Expert weight loss tips that really work!

Losing weight can be a real challenge for many of us. Although sweating it out in the morning and eating right might sound like torture to you but these are vital for effective weight loss. Lazing in front of your television while snacking on soda and chips isn t going to help you get rid of those extra pounds. You need to start being active and make diet, exercise and lifestyle changes to promote steady and healthy weight loss. Besides, excess weight can make you more prone to health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, fatty liver diseases and cancer. Here are some tips that will help you achieve your weight loss goal. You may also read how to lose weight and keep it off permanently.

Exercise tips

Practise yoga and meditation

Priya says, Taking deep breaths, meditating and certain yoga poses can actually help you reduce cravings by lowering your stress levels. Take few minutes every day to do some deep breathing if not more . The best part of yoga is that it stretches your entire body and helps you cut down flab from any part of the body. Here are 12 yoga asanas for weight loss.

Workout 5 days a week

Make sure you exercise at least five days a week for 45-60 minutes so you burn more calories and build muscle. Dancing, aerobics, swimming and pilates are ideal options. If you are new to working out, seek assistance of a physical trainer or join a local gym.

Make exercising fun

Our expert suggests, choosing an activity that you enjoy this will help you sustain the activity for longer time. Pursue physically demanding hobbies like hiking, skating and bicycling to promote faster weight loss. If you do not have time to start a hobby you can substitute exercise with other physical activities like playing with kids, walking with dog or jogging instead of driving to the nearby store.

Try weight training

Weight training helps build muscle and increases your metabolic rate. With strength training you build lean muscles and your body burns more calories thereby facilitating better weight loss. Therefore, make sure you include some form of strength training activity in your exercise regime. Shoulder press, pull ups, squats, deadlifts and bench press are the five best exercises to lose weight quickly. Also read strength training for women to burn more calories and lose weight quickly.

Do high intensity workouts

Focus on intensity and performance along with form and technique of the exercise when you workout. High intensity exercises help you to burn fat in stubborn places such as hips, thighs and the belly. It will save you time and is far more beneficial than steady state cardio exercises. Besides, high intensity exercises are also great for your heart.

Diet tips to lose weight

Eat right post workout

According to nutritionist Priya Kathpal, eating right post a work out is very important. She says What you burn during work out is far less than your estimation. This overestimation leads you to believe that not only can you eat more but eat whatever you want. This is one of the major mistakes one makes. What and how much do you need to eat after a work out depend on the kind of activity you do and how intense it is. Here are 10 food items for weight loss.

Abstain from diet foods and sodas

If you thought sipping diet coke would help you lose weight, you were wrong. People who consume diet foods are more likely to overeat and end up craving for more sugar too. Therefore, stay away from so called diet foods and diet sodas.

Include soup and salad into your diet plan

Priya suggests starting your meal with a bowl of soup or a cup of salad if possible. Salad will give you the much needed fibre you need and help you keep a check on how much you eat. Add vegetables like brussels sprouts, carrots, broccoli and beans to your salad to facilitate weight loss. On the other hand, soup contains more water and fills you up with fewer calories. Clear soups are a healthy option as they have high fibre and protein content which makes them very satisfying and filling. Also read why having soup is a healthy idea.

Eat before you go out

Eat something before you leave your house as it helps reduce hunger that can leave you craving unhealthy snacks later in the day. Theses foods like pastries and pizza are full of calories and will do nothing to help you lose weight. Also limit your intake of high calorie food such as pasta and cheese.

Never skip breakfast

Many people think that skipping breakfast might help them lose weight but the practice does much more harm than good. Make time for breakfast, even on busy days as eating breakfast can prevent you from over eating later in the day. Something as simple as a fruit, some nuts or a boiled egg can make for a quick healthy breakfast. This meal helps energise your body everyday which in turn increases your body metabolism rate.

Here are some lifestyle tips by nutritionist Priya Kathpal that will help you lose weight

• Do not let yourself get too hungry. Once you are famished you will make poor food choices, and your willpower to avoid unhealthy foods will be at its lowest.
• Get enough sleep as sleep deprivation leads to weight gain. This is because lack of sleep affects metabolism which in turn leads to weight gain. Make sure to get at least seven to eight hours of sleep a day.
• Get into the habit of eating a little lesser than what you would normally have. If you do this at every meal you can avoid eating atleast 100 calories per day.
• Keep yourself hydrated all the time. More than half the time it s thirst that is misunderstood as hunger which can hamper your diet plans. Drinking enough water has countless benefits especially in the process of weight loss where it helps reduce bloating, washes out toxins from your body and hastens up your metabolic rate. Try to drink at least 2 litres of water every day for effective weight loss.
• Go slow on salt and sodium rich foods as too much salt in the diet will contribute to bloating and edema. Cutting down on salt will not only help you reduce weight but it s a great habit for a healthy lifestyle overall. Instead go for potassium rich foods like bananas and sweet potatoes as it will help you in getting a slimmer waistline.

Image source: Getty images

---

For more articles on weight loss, visit our weight loss section. For daily free health tips, sign up for our newsletter.