How to Lose Weight and Keep it off for Good | The Odyssey Online
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Health and Wellness

How to Lose Weight and Keep it off for Good

No crazy gimmicks or unrealistic diets. Discover smart strategies to send those extra pounds packing.

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How to Lose Weight and Keep it off for Good
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There are plenty of ways you can beat the bloat and restore your health. However, most people search the internet in hopes that in some bleak corner of the online space there has to be a shortcut of how to get a chiseled figure.

Well, the truth is there is no shortcut to sculpting your body, and this article will not bust myths about how you can stay fit while binge eating carbs. Your body is transformed through 70 percent the food you eat and the rest, a dedicated exercise regime.

Check out some of the best tried and tested methods of losing weight and making sure it stays that way.

Start Drinking Lots of Water

You may be used to the idea of having a fruit smoothie, or an energy drink after a workout or every time you feel tired and thirsty. However, it is difficult to gain the same amount of calories or the right hydration that your body requires. You might not get enough of the nutrients to:

a)Build the stamina that you need to work out and

b)To recover from the said workout.

The other thing is that while you are quenching your thirst with sugar loaded beverages, you are keeping yourself from being adequately hydrated. Therefore, the best course of action is to keep your proper diet and water intake separate. If you think water is boring for you, just add a lemon infuser.

Cardio is a Must

Cardio is anything that will get your heart rate going. It helps you burn calories and doesn’t have to be in the gym. No matter what your gym routine looks like, it is imperative that you incorporate half an hour of cardio into your daily lifestyle.

Some other great options for cardio include signing up for kickboxing, boot camp sessions that really push you, spinning, and hitting the treadmill. 30 minutes of any of these help you burn up to 300 calories while making your body tighter and sleeker.

Protein

Having a bit of protein in every meal you prepare helps improve your metabolism. Your digestive system burns calories to gain the energy needed to digest the food.

A neat rule is to keep your protein between 20 percent and 35 percent. Having too much of it causes strain on your kidney, and may also fire back by making the body store more fat. It also helps to graze a bit throughout the day, that way your body never slows down its metabolic system.

Caffeine Helps

A cup of coffee works wonders for you especially when you take it a while before your workout. It wakes you up and gets rid of those pesky feelings of laziness that make you want to skip exercise every day. The best way to align it with your weight loss regime is by having coffee with skim milk.

Extra Sleep

When you get a good night’s sleep, it refreshes you so that you make better food choices. Also getting enough zzzzz’s helps you not feel lethargic and wanting to skip your workout. Remember, when you don’t get enough sleep, you tend to be less energized throughout the day and feel hungrier.

Baby Steps

If you are having trouble transitioning from your current diet to one heavy with greens, take it one food item at a time. If you are used to having crisps almost every day, start with substituting them for something else. Once you get the hang of it, move on to another item, and so on. This does a great job of reducing the flab from your body.

Meal Prepping

One of the things that people find difficult during their weight loss journey is preparing meals. Nobody likes to wake up extra early in the morning to make their lunch for work. Therefore it helps when you prep an entire week’s meal ahead of time. This way when you are tired and hungry during dinner time after work you already have a meal semi-prepared for you, automatically allowing you to stick to your goal with ease.

Weight Training

One great way to burn calories fast is to start weight training. A common misconception is that weight training bulks you up, which it does not. In fact, your metabolism improves with weight training. If you feel you don’t have enough time for it, you can always go for squats, lunges, step ups, planks, and push-ups. Then make these a part of your weekly exercise routine, pushing yourself as you see fit.

Interval Workout

Interval training is when you squeeze in bursts of high-intensity exercises in your routine. This training burns more fat than regular exercise and also gives your metabolism a boost. One of the best ways to do this is that during your 30 miles run, add in a sprint that lasts 30 seconds.

Don’t Blow off Breakfast

Breakfast plays a significant role in weight loss. Interestingly, around 80 percent of people keep off weight better when they stick to having a healthy breakfast every day. Here is how it works.

Your metabolism slows down when you are sleeping, and every morning it’s revved up as you have a meal that triggers the digestive system. A breakfast meal high in fiber is exactly what you need to boost weight loss.

Get a Workout Buddy

The gym partner system has worked every time. If you feel it’s a chore getting yourself to the gym or mustering up the energy to workout at home, get a partner. This way every time you don’t feel like it, there is someone to encourage you, for many people it works in a way where they don’t want to let down the partner, so they oblige and workout.

And there you have it, there are plenty more ways you can enhance your weight loss journey. More than anything it takes a lot of dedication and discipline to get to your dream body weight.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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