5 Weight loss tips that work!

by Anand Thakkar, MD.~

Here are 5 weight loss tips that you can use for sustainable weight loss to help you to get healthy- for good.

If you’ve ever struggled with your weight, then it’s likely that you’ve heard some pretty crazy weight loss tips over the years. You’ve certainly seen the latest fad diets fall in and out of trend. And you’ve possibly spent thousands of dollars on particular celebrity-endorsed diet foods, too.

With these, you may even have tried them several times over with varying degrees of success over the years. Losing a few pounds here and there, but gaining them all back as soon as you eat something ‘off plan’.
The act of undergoing another weight loss regime may seem daunting to you. However, learning how to make the right choices for your body will surely reap excellent results.

A staggering 70.2% of American men and 66.9 of American women are overweight or obese. With that, they are at risk of weight-impacted illnesses, such as heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and some cancers. To lower the statistic, we need to be educated about what to and not to do around weight loss.

When it comes to weight loss, crash diets are not a sustainable solution to obesity, regardless of what they claim.
To lose weight in a safe and sustainable manner, you need to make gradual, permanent lifestyle changes. Changed that are beneficial to your health for the long-term.

5 Weight Loss Tips that work!

1)  Quit Dieting

This one may come as a bit of a shock, but diets don’t work.

75% of weight loss is to do with what you put into your body, of course. What may come to some surprise is this: Weight loss is nothing to do with the plan you enrolled in or the low-calorie TV dinners you have stocked in your freezer.

The act of ‘going on a diet’ can become a physiological trigger for some people. This trigger will likely leave them quitting after a few days for fear of failure.
Instead of calling it a ‘diet’ call it ‘watching what you eat. Diets are there to be failed, whereas ‘watching what you eat becomes a way of eating mindfully.

That’s because one of the vital tools to weight loss and making a long-lasting sustainable change is eating mindfully.

2)  Eat Mindfully- Write it down

This leads us nicely onto our second tip. If you eat it, you write it. Before attempting to make any sort of change to your diet, you need to be aware of what you’re eating already. Be honest. You’re not going to have become overweight from eating a pound of carrots for a snack. A pound of buffalo wings is a different story.

When you write down what you eat honestly, you will soon see the kinds of things you are eating. The things that are no good for you, that you ate without really thinking about it at all.

Get into the habit of writing the food you eat down before making any conscious changes to your diet. Use apps like myfitnesspal so that you have your food diary to hand rather than using a pen and paper.

As well as understanding what you eat, you’ll soon be able to understand why you eat. If you ate a bag of chips and three candy bars at 11 am when you wouldn’t usually, something may be up. Check in with yourself.

3)  Make Substitutions

Processed foods make up a high proportion of many people’s diets in the modern age. However, they tend to hold many more calories per bite than whole foods. Whole foods, fresh fruit, and veggies tend to hold fewer calories per bite. So while you are eating the same amount of food, you’re eating fewer calories and giving your body the vital nutrients it needs.

That doesn’t mean you can’t eat some of the same foods you enjoy. Just make changes. Instead of having a fast-food burger, make your own at home with ground beef or turkey smashed into patties and serve it in a whole meal bun with veggies. Instead of strawberry ice cream, have strawberry fro-yo and fresh berries instead. Soon, these fresher foods will make you feel better than before and you will naturally lose weight. You won’t even feel like you’re missing out.

4)  Move More

The ‘eat less move more’ mantra for weight loss only works properly if you do the latter. We are a sedentary society, relying on cars to get to places as well as working on computers all day. It is recommended that you should try to move your body for at least thirty minutes per day. However, that doesn’t just mean going to the gym. It could be as simple as standing up from your desk every hour or so to do a couple of minutes worth of walking on the spot. It could be doing stretches every morning and evening. Parking at the farthest parking spot in the lot, and doing a couple of extra loops at the grocery store. Dancing as you vacuum the house. Whatever it takes to get your body moving- do it!

5)  Find Your ‘Why’

Not getting seriously sick from dangerous weight-related diseases might be reason enough for some to lose weight. For others, there are further reasons to shift the pounds. Maybe you want to feel good in a suit or dress for an upcoming wedding. You want to be able to participate in the parents’ race at your kids’ sports day and run around with them in the park without losing your breath.

Maybe you simply want to feel better about yourself and you feel that weight loss would help that. Regardless of your reasons, use your ‘why’ as your motivation.

For medically assisted weight loss plans, contact us at the Chicago Weight Loss Clinic or schedule a free consultation and let us help you achieve your goals.

About The Author

Dr. Anand Thakkar is a licensed Internal Medicine physician. He is Board Certified in Anti-Aging & Regenerative Medicine. He has been a member of the teaching faculty for students at Chicago Medical School and has been featured on ABC, FOX, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, and Forbes as a recognized authority in wellness, fitness & nutrition, weight loss, anti-aging, hormones & metabolic medicine, holistic medicine, lifestyle coaching and women’s & men’s health. His mission is to help people become the healthiest versions of themselves using movement, nutrition, and a whole-body approach to medical care.

This blog is for informational purposes only. Do not make any major changes to your lifestyle, diet, or exercise without the supervision of a licensed medical professional.

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