20 healthy weight loss tips

This article provides you with 20 healthy weight loss tips. When you want to loose weight you need to make sure that you do it the healthy way and in a way that it will not cause any problems to your physical or psychological health. Everybody, very well knows the basic principles for weight loss: less food, more exercise. It may sound easy but the exhaustive pace of everyday life makes it almost impossible to achieve.

After a full day in the office, nobody is enthusiastic about the idea of green salad consisting of boiled chicken for dinner, following with two-hours running on the treadmill.

The bad news is that you never lost ten pounds in three days-which means that you should be prepared to start a weight loss process that will take time and effort.

The good news is that there are some healthy weight loss tips that can help you loose weight without having to fall into hunger or adapt to “drastic” solutions with disappointing results.

This article presents 20 healthy weight loss tips that will help you get the body you always dreamed off in a fast and healthy way, and it will also help you maintain this weight for a long time.

Tip #1. Drink lots of water

We often confuse thirst with hunger, leading to load our body with unnecessary calories, when what we really need is a glass of cold water. If you prefer, you can add some lemon slices to the jug of water for extra flavour, or to drink tea with fruit flavour but no sugar. It is a simple and healthy trick that will help you a lot in your weight loss efforts.

Tip #2. Think about what you can add to your diet, not what to remove

Set a goal to try and consume the recommended 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. This will ensure that your body takes the necessary fiber, while fighting hunger. You must also not forget the many benefits of vegetables for your health and disease prevention.

A good way to eat more vegetables is to mix them with the food. For example you can have vegetables in your rice or soups, in chicken as salads or in pasta. This is better than eating them on the side.

Eating more vegetables is a healthy habit that once you get used to it you will not realise that you are doing it.

Tip #3. Eat only when you are hungry

Many times, our desire for food is not due to real hunger, but due to other several psychological factors. Hunger is the message of our organism to tell us that we need fuel, so if the desire for food is not due to hunger, the food will not make us feel better. On the contrary we will feel worse because of the extra unnecessary calories we will consume. It is also a not healthy habit because it does not offer anything and will help you destroy your weight loss efforts.

Try to reduce the portions of your meals and increase their frequency. Notice after each meal if you feel bloat or tiredness so as to understand when you feel real hunger and when you eat because of other factors.

Tip #4. Avoid after dinner snacks

The most dangerous time to destroy your weight loss efforts and diet is after the last meal of the day, when you lie down in front of the TV with a pack of chips or a box of crisps and biscuits. This is the time that you eat out of a habit, without really being hungry.

If you cannot resist the temptation of a small “sin” after a long day, obtain healthy snacks such as low-calorie cereal bars or ice cream without sugar and fat, and allow yourself to have one per day. When you get used to this try to further reduce the calorie load, with a cup of tea with no calories.

Tip #5. Enjoy your favourite foods

To completely avoid your favourite food will not create the desired results since the feeling of deprivation leads at sometime to exaggeration. Think the last time you did not eat a chocolate for a month and the quantity consumed when you decided that you are ‘allowed’ to eat chocolate.

Instead of excluding from your weight loss program and diet foods you really enjoy, be sure to buy them in smaller amounts and to eat them less often, once or twice a week. Moreover, the expectation is what makes the satisfaction greatest.

Tip #6. Do not be too strict on your weight loss program

When you need to exit your diet for a while, walk to the cafe serving the best waffles, or organize a night out with friends. For even better results, do not buy sweets or other snacks for home- instead replace them with plenty of fruits and limit these night outs to one per week. Thus, you will not have to worry that you will give up to the temptation while you are at home.

Tip #7. Eat several small meals during the day

The weight loss is achieved by the consumption of fewer calories than those we burn. When, however, we are constantly hungry, this is not easy at all. Research shows that people who eat 4-5 meals a day find it easier to control their appetite and weight.

Apply this method for your own weight loss program. Try to divide the calories you consume during the day in many small portions. Make sure that you consume as much as possible calories before noon, with the evening meal being the last time you eat in a day. This is not only good for your weight loss efforts but it is also a healthy habit because it gives enough time to your body to function the ‘burn’ process properly.

Tip #8. Spicy food!

Add seasonings or hot spices in your food, which will enhance the taste and make you feel that you eat more.

The meals enhanced by tasty spices will stimulate your taste and create a sense of satisfaction, without actually eating more.

When you want something sweet, choose a hot caramel flavour with cinnamon or ginger. It gives you for some time the sweet flavour you need, with fewer calories.

Tip #9. Fill the kitchen with healthy and easy meals

The easy-made meals or snacks that are prepared quickly solve a lot of your problems (cooking time, preparation time etc) and lead you a step closer to weight loss success. These will prevent you from ordering something from a fast food restaurant or to order pizza, because you can within 5-10 minutes prepare your own healthy meal.

