Many people have a difficult time losing weight. Weight loss can be particularly difficult for women, especially when factoring in a career and children. Finding the time for proper diet and exercise habits can be challenging if you're a woman with a packed schedule. Simply understanding the key factors in weight loss and incorporating a few good habits into your day can help you achieve healthy and lasting weight loss.
Eat Breakfast
Skipping breakfast may seem like an easy way to shave off calories, but it will also leave you and your metabolism slow and sluggish. Incorporating a healthy breakfast into your day helps ensure that you will make better food choices and prevents you from going into starvation mode. Opt for complex carbohydrates, such as whole-grain toast or cereal. Additionally, incorporating protein will help reduce blood sugar spikes and keep you feeling fuller for longer. Low-fat or skim milk, low-fat breakfast meats, like turkey bacon, and egg whites are all good sources of protein without the saturated fats.
Hydrate
Sometimes you may feel hungry when you are actually thirsty. Reaching for a can of soda adds empty calories without replenishing the water you need. Instead, opt for healthy choices like water, low-fat or skim milk and real fruit juices. Drinking more water throughout the day will keep you feeling fuller. Replacing coffee, soda and alcohol with water will not only reduce your calorie intake, but it will also help you break down food more easily.
Get Active
The basic rule to losing weight is that you need to burn more calories than you consume. However, this does not mean you have to restrict yourself to an extremely low number of calories. Simply add 30 minutes a day of exercise into your routine to burn more calories throughout the day. Resting metabolism is higher overall in people who exercise, so you will not only burn extra calories while you exercise, but also throughout the day as well. Building lean muscle with strength-training exercises will also help you raise your resting metabolism as muscle burns more calories than fat.
Mindful Eating
Being aware of what and how much you're eating can help you reduce calories. Try keeping a pocket-sized notebook to journal the food you eat. You can keep track of calories and portions easily this way. Additionally, planning meals and snacks in advance will help prevent you from consuming over-sized portions. Instead of reaching for the entire bag of pretzels, separate some out ahead of time into smaller snack bags. Keeping a healthy snack with you in your purse or at your desk will also prevent you from getting too hungry and eating impulsively.
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