Diets that promise quick weight loss rarely work. People tend to gain the weight back or not stick to the diet long enough to lose a significant amount of weight in the first place. Nevertheless, there are times when you want to see the needle on the scale start to move in the right direction. To speed your weight loss efforts along, try a few strategies that will send your extra pounds packing.
Take a Trip
Get yourself out of an unhealthy groove and bump up your weight loss by taking a trip. Not just any trip will do, however. Skip the buffet-laden cruise ship and sign yourself up for a week of kayaking, backcountry backpacking or surf camp. As long as your trip offers plenty of opportunities to exercise and keeps you away from culinary temptations, it can help you lose a couple of pounds quickly.
Get a Jump Rope
If you're trying to lose weight, chances are you already exercise. Eliminate pounds even faster by adding a bit more movement to your routine. An exercise that burns an exceptional number of calories is rope jumping. Buy a jump rope, and use it for 15 minutes a day to burn approximately 200 extra calories. In just a little over two weeks, you'll lose an additional pound.
Eliminate Foods that Cause Cravings
Sugar is well-known for causing blood sugar fluctuations. It raises your insulin levels, which can lead to more hunger -- setting up a vicious cycle of overeating. To lose weight more quickly, eliminate sugar, starchy vegetables and refined carbohydrates. This will help you get rid of food cravings. You'll also find that leaving these foods -- cookies, potatoes, muffins and the like -- out of your diet can reduce your overall intake of calories.
Eat High-protein Foods
Protein can help to increase satiety, the feeling of being full. Besides making you feel full, it can also alter your body's chemistry to help put the brakes on hunger. Dr. Mary Ellen Camire of the University of Maine points out that eating a breakfast that is high in protein decreases the levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin, as opposed to eating a breakfast that is high in carbohydrates. Trade pancakes for eggs, pizza for a chicken breast and a buttery bagel for nonfat yogurt, and you'll be on your way to curbing your appetite, which makes for quicker weight loss.
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