Free Healthy Ways To Lose Weight

Using a variety of ways to lose weight, rather than putting all of your eggs in one basket with a fad diet or exercise craze might be the healthiest, most effective and enjoyable way for you to take pounds off and keep them off. Changing your eating habits, rather than starving yourself and choosing exercise you enjoy instead of grueling workouts, will increase your chance of weight-loss success.

Create a Plan

Write down your goals and specific ways to achieve them. Rather than simply deciding you want to lose weight, set a goal, such as 10 lbs. in 90 days, and create a plan for doing that. The Mayo Clinic estimates you'll need to burn 500 calories more per day than you eat. Read the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Dietary Guidelines for Americans or use an online calorie calculator to learn how many calories you need for weight maintenance. Use an exercise chart or online calorie-burning calculator to learn how many calories you'll burn from an exercise. Combine this information to create meal and exercise plans that give you the daily calorie deficit to lose weight at the pace you want.

Eat Breakfast and Snacks

Don't eat dinner, then have nothing until lunch the next day. Waiting too long between meals can create a metabolic response that leads to fat storage and weight gain, according to Mayo Clinic nutritionist Katherine Zeratsky. Eating five to six times per day keeps your metabolism higher than if you only eat two or three times and helps prevent overeating. A University of Witwatersrand Medical School study of men's eating habits found that men who ate breakfast and a mid-morning snack ate almost 30 percent fewer calories than those who ate all their morning calories at breakfast.

Follow TV Exercise Programs

If you're not interested in joining a gym or hitting the road for long jogs, take advantage of the growing number of TV networks that offer free exercise shows. You can follow along with aerobics workouts that show you how to warm up, perform the exercises, cool down and stretch. You can record shows and watch them at your own convenience. The American Heart Association recommends cardio exercise several times per week for heart health, weight loss and maintenance.

Eat Soup

Having a bowl of soup as the first course of your meal can reduce the total number calories you eat, according to a study by the University of Pennsylvania. Study participants who ate a bowl of soup with meals ended up eating 20 percent fewer calories during those meals. There is a lag between when you are full and when your brain get that message, according to Dr. Thomas Friedman, who specializes in hormone disorders. Eating your meals slower, such as having more than one course, helps prevent overeating.