Hello!
I have had an outpouring of people asking how I lost weight. Did I use a certain diet plan? Did I cut something out? Do I eat? The answer is no, no, and YES! I feel like I'm constantly filling my mouth! I wanted to do a post of my top tips for what helped me lose and keep off over 50 pounds. None of these tips will get you skinny quick, but that's okay. The little changes really do add up. Trust me on that one. It took me a year to lose 50 pounds, and there were months that went by when I didn't lose a single pound. However, during those stagnant months, I didn't gain any weight either. I thought about how I was going to do this post, because I didn't think 3 or 5 would be quite enough, but I didn't want to commit to 10 because I want my advice to be sound, quality, and tried-and-true by yours truly. I just started writing, and I ended up getting 10 tips in no time! Trust me, these are quality tips that I actually used. No fluff was necessary!
Okay, you didn't stumble upon this to read my rants, so let's get the show on the road!!
1.) If you bite it, write it. If you sip it, bic it.
Writing down everything that goes in your mouth isn't new advice. However, the reason it has stuck around so long is because IT WORKS. After my most stagnant months, writing down what I ate really accelerated my weight loss. I found that I didn't want to eat candy or another slice of pizza, because I didn't want to have to write it down. There's nothing at all wrong with eating candy or pizza, but the extra accountability to yourself means you won't forget that it happened. I recommend writing it down right after you eat it so that everything is still fresh in your mind. If you wait until the end of the day, for one, you may not remember that handful of almonds or those couple of chips, and those calories still count! For two, waiting until the end of the day to write everything down means that you can't make some adjustments to account for the extras you indulged in. If you write it down right after you eat that ice cream sundae, you can add an extra 10 or 20 minutes to your workout to help compensate for the extra empty calories.
2.) The "small" size is more than plenty.
American portion sizes are huge. If you want to indulge in a treat, by all means, go for it!! However, do you really want or need those extra few ounces of ice cream? The difference between a Dairy Queen hot fudge sundae's small and medium is 140 calories...and there's only a 2.5 ounce difference in volume after you add the toppings. That's an additional 56 calories per ounce. With a small sundae already weighing in at 300 calories, you really don't need the medium. Nobody is saying that you can't have it if you really, really want it (and sometimes you do). However, if this is a regular treat, getting the small will save you those 140 calories that you could either use for something good for your body, or account for as a deficit and watch the weight come off just a little quicker.
3.) Drink water, more water, and then some more water.
Another not-so-secret tidbit when it comes to losing weight is to drink plenty of water. I'm sure you've heard that drinking 8 8-oz glasses of water a day is what you need to drink. However, not every body is made equally. That may be too much for you, or, most likely, it isn't nearly enough. To get the right amount of water for your body, take your weight (in pounds), divide it by 2, and that's how many ounces of water your body needs for optimal performance. Also, take a look at your pee. If it looks like apple juice, you aren't adequately hydrated. If it looks like lime (not lemon!) juice, you're probably drinking enough. If you drink your water and eat lots of water-rich produce, you'll also fill up faster on less of the more "dense" foods, such as pasta and lean meats. The more volume your food has, the more it will fill you up. That's why 3 ounces of grapes will fill you up faster and contain less calories than 3 ounces of raisins. Yes, raisins are good for you, but the water has all been taken out. What's left is essentially sugar. You're better filling up on the grapes.
4.) "Treats" are called treats for a reason.
There is no problem having the occasional treat. It may even help with your weight loss success. If you really want a couple of cookies, pick a day each week where you'll have an indulgence or two (that's the key, don't turn it into one big treat day). When you decide on Tuesday that you want a cheeseburger, knowing on Saturday that you can have one may keep you from going crazy, thinking you can never eat another one...which then will lead to a binge of 6 cheeseburgers. On the other hand, putting off your cheeseburger until Saturday may make you forget completely about it by the time Saturday comes. However, life is much more than what you do and don't eat. If your treat day is Saturday and on Thursday you go out to dinner, eat everything the server brings, and then have dessert, chalk it up to life and move on. There is no need to beat yourself up for living. Should that be an every day thing? Absolutely not. However, if you want it to be an every day thing, that's your right. Food is just food. There are no hard and fast rules, and the sun will still come up tomorrow no matter what happened today.
5.) Get moving!
Seriously, get some sort of exercise. Do a 20 minute workout DVD. Youtube a Blogilates video and try to keep up with Cassey (I happen to adore her). Take the stairs, park a little bit further away from the mall, you see where I'm going with this. Weight loss is 90% in the kitchen, but that 10% extra effort will help you. When I went from standing around cashiering to stocking the shelves at my job, I lost my first 20 pounds in my first month. Yes, my first month. That's never going to happen to me again, because my body is used to my work, and I eat according to what my body needs. It was a nice incentive, though, when I first started on my journey. It is also proof that moving more really works.
