I know losing weight seems impossible. It is slow. (Don’t stress about the slow – slow usually equates to permanent, long-lasting changes! This is the healthiest way to lose weight.) If you think about weight loss as a lifestyle change, rather than a diet, it makes it easier. It’s hard to follow hard and fast dieting rules forever.
This is something you can do today to help you lose weight! There are changes you can make without drastically changing your life and without dieting. You can start with a few easy to implement changes. What is stopping you? Quit thinking about what could be, and go for it. Make the changes today!
Easy things to do RIGHT NOW to Lose Weight Without Dieting
1. Quit drinking your calories.
I don’t care if it’s juice, soda, sweet tea, or even beer. They are empty unneeded calories. Save those calories for the really good things in life. So, dump that soda can sitting beside you, and start RIGHT NOW. Water, water, water. Put ice in it, and make it super cold if you have to. Just drink water! (Also, if you are hydrated correctly, your body is going to function so much better!)
If you aren’t able to drink water, and it’s something you just can’t tolerate, there are some alternatives. I would highly encourage you to focus on trying to drink water most of the time, but you can try powdered additions that are caffeinated, such as Spark from Advocare. You could also try carbonated flavored water. Just be sure to read your label, and KNOW for sure what is in it! Try to avoid excess artificial sweeteners, and that brings us to #2.
2. No more diet drinks.
I know I said to quit drinking your calories. And I know that was a big thing to ask of you. Now, I’m going to tell you to quit drinking diet drinks. I know, I know – they say they are zero calories! BUT – They sabotage you and have been proven to prevent weight loss. Did you know diet drinks are even linked to an increase in diabetes? Honestly, trading out calories for something that is going to sabotage me and not even prevent illness, isn’t worth that to me. So, I’ll say it again: water
3. Download My Fitness Pal and start logging everything you put in your mouth.
Everything. Even the ONE Hershey Kiss you stole from your coworker’s candy jar. It all counts and adds up. You need to know what you are eating. Knowing is half the battle.
Once you realize where your calories are coming from, you can easily make changes. Maybe you will realize that the second roll puts you over the top, and you can just avoid the seconds. You might realize you WERE drinking half the day’s calories! Be aware of what is going into your body!
My Fitness Pal also gives you further help by allowing you to add friends. You can cheer each other on as you lose weight or remember to log every meal. It also will provide links to great articles about weight loss, and sometimes even healthy recipes. If you cook at home, you can even plug in your recipe and it will calculate the total calories per serving FOR YOU! It couldn’t make calorie counting any easier!
Related Posts:
Two Simple Breakfast Swaps I Made to Lose Weight
How I Lost 30 Lbs in a Year
4. Start parking further away.
Get MORE steps in. Don’t drive around and look for the closest parking. It isn’t going to use up any extra time to just park in the back and walk. Those extra steps are going to add up!! You might want to even consider a pedometer that counts your steps. It gives you the incentive to keep going when you see those steps go up and up!
The pedometer I use is actually a FitBit Alta. I’ve had a Fitbit Charge as well. This gives you extra benefits other than just seeing your steps. It will measure your “active minutes”, which I aim for at least 30 active minutes a day. It also will monitor your sleep if you desire to. (I personally can’t sleep in anything! I can’t stand earrings or rings, nothing!) My husband does use his for sleep monitoring. It also monitors your heart rate. The interesting thing I noticed is once I started CrossFit for about 3 months, my natural heart rate dropped about 10 points! I knew I was getting healthier!
5. Take the stairs.
Especially if it’s just a floor or two. Don’t use the elevator for such short trips! Consider it a free stair-master! If you have the Fitbit Charge, it even counts the floors you have walked!
I lost 30 lbs in a year, and I’ve kept it off by making changes just like this. If you start making these little changes RIGHT NOW, you will thank yourself in a year. It’s about making sustainable changes, things you can actually maintain, and they will add up.
What is stopping you? If you don’t want to make all five changes today, make the changes a week at a time! Make yourself a new you!
Love these simple tricks that end up actually doing quite a lot in the end, I need to do better about drinking those juices smh lol
Tola, they definitely add up!!