It’s that time of year again. The holiday season is coming to a close, and you may have put on a little extra weight with all those celebratory feasts. Luckily, the new year is just around the corner – the perfect time for a fresh start to your weight loss journey. However, you don’t want your weight loss to be just a new-year’s resolution – your goal is to sustain it in the long run.

In this article, we gathered some of the best weight loss tips to help give you that extra boost you might need to start your diet, as well as to keep you going after that initial new-year’s magic fades. Read on to see the 10 best tips for losing weight and keeping it off long-term.

10 best weight loss tips for sustainable weight loss

  1. Plan your meals ahead of time. Planning ahead can help you make smarter food choices and ensure that you have all the ingredients you need to make delicious, nutritious meals. You can look up healthy recipes ahead of time and then shop accordingly to make sure you are properly stocked up on everything you need. Having an organized shopping list can also help cut down on unnecessary purchases that may not be conducive to your diet.
  2. Use a smaller plate. We generally feel the need to fill our plate with food, regardless of its size. If you use a smaller plate, your portion sizes will be smaller, and you will generally wind up eating less (1). And even if you wind up eating the same amount of food, using a smaller plate helps trick your mind into feeling more satisfied, so you may feel less like snacking after meals.
  3. Make sure to hydrate. Drinking enough water is important for overall health, but it’s also especially important when you’re trying to lose weight. Water helps to boost your metabolism (2), and studies show that drinking water before a meal can lower food intake (3). Additionally, thirst is often confused with hunger, meaning that you are more likely to engage in unnecessary eating if you are thirsty.
  4. Get active. Physical activity is about more than the calories you burn while exercising. It can speed up your metabolism throughout the day as well as help increase lean muscle mass, which also burns more calories (4). And while diet has a larger effect on initial weight loss, regular exercise plays an important role in keeping the weight off after those extra pounds have been shed (5).
  5. Try a supplement. If you need a little help kick-starting your diet, you may want to consider a nutritional supplement. Research Verified has a range of supplements to help with weight loss. You can try the Appetite Suppressant if you just can’t seem to kick those cravings, or Carb Blocker if you just love your carbs a bit too much. Check out all of Research Verified’s products here.
  6. Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. Fruit and veggies provide a plethora of nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and fiber – yet most of them contain very few calories. Fruit makes for great snacks and can satisfy your sugar cravings while vegetables are an awesome way to fill your tummy so you feel truly satisfied after a meal. Fruits and veggies also contain a large amount of water, meaning that by consuming them you are eating your water and helping to hydrate your body.
  7. Stock up on healthy snacks. You know how it is – you get home tired and hungry after work, and reach for the first snack you can find. Or you’re looking for a late-night snack, and all that’s available is a bag of potato chips. When your kitchen is stocked with unhealthy yet accessible snacks, you’re bound to choose them over the healthier options. That is why you should always keep a variety of healthy snacks on hand to stave off those cravings.
  8. Do not skip meals. You may think that by skipping meals you will speed up your weight loss, but this kind of thinking is actually detrimental to your diet. For one, you may overcompensate later by eating much more in your other meals. Secondly, this eating pattern may mess with your metabolism. Regularly skipping meals can slow it down and make it more difficult for you to shed those extra pounds (6).
  9. Do not ban foods. While you shouldn’t overindulge in unhealthy foods, avoiding certain foods completely will just cause you to crave them. When this happens, you may wind up eating much more than you would have if you allowed yourself to enjoy them once in a while. Balance is key.
  10. Be aware. Always be mindful of what you eat, and how much. You can keep a food journal to help you keep track of what you eat. Also make sure to read the labels. You may be shocked by how many calories your favorite healthy snack contains. Nuts, for example, contain healthy fats, so while you should definitely incorporate them into your diet, try not to overdo it as they are also very high in calories. However, it’s not just about the calories. Make sure you are aware of how much salt, sugar, and cholesterol is in the food you eat, and make sure you are getting enough protein and fiber. 

In conclusion

Weight loss can be difficult to achieve and even harder to maintain. The main thing you need to realize is that it’s a process, and it can take time to see the results you want. The best thing you can do is be consistent. By making these little changes to your daily eating habits, you will lose weight in a healthy way that is effective and sustainable. We hope that you can use these weight loss tips to help guide you through the process, and may 2024 be your healthiest year yet!

Author

Stella Hansley-West lives in Jericho, Vermont with her husband, their four children, and a parrot that her youngest son loves enough for the rest of the family. She had a complicated relationship with food as a teenager and discovered a passion for nutrition while studying for her Masters of Science degree. Stella hopes that her blog posts help people to make healthier choices for their bodies because a healthy mind starts with a healthy body.

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