Quick Tricks To Lose Weight

If you're trying to lose weight but keep running into the proverbial wall, it's time to take a second look at your day-to-day routines. Losing weight doesn't have to be a major ordeal or a dramatic lifestyle shift. Even simple, small changes to your daily activities can be just the right trick to amp up your weight loss and start seeing the results that you want.

Take the Steps

If you're too busy to commit an actual slot of time toward exercising, start zapping more calories by adding a few extra steps to your daily activities. For example, instead of hopping in the elevator or jumping onto the escalator, take the stairs at work, the mall and wherever else you go. Similarly, park your car at the farthest end of the parking lot at the office or grocery store.

Go Blind

Elliptical machines rank as one of the best pieces of gym equipment when it comes to burning calories and losing weight, but take it one step further. When you're on the machine, close your eyes. Exercising blind removes the visual feedback, so your body has to work harder at stabilizing itself. "Men's Fitness" calls this one of the top 101 secrets to losing weight.

Indulge Every Once in a While

Half of the battle with weight loss is the mental component. That's why "Shape" magazine recommends letting yourself indulge every once in a while, naming it one of the top 10 best tips for weight loss. Indulging lets you reward yourself and keeps you motivated, but don't overdo it. Try sticking to your diet for six days in a row, then having a "splurge day" every seventh day. Additionally, such diet-splurge switch-ups may help keep your metabolism revved up, since strict dieting can sometimes push your metabolism into starvation mode, during which it works slower.

Cut the Soft Drinks

Drinking a soft drink acts as one of the worst things you could do during your weight-loss journey for two reasons: It's easy to drink more calories than you think you're drinking, and the calories consumed are empty of any helpful nutrients. With the average soft drink holding 150 calories or more, simply eliminating them from your weekly habits can save the average person 3,000 calories.

Snack on Pickles

Snookie, from the hit reality TV show "Jersey Shore," loves dill pickles. You should, too. Not only do they pack a calorie punch of only one calorie per slice, making them one of the lowest calorie snacks out there, but they're also acidic. That may help your body process and burn fat faster than before.