Even if you lead a busy life, you should always make time to take care of yourself first; this means making sure you are looking after your physical and mental health first and foremost. With you in mind, we have compiled weight loss tips for women that can be used in conjunction with any woman’s weight loss program.
Set Realistic Goals
We all want to lose 30 lbs in one month, but when you think about it, is this a realistic goal? The average person loses between one and two pounds every week, and this should be the goal to strive for. This means a calorie deficit of 500 to 1000 calories, and this deficit should be caused by eating right and exercising.
Start off by setting smaller goals, such as losing one pound this week or walking twenty-five minutes after each meal. Your confidence will grow after you accomplish each of these goals. It’s okay to set long-term goals, but you need realistic short-term goals.
Eat Healthier Foods
When many women start their weight loss Journey, they often decrease the number of calories they are eating, which is important. However, they often turn to bland options that are not appealing to them, and this often is what causes them to slip up. Just because you are decreasing the number of calories you are consuming does not mean that the taste and satisfaction that you receive from food need to suffer.
- Fiber: Foods that are rich in fiber can help increase the feeling of being full and empty the stomach out slower. This can decrease calorie intake and promote weight loss.
- Protein: Protein is important to incorporate into any diet because it can cut calorie intake, decrease cravings, and boost metabolism, which burns fat faster.
- Low-Calorie Snacks: When you’re feeling hungry, instead of having a meal, reach for a healthy, low-calorie snack instead. Options like yogurt, veggies, hummus, and whole fruit are options that are full of vitamins and nutrients and will keep you fuller longer.
- Mindful Eating: Try to eliminate any distractions while you are eating and aim to eat slower, and focus on the smell and taste of your food. This can help promote better eating habits and can reduce calorie intake because, when you eat slower, you know when you reach the point where you are no longer hungry and can stop eating.
- Cut Back on Sugar: Added sugars have long been connected to heart disease and diabetes. Food items with added sugars are sweet and delicious but lack fiber, protein, and vitamins.
- No Processed Foods: Processed foods are high in sugars and calories but low in actual nutrition. When trying to lose weight, limit your consumption of processed foods as much as possible.
Eating healthier is crucial for weight loss for women. It is a habit that can be challenging to pick up but is very rewarding in the long term.
Be Active
One of the most important parts of weight loss for women is remaining active. It’s easy to fall into a sedentary lifestyle but to lose weight, you have to incorporate some type of physical activity into your daily routine. Every health and wholeness weight loss program incorporates and encourages physical activity of some kind.
- Cardio: Cardio is an important type of exercise to add to your daily routine. Cardio increases your heart rate, which in turn helps your body burn more calories. When paired with a healthy diet, cardio can be extremely effective.
- Get in Steps: Understandably, we don’t have time every day to squeeze in an entire workout. For those who are busy, it can be challenging to engage in a workout at all. One way to combat this is to find more ways to take steps throughout the day; instead of taking the elevator, choose to walk up the stairs. Or, go for a short walk on part of your lunch break. Anything to get a few extra steps in will be beneficial.
- HIIT: This stands for high-intensity interval training, and it is a type of exercise. During HIIT, there are brief periods of intense movement that are paired with short recovery periods. This gives you the opportunity to rest but also keeps your heart rate elevated. HIIT has proven to burn more calories than many other types of physical activities.
- Yoga: Yoga has other benefits besides decreasing stress and anxiety; it can also help to prevent you from gaining weight and increase the amount of fat you burn.
- Resistance Training: Resistance training involves bodyweight exercises and lifting weights, and it helps your body build muscle while also increasing your endurance. Resistance training is a great way to increase calorie burning.
Sleep
Sleep is crucial for a weight loss routine. Research has shown that having poor quality of sleep can have a drastic effect on weight loss and encourage overeating.
Try to keep a regular sleep schedule so that your body falls into a routine. Drastic changes in a sleep schedule can alter metabolism. It’s also important to not eat before going to bed because then the food will sit in your stomach and can ruin weight loss attempts.
Turn Healthy Habits into a Way of Life
To achieve long-term, steady weight management, it’s important to incorporate these healthy habits into your life. It’s not enough to try them for a few months or stop once you have reached your weight goal. It’s easy to fall back into old habits, which is why it is very important to develop healthy habits and continue them no matter where you are along your weight loss journey.