15 Simple Daily Habits to Help You Manage Your Weight
Quite often people who are determined to lose bodyweight efficiently and quickly, tend to go the extra mile and consume strict or restricted diets, suppress their cravings, hit the gym for hours, etc. Although some of these extreme measures may be effective, there are also less extreme measures and daily habits that can help you lose weight naturally.
15 Daily Habits That Help You Lose Weight
Exercise for 35-40 Minutes Daily
In general, when it comes to losing weight, cardio is always the best option. However, one common mistake people make is hitting the gym or working out for more than one hour daily.
There are a couple of problems that could go wrong with this decision.
It is worth pointing out that when a person is typically trying to lose weight, they may be new to the concept of exercising and will initially start out full fledge by overdoing it and eventually their body will give in due to sudden overworking of the body and the person may give up on the first week or month.
What to do: Set up a 35-40 minute effective cardio or workout routine with 30-60 seconds breaks between each variation. On decreasing the amount of time spent on each session, it will make a session less intense which will motivate the person to exercise more regularly and thus, proves to be more effective I’m the long run.
Image Credit: Pikist
Drink Plenty of Water
When it comes to weight loss, water has a couple of benefits:
It is calorie-free.
Consuming water helps you burn more calories.
It helps suppress your appetite.
Fun fact: More than often, when people feel hungry or do not know what they are craving, there are high chances that your body is just trying to signal you to drink more water. In short, a person who thinks they are hungry may just be thirsty.
Thus, staying well hydrated will prevent you from bored eating or unnecessary junking.
What to do: Drink 2-3 liters of water per day and consume foods that have high water content.
Portion Control and Moderation: How to Change Eating Habits to Lose Weight
The ideal eating habit is to have 3 main meals a day and a snack in between. The reason behind portion control and moderation is to either stop the person from over starving themselves or overeating.
Ironically, one could also lead to the other as if a person is suppressing their cravings or food intake in an extreme manner, they will eventually give in to their craving and start overeating.
Most importantly, eating in moderation and snacking between two meals can boost your metabolism. This is because if you eat two main large meals with many hours in between, the metabolism activity slows down, and thus, the rate of metabolism also decreases.
Image credit: Pikist
Some Healthy Products to Snack on
Speaking of snacking in between meals, there are also times you get hungry or crave a snack but feel too guilty consuming more calories.
Here are some delicious, low calories snacks that will fill you up and suppress your hunger:
Sliced carrot and cucumber with a hummus dip.
Boiled cauliflower with lemon juice and pepper dressing.
Apple slices with peanut butter.
Steamed edamame
Baked chickpeas
Unsalted popcorn
Oven-baked asparagus in olive oil and seasoning.
Never Skip Breakfast
Think of your body’s metabolism as if it were a switchboard and in this case breakfast way switches on and jumpstarts the activity of your metabolism for the day.
Thus, consuming breakfast can actually help your body burn down calories much faster and more efficiently.
Lastly, consuming a high protein breakfast that is low in carbohydrates is most desirable as carbs tend to tire out the body which could lead to low energy and sleepiness which most people will mistake for hunger and thus, increases the chances of overeating.
Build Up Your Food Knowledge
If one is a no brainer, but a very important factor for weight loss and is the reason why most people turn to nutritionists for help.
This is because it is important for one to know the nutritional value for some of the most basic and staple food products that they consume daily.
It is done in order to rightfully judge if your body is receiving the right and moderate amount of nutrition, while at the same time avoiding overconsumption of excess carbohydrates, sugars, and unhealthy fats that could lead to weight gain.
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Avoid Junk Food and Beverages
This is because they are high in unsaturated or unhealthy fats, calories, added sugars, and added salt- all of which lead to weight gain and could ultimately lead to obesity.
Such junk food products that must be avoided include:
Salted chips
Pizza
French fries
Cold drinks or sodas
Ice cream
Cookies
Burgers
Instant noodle
Stay Active
Besides your dedicated workout or exercise sessions, there are a couple of ways you can stay fit and burn some more calories throughout the day.
One can you so by indulging in activities like:
Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
Walking or cycling to a particular destination close by, instead of using a transportation service.
Walking your dog or offering to walk someone else’s dog.
Indulging yourself in challenges like squatting 10 times before sitting or after standing up.
In short- where there’s a will, there’s a way. It is very possible and doable to incorporate such activities into your daily lifestyle and make a routine or habit out of it. In doing so, consistently, one will continue to notice very significant changes in their health and body weight.
Image credit: Pickpik
Don’t Avoid Your Vegetables/Greens
They include:
Spinach
Kale
Broccoli
Bok choy
Brussel sprouts
Green peas
Such foods are extremely filling as it is loaded with fibers and nutrients, while at the same time being low in calories and carbohydrates. Thus, it is a perfect combination for weight loss and will help avoid overeating.
No Such Thing as “Cheat Day”
Most people refer to a cheat day as the day where they take a time out or time off from their usual exercise habits and eating habits, once a week, typically on weekends. In the majority cases, this does not end well as the person tends to overeat up to the point where they are undoing all the progress that they worked on through the week. As a result, all the positive progress is reversed and the person will attempt to rebuild it from the same level the next week until the other cheat day arrives and the cycle continues.
Thus, it is more advisable to eat in moderation daily and avoid any such cheat days.
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Make friends with Active People
When you go to your local gym or local park, make some friends who you can exercise or workout with. Ever heard the phrase ” Show me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are”? In this context, it means that surrounding yourself with a company of active people will help inspire you to do the same and keep pushing. By doing so, you will have an exercise or running companion(s) who will motivate you to exercise, especially during days when you feel low and unmotivated.
Say No to Procrastination
The main problem with procrastination is that it is very easy to slip into such habits or situations but very difficult to escape from. For example, skipping one day of your morning run could break your routine and demotivate you to go running in the following days. Another common example is when one starts snacking on ready-made, processed, or packet junk food due to the laziness in prepping a healthy meal. Such habits and situations can greatly affect your weight management and therefore, one must try to avoid procrastinating to the fullest.
Image credit: Pikist
Replace One Meal with a Salad
As much as possible, try to replace 1 out of 3 daily meals with a salad. The sole purpose of this measure is to reduce the amount of calorie intake while still ensuring that the body is receiving adequate amounts of nutrition.
Thus, it is advisable to use more green and fewer fruits in your salads, using vinegar-based dressing instead of creamy ones, and a source of protein like lean chicken can be included.
Once again in order to construct a healthy meal that is low in calories requires some food knowledge that one must-have.
Image credit: Pxhere
Drink Daily Metabolism Boosting Drinks
Such drinks go perfectly well with your breakfast or after. They include:
Green tea
Coffee
Ginger tea
Celery juice
A shot of apple cider vinegar
Green detox juice
Strawberry smoothie
Invest in a Pedometer
Investing in a Fitbit or a Pedometer is a very good idea as it will help set a certain goal, that being that number of steps, and then motivate you to see it through and try full fill the required amount of steps. Walking or running is one of the best ways to burn calories and reduce your body weight. Most importantly, a person can do so at their own pace and time. At the end of the day, one will get satisfied by the number of calories that they burnt, which will only motivate them to do it again the next day.
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