6.) Up your protein.
If I had to say I did some sort of "diet" plan, I suppose I did. I started replacing some carb-y options with more protein. Instead of regular yogurt, I switched to greek yogurt. Every morning, instead of fruit in cereal, I eat fruit with a couple of eggs. Carbs are your body's main source of energy, so cutting them out completely isn't going to help you any in the long term. However, protein is what your body uses to build muscle, and it helps keep you full and reduces blood sugar spikes. It isn't hard upping your protein, and you don't have to chug protein powder shakes like a body builder. Toss some egg whites in a salad, have a grilled chicken sandwich, or use zucchini or spaghetti squash with your meat sauce instead of regular spaghetti. These are little differences you probably won't even notice until you're zipping up a pair of jeans the next size down.
7.) Say it with me. Produce, Produce, PRODUCE.
The FDA tells you to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. If you want to do some serious damage to your fat cells, I recommend upping that up to about 9 servings. They are full of vitamins and trace minerals, have fiber and protein (see #6), and can be eaten a million ways. I had nutella toast as a snack one night, and when I would usually top that with strawberry preserves, I sliced some fresh strawberries and put it on top. Bam, I snuck in an extra serving of produce, didn't sacrifice any taste, and it took maybe an extra minute of my life. That minute was well spent. I already mentioned that I eat fruit and some form of egg every morning. One of my favorite tips I figured out one day out of the blue was that if I was really craving something, to turn it into a salad. I thought I was going to die one day if I didn't eat a cheeseburger, but I didn't want the empty calories from the bread. So I warmed up a leftover hamburger patty, chopped it up, and added it to a salad with greens, tomatoes, onions, a dab of cheddar cheese, and honey mustard dressing. Is it the same thing as a hamburger? Well, no. Did I particularly mind that the bun was missing? Honestly, not at all. I still got the meat, and the taste I was craving, but I got in a few more servings of vegetables. Another day, I wanted pizza. I NEEDED pizza. It was intense. Well, we didn't have any pizza, and I was virtually broke. That's when another idea hit me: pizza soup! I had the pepperoni and the cheese, and a can of tomato soup. I made the soup, tossed in some oregano and italian seasoning, and added the cheese and pepperoni. I now find myself craving that soup, rather than actual pizza.
8.) Brown-bag your lunch.
I work in a grocery store. Every option I could possibly want is at my disposal for lunch. However, every single night, I bring my lunch. Why? Because it's no secret that you don't shop hungry. Come lunch time, I am STARVING. Also, I tend to spend money too quickly. Packing my lunch is cheap, and I am in complete control of what goes into my food. It is far too easy to piddle away your money going out for lunch every day. Also, in the midst of the moment, it's too easy to give into that chip/chocolate/pizza craving all at once (I know I've done it!). I pack things like fruit, salads, half-sandwiches, etc. It keeps my tummy and my wallet full, and the scale goes in the direction I want it.
9.) Skip the coffee shops and make your own flavored coffee drinks.
Starbucks gets pricey. I worked for a coffee shop (not the bux) and I know how much syrups and sugars go into those lattes. It isn't hard to easily rack up 300 calories on your iced mocha with a flavor shot. If you needed another reason to buy a Keurig, I'm about to give you one. There are a million flavors of K Cup coffees. Pick your flavor (I love using the Coconut Mocha or the Mocha Nut Fudge for this one), brew it over ice on the small setting, and add 2 of your favorite sweeteners, then a dash of milk. You've got a delicious iced coffee for a fraction of the calories that you'll get from Starbucks. No Keurig? No problem. There are plenty of flavored coffees on the market now that can be brewed in a conventional coffee pot. Seriously, I'm going to go make one of these now. They are SO good.
10.) Measure, measure, measure!
In conjunction with Tip #1, measure your food. Get some cheap measuring cups, spoons, and a kitchen scale. You don't have to get fancy, you don't need anything digital. I believe my kitchen scale was somewhere between ten and fifteen bucks. I use it to measure serving sizes that come in grams, rather than ounces or cups. That way, you really know how much 1 cup of cereal is, or 2 ounces of dry pasta. Not only will your calorie counts be more accurate, but you will really get an idea of what an actual serving looks like. Don't be fooled, because what seems like a cup is probably very different from an actual cup. Measure it out. You don't have to do it forever, because eventually you really will be able to eyeball your servings. Even then, it doesn't hurt to break out the measuring cups every so often just to make sure you haven't gone astray from your serving sizes.
There you go! These are my Top 10 Tips for weight loss. What is your favorite weight loss tip? Let me know in the comments below!
xoxo,
Rachel
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