7 Simple Things to Help you Lose Weight Faster

When it comes to losing weight, we want results as quickly as possible. Making healthy changes is never initially fun- giving up all your favorite foods and waking up early to shove your “fluff” into embarrassing spandex pants to hit the gym for a grueling workout session doesn’t exactly seem like much “fun” to most of us.  But if we’re going to make these changes, we better see some results to know our efforts are not in vain, right?  We all know that there is no “quick fix” for weight loss, if there was we would all be skinny!  However, there are some small changes that if implemented into your lifestyle, will help you lose weight faster.  You don’t have to make all of these changes all at once, perhaps try to add one each week.

1. Don’t drink your calories- When you’re cutting calories from your diet, you want to get the most from each calorie you consume.  Most people don’t think much about calories they drink but they can be a huge sabotage to their weight loss efforts. You’d be surprised how many calories are hiding in your favorite Starbucks beverage! It is also best to eliminate alcohol when trying to lose weight.  Besides being empty calories and providing no nutritional benefit to your body, alcoholic beverages completely wreak havoc on your body’s ability to burn fat. Read more about the negative effects of alcohol on weight loss here
2. Eat Breakfast- Mornings can be a hectic time and breakfast seems like an easy thing to eliminate while in a rush to get out the door.  Nutritionists across the board deem breakfast the most important meal of the day and advise never to skip it.  There are numerous studies that show eating breakfast aids in weight loss and also provides many other great health benefits.
3. Get enough sleep- Sleep is an easily overlooked component of weight loss but not getting enough zzz’s will hinder your body’s ability to function properly, including its ability to burn fat. Inadequate amounts of sleep will slow or stall weight loss, even if your eating and workouts are on point!  Aim at getting 7-8 hours of sleep each day so your body can function at optimal levels.
4. Stop eating out- It’s no secret fast food is unhealthy and high in calories and fat and should be avoided.  But your favorite sit down restaurant meals can also impede your weight loss efforts.  Restaurants are notorious for huge portion sizes and even when ordering a healthier option you may be consuming way more calories than you should be.  Also when eating out you don’t always know exactly how your food is being prepared, that grilled chicken you think is healthy may be grilled in heavy amounts of butter or oil and your veggies on the side may be slathered in butter and salt making them not as figure friendly as you thought.  When it comes to weight loss, you’re much better off preparing your own food.
5. Cut out high calorie condiments- Condiments like mayonnaise on your sandwich or dressing on your salad can pack large amounts of calories that can easily be overlooked.  A tablespoon of mayonnaise has around 100 calories and some dressings have over 200 calories per 2 tablespoon serving! If you can’t completely eliminate certain condiments, look for lower calorie substitutes.  There are a lot of great low calorie salad dressings sold in stores or you can make your own substitutes using Greek yogurt or low fat sour cream as substitutes for mayonnaise based dressings.
6. Eat real food- When it comes to weight loss and general health, it’s best to eat whole, unprocessed, God made foods.  The benefits of eliminating processed foods from your diet include weight loss, increased energy, better sleep, less illnesses, better hair and skin, and better moods (eat this). If you think of food like fuel, choosing real food is the optimal grade fuel that you can provide your body with and it will function at it's optimal level when fueled by unprocessed foods. 
7. Move more- Exercise is an obvious component to weight loss, but working out for an hour and then sitting the rest of the day isn’t the mentality we should have.  Every little bit of movement counts, look for ways throughout your day to get extra movement.  Park further away in parking lots, take the stairs instead of the elevator, do some squats while your brushing your teeth or cooking… you get the idea. The more you move, the more you burn!