As a nutritionist who has first-hand knowledge of how to lose weight check out how I lost 40 lbs and kept it off , I get a lot of questions about weight loss. One of the most common questions is: where should I start? Here’s what I think are the most important steps not just for losing weight, but also maintaining a good health, strong immune system, high energy and glowing skin.
• Eat real food
This is common sense, but most people miss it. They try to look for some sort of shortcuts, eat fake and processed diet foods. While others don’t even bother to care and eat whatever is convenient and tastes good. And that often happens to be processed junk food.
The problem with processed food is that it’s laden with preservatives, fillers, flavor enhancers and other toxic chemicals that may be harming your health. What’s worse is that these toxins often accumulate in the fat tissue, making it very hard to burn fat and lose those excess pounds.
Whether you belong to the dieters’ category, or whether you don’t care what you put in your mouth at all if you want to lose weight, you have to ditch processed, chemical-laden foods, and start eating real food. These foods include fresh fruit, vegetables, legumes and some gluten-free whole grains (like quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, etc.).
• Hydrate your body
All our body’s cellular processes, including metabolism and burning fat, depend on water. If you’re dehydrated, your metabolism slows down, you feel tired, hungry and will be more likely to overeat.
Plus, when you drink plenty of water, it helps your body get rid of toxic waste, and as mentioned above – toxins may hinder your fat loss efforts.
Hydrate your body by drinking warm lemon water first thing in the morning. And then drink another 2-3 liters of water during the day. Just remember to drink slowly, and between meals. Do not drink while eating, as it dilutes the digestive juices and hinders the digestive process.
• Find an enjoyable way to move your body
There’s no doubt that exercise is beneficial for your physical and mental health, mood, productivity, and longevity. And of course, it helps you burn fat, tone your muscles and achieve that healthy physique you’re after.
If you don’t exercise on a regular basis because you dread exercise, then it’s important to find some activity that you really enjoy. Do you love yoga, dancing, hiking, tennis, swimming, spin classes, Pilates, cycling or lifting weight? When you’re having fun, it doesn’t feel like work. So instead of calling it “working out” you can rename it to “funning out”!
And don’t blame a lack of time for your absence in the gym (or wherever you prefer working out). “I don’t have time” is a grown-up version of “my dog ate my homework”. Everyone has the same 24 hours a day, and even the busiest high-achievers find ways to include exercise into their schedules. It’s not about lack of time, it’s about priorities. If you can’t find time for health and wellness, soon you’ll have to find time for disease.
• Reduce inflammation
Although acute inflammation is important and vital for our healing process, chronic inflammation might lead to a number of illnesses. According to the Department of Health and Human Services and American Heart Association , chronic inflammation might cause diseases such as atherosclerosis, arthritis, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, food intolerances, diabetes, fibromyalgia, heart disease and in some cases even cancer. It also accelerates the aging process.
• Add lots of green leafy vegetables to your diet
Green leafy vegetables, like spinach, kale, chard, collard greens, are full of alkaline minerals, antioxidants, enzymes, and chlorophyll.
Alkalizing your body helps get rid of acidic toxic waste in your body, which in turns helps you burn excess fat.
Chlorophyll helps regenerate the blood, has anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory , antioxidant and antimutagenic properties.
These amazing health benefits of chlorophyll are the main reason why leafy greens are so good for our health. So we need to find ways to incorporate more of them into our diets.
You may not want to eat salad for all your meals, especially if time is of concern, for example in the morning. So having a green smoothie for breakfast is a great way to start your day.
These five tips to help you start losing weight are super simple and easy to implement. And that’s why they’re so effective. A goal to lose weight is often daunting because it seems that there’s so much you need to learn and do! But I can almost guarantee that if you implement all of these five pieces of advice into your life, soon you’ll not only see the changes on the scale but will also feel more energized and more alive!
About The Author :
Osha Key is a life lover, certified nutritionist, weight loss expert, the creator of the Lovetarian Detox and founder of becomethebestofyou.com. After losing 40 pounds, Osha is now on a mission to help women do the same.
In her FREE Weight Loss Video Training series at lovetariandetox.com, Osha teaches everything that has helped her lose 40 pounds of fat and keep it off.
