1. Stay hydrated
Stay hydrated when attempting to lose weight. Many people require 8 glasses of water a day to stay hydrated normally. Increase your water intake when you exercise as well as in hot weather to maintain proper hydration. Drinking water can keep the digestive system properly functioning and increase you feeling of satiety. A good rule of thumb is to drink one cup of water every 15 minutes you are exercising.
2. Take your vitamins
Supplementing with the right vitamins benefits your efforts of exercise and calorie reduction when attempting to lose weight. Certain vitamins may decrease hunger, improve your body’s ability to lose weight and increase exercise performance. Vitamin supplementation should never be considered a replacement for whole foods such fruits, vegetables and lean proteins.
3. Change it up
To successfully lose weight you need to make exercise fun. Exercise is critical aspect to any successful weight loss plan. Many people fail to lose weight because they like to spend their time doing boring exercises and therefore give up on exercise altogether. The Wii and fitness DVDs that get you up and moving are an excellent option to keeping your workouts fresh and fun. Once the weather warms, you might also enjoy walking at the park or playing with the kids outside. Whatever you decide, get moving.
4. Get your rest
This includes daily and weekly. A routine of sufficient nightly sleep can aid in this, helping your body and mind work at their best every day for weight control and overall health.
Researchers at the University of Chicago found even with a perfect diet and exercise, you’re at risk for weight gain if you fail to get eight hours of quality sleep each night. But you also need to rest during the week as well. Taking one day off a week is optimal for body restoration.
There are 7 fat- fighting hormones that can become misaligned if you do not get enough sleep. This makes losing weight difficult. These hormones are leptin, ghrelin, adiponectin, insulin, glucagon, cortisol, and growth hormone, says Fitness/Nutrition Expert, JJ Virgin.
5. Eat your heart out
Make sure that you are getting enough calories throughout the day. Starvation diets can lead to over eating, illness, and nutritional deficiencies. Find out how many calories you should eat a day with a BMR calculator. While on a diet, be sure you still include healthy and whole foods to your diet. Many people trying to lose weight put too much focus on low-calorie items and less on the nutrients in whole foods. While you might lose some weight, you are decreasing your metabolism and setting yourself up for nutritional deficiencies.
6. Start slow
Plan to exercise about 2.5hours a week. The American Heart Association recommends 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week of moderate-intensity aerobic and muscle strengthening activities. Go at your own pace and gradually work up to a challenging pace. Depending on your activity level, this could take weeks to achieve.
7. Turn off your phone
It is ok to use an iPod or similar for music but if you are checking your email, Facebook or Twitter feeds, or texting, how hard are you really working? Use your workout time as “ME” time. Having uninterrupted “me” time is great not only for your waistline but also for your stress levels. Keep your cell phone and any other device that connects to the internet locked in the locker or turned off.
8. Track your food and activity
Nothing gives you a big dose of reality like seeing what you have eaten and the activity you have performed in black and white. Food and activity tracker tools keep track of many variables to assist you in reaching your weight loss goals. The most comprehensive trackers are intended to track your calories eaten and calories burned throughout the day. These are a great tool if you start to stall on your weight loss by enabling you to look back on diet and exercise from previous days.
9. Watch your heart rate
Monitoring your heart rate is a good way to determine if you are exercising at the appropriate intensity for your weight loss goals. According to the American Heart Association, the ideal exercising heart rate is between 60 and 90 percent of the heart’s maximum rate. To calculate your target heart rate per minute, subtract your age from 220. Multiply your desired intensity level (from 0.for beginners to 0.85 for more intense) to obtain the ideal number of beats per minute,. Speak with your doctor prior to beginning any exercise program to determine what heart rate is best for you given your physical and medical condition.
10. Stretch
Stretching is an amazing way to increase your flexibility and decrease the strain of muscular tension from an intense exercise sessions. Stretching by itself is not the best way to burn fat, but it is suitable for toning muscles, promoting healthy joints, decreasing tension. Yoga is a great form of stretching and flexibility and can be performed by people of all activity levels.
**Always consult your physician before beginning any diet or exercise program. This general information is not intended to diagnose any medical condition or to replace your doctor. Consult with your doctor to design an appropriate exercise program.