Such healthy foods include:

Frozen vegetables
Ready, purified salads
Canned vegetables (tomatoes, beans)
Arab pies of bread or wholemeal toast
Slices of boiled turkey (for toast)
Low-fat cheese
Black rice (quick boil)

Tip #10. Order kids meal!

When eating out, you can order an individual pizza or a small sandwich. In this way you keep the calories low and the quantities consumed controlled.

Another trick is to use smaller plates. This helps the portions look larger, and if by looking at them you mind is satisfied, then most likely your stomach will also be satisfied.

Tip #11. Eat season fruits and vegetables

If you do not like certain fruits or vegetables, this is possibly due to the fact that you eat them when they were out of season. This makes them almost tasteless and odourless. In contrast, season fruits and vegetables are more delicious and less likely to disappoint you. They are tasty and healthy and help weight loss!

For example, strawberries, which are naturally sweet, sprinkled with a little cognac, or low-fat yogurt and accompanied with canned fruits, are one of the best desserts you can enjoy without guilt.

Tip #12. Replace the fried potatoes that accompany your meal with grilled vegetables

Eating fewer fried potatoes, pasta or bread and more vegetables, will help you a lot in your weight loss efforts. Experts say even that you can save 100-200 calories if you reduce the amount of fat and starch foods to your plate and increase that of vegetables.

Tip #13. Find alternative ways to manage stress

Sometimes in our life, we are faced with situations that create us a lot of stress. Instead of looking to food for comfort, prepare some inedible healthy tactics to fight stress that work equally well.

Experts suggest to read a book, listen to music, write a diary, to practice deep breathing, meditation, or you can browse an album with photos of your loved ones.

Tip #14. Exercise a lot and keep fit

It may sound weird, but it is wrong to use the exercise as a means of punishment for yourself because you eat a lot, or in order to win the right to eat more. That is why many people say they hate exercise.

Instead, focus on how beautiful you feel, how much better sleep you have at night, and how much more energy you have when you exercise. Physical exercise is good for you whether you are trying to lose weight or not. See, therefore, exercise positively and try to make it your second nature. By exercising regularly and following a proper heart attack diet you also ensure the healthiness of your heart.

Tip #15. Adopt the standards of the Mediterranean diet

It is a fact that the Mediterranean diet is a standard for any form of diet. The purpose is to include the Mediterranean diet in your weight loss program and diet.

The ingredients are simple. Use virgin olive oil as often as possible, preferably in salads with fresh vegetables, eat legumes one to two times a week and replace meat with fish, so that you do not consume meat more than once per week.

Tip #16. Avoid alcohol

Especially during the summer, excessive alcohol consumption should be avoided, as it is causing increased urination and dehydrates the body, not to mention the calorie load that alcohol has. Prefer lots of water and natural juices that will not give you a lot of extra calories and above all they are healthy.

Tip #17. Prefer fish and seafood

Especially in the summer you should eat light. The main concern is replacing meat with fish. Therefore you should prefer fish instead of meat, which will provide you with the necessary feeling of satisfaction, but with fewer calories and in a healthy way.

Avoid, therefore, fried food and prefer fish and seafood. Some ideas for fishmeals are: mackerel, mullet, red snapper, bonito, perch, sardines, crops, rock, sea bream, and grouper.

Tip #18. Treat constipation problems

In their efforts to start a diet, many individuals experience constipation problems, which, apart from the adverse effects on the body, also affect the weight loss process.

Two basic steps you must follow to address this problem is: the daily consumption of more fiber, which have the capacity to contribute to the greater mobility of the gut, and the increased consumption of liquids, helping to correct the metabolic function. So you should increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables like oranges, apples, pears, plums, broccoli and greens.

Tip #19. Do not exclude from your diet any food group

Many of the “active” weight loss diets you will find support the exclusion of certain groups of foods such as carbohydrate-or fat-from your diet. This, according to nutritionists, is a big unhealthy mistake, as the body needs all nutrients-vitamins, minerals, trace elements, fiber, proteins, etc., which recruits from the different levels of the food pyramid.

Thus, carbohydrates such as bread and pasta, and meat and olive oil should not be missing from our diet, as they provide our body necessary nutrients and also have several benefits, ranging from disease prevention and the proper functioning of the metabolism, to high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3), helping to reduce cholesterol levels.

Tip #20. Eat a good breakfast

Some people when they are trying to loose weight they make the mistake of not eating breakfast. Avoiding breakfast is not a good idea at all because your will feel hunger during the day and at the end you will consume more calories during your meals. Not eating breakfast will also help you to eat snacks, in order to fight your hunger and at the end the calories you consume are more. In fact, research shows that people who eat breakfast every morning are more likely to maintain normal weight and they also find it easier to adapt to a healthy weight loss program.