so eating them is important for all sorts of reasons.
19. Chew More Slowly
It can take a while
for the brain to “register” that you’ve had enough to eat. Some studies show
that chewing more slowly can help you eat fewer calories and increase the
production of hormones linked to weight loss.
20. Get Good Sleep
Sleep is highly
underrated, but it may be just as important as eating healthy and
exercising.
Studies show that poor
sleep is one of the strongest risk factors for obesity, being linked to an 89%
increased risk of obesity in children, and 55% in adults.
21. Beat Your Food Addiction
A recent 2014 study of
196,211 individuals found that 19.9% of people fulfil the criteria for food addiction.
If you suffer from
overpowering cravings and can’t seem to get your eating under control no matter
how hard you try, then you may be a food addict.
In this case, get help.
Trying to lose weight without dealing with this problem first is
next to impossible.
22. Eat More Protein
Protein is the single
most important nutrient when it comes to losing weight.
This is the single
most important tip in the article.
Simply adding protein
to your diet (without restricting anything) is one of the easiest, most
effective and most delicious ways to lose weight.
23. Supplement With Whey Protein
If you struggle to get
enough protein in your diet, taking a supplement can help.
One study showed that
replacing part of your calories with whey protein can
cause weight loss of about 8 pounds, while increasing lean muscle mass.
24. Don’t Drink Calories, Including Sugary
Soda and Fruit Juices
Sugar is bad, but sugar
in liquid form is even worse. Studies show that liquid sugar calories may be
the single most fattening aspect of the modern diet.
For example, one study
showed that sugar-sweetened beverages are linked to a 60% increased risk of
obesity in children, for each daily serving.
Keep in mind that this
applies to fruit juice as
well, which contains a similar amount of sugar as a soft drink like coke. Eat
whole fruit, but use fruit juice with caution (or avoid it altogether).
25. Eat Whole, Single Ingredient Foods (Real
Food)
If you want to be a
leaner, healthier person, then one of the best things you can do for yourself
is to eat whole, single ingredient foods.
These foods are
naturally filling, and it’s very difficult to gain weight if the majority of
your diet is based around them.
Keep in mind that real
food doesn’t need a long list of ingredients, because real food IS the
ingredient.
Here is a list of the 20 most
weight loss-friendly foods on earth.
26. Don’t “Diet”, Eat Healthy Instead
One of the biggest
problems with “diets,” is that they almost never work in the
long term.
If anything, people
who “diet” tend to gain more weight over time, and studies show that dieting is
a consistent predictor of future weight gain.
Instead of going on a
diet, make it your goal to become a healthier, happier and fitter person. Focus
on nourishing your body, instead of depriving it.
Weight loss should
follow as a natural side effect.
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