Dieting is as popular as ever these days and many people feel they need to completely change their lives to achieve their weight loss goals. While this may be the case for some people, most people that are looking to lose a few pounds can add the following tips to their daily routine for improved results.
Eat a Low GI Diet
What does that even mean? To put it simply, avoid foods that cause a surge in blood sugar levels. High GI foods will most likely cause you to gain weight, especially if you are already slightly overweight. In order to maintain a low GI diet you want to start by avoiding starches such as bread, pasta and rice. The whole idea is to have your blood sugar levels stay relatively consistent. Foods such as vegetables, nuts, seeds, red meats and fish are great examples of foods that won’t cause your blood sugar to spike.
Don’t Skip Meals
Too often people look to speed up their weight loss results by skipping a meal a day (sometimes even two!). In a way, that would seem to make sense- less food you intake, less weight you gain/more weight you lose right? Well, in actuality, skipping meals can significantly hurt your weight loss goals. It’s a bit of a domino effect: less food means less muscle which then lowers your metabolic rate making fat gain more likely. Even if you’re busy in the morning, make sure to eat a good breakfast because it is arguably the most important meal of the day. When you skip breakfast your blood sugar levels drop off and your body produces stress hormones. No need to produce anymore stress!
Add Strength Training to Your Workout
While you may not be trying to gain much muscle- which can bring along extra pounds- working some strength training (specifically core training) into your weight loss routine can produce some very pleasant results. In order to produce muscle fibers, one must put energy into them- nearly every day. Fat, on the other hand, takes a lot less energy to produce. The energy aspect is where adding strength training to your workouts can really be an asset. The whole idea can be summed up by saying not only will the added muscle mass make you look better, but because of the added energy, you will be able to burn calories much more quickly. Now this doesn’t mean go start lifting a bunch of weights and expect to lose weight, what it means is focus on strengthening your core muscle mass and you will be able to burn calories at a faster pace than your average weight loss seeker.
Each person, whether overweight or skinny, has tons of bacteria living inside of their body. Some types of bacteria are bad, some are good. Generally speaking, overweight people often are found to have a much higher amount of ‘bad’ bacteria in their bodies than ‘good’ bacteria. This is where probiotics steps in. The use of probiotics serves two purposes: improving your overall immune health and helping you to shed a few pounds in the process. Taking probiotics isn’t going to cause you to lose tons of weight, but combining probiotics with a healthy and active lifestyle is a great way to help you towards your weight loss goals.
As mentioned earlier, some people may need a total lifestyle change to achieve their weight loss goals, but that’s not necessarily the case for everyone. If you’re looking to shed a few extra pounds over the next few weeks, make sure to keep these tips in mind- you’ll be surprised at how effectively they can enhance your current routine!