It’s a new year and little alarm bells may be going off in your head, telling you this is your year to lose the weight you know you need to lose! But it’s not as simple as just making a new year’s resolution to finally drop the pounds. In fact, any short term “diet” plan you may have for slimming down is not the smartest route to take. The word diet shouldn’t even cross your mind – instead, you should focus on making healthy, lasting lifestyle changes, one step at a time.
The key for how to start losing weight begins with having a different perspective on weight loss in general. In fact, weight loss should not even be the goal! Having a more joyful, vibrant life should be the goal… One where you’re healthy enough to accomplish everything you’ve always wanted desired to, and more!
In this article, we’re going to share our top tips that you can put in place right now to radically change the way you live your day-to-day; And it’s actually very simple! We’ll tell you how to start working out, how to develop a simple meal plan to lose weight, and how to meal prep for weight loss, starting today.
How to Start Losing Weight in 2020
If you have a deep-rooted goal to become healthier this year, and you know weight loss is the way to do that, read on for some smart ways to make that possible…
1) Identify your weaknesses
The best place to start when trying to make some lasting changes in your typical routine is to figure out where you’re currently going wrong that you wish to change. If late-night eating is your vice, it’s time to address this specific problem, and brainstorm solutions to stop the behavior.
If midday is the time when you typically hit the vending machine or make an unhealthy food choice, then it’s time to do some simple meal prep for weight loss – so you’re always prepared with healthy, yummy choices.
Get a food journal or start a note in your phone to jot down your “weak spots”. Answer these questions for yourself, in order to start getting ahead of your bad habits and making new, better ones…
- Where are you and what are you doing when you typically eat unhealthy foods? What are you feeling at this point in time?
- What are your food “vices”… are they sweet or salty? What are foods you typically crave?
- How do you typically feel after you eat something you know you shouldn’t have eaten?
2) Become a mindful eater
The next step after identifying your weaknesses is to try changing these behaviors by being more present for your meals. In short, this is called being a mindful eater! It means that you enjoy the full experience of eating, and aren’t just mindlessly scarfing down food.
Most often, people are so busy that they don’t take the time to really enjoy the foods they’re eating – healthy or not. But when you slow down to pay attention to the smell, taste and sensation of different foods in your mouth, you’ll learn quite a few things. You may find that some unhealthy foods you think you enjoy, you actually don’t – or you may learn you don’t need to eat as much of them.
In addition, you may learn that there are plenty of healthy foods that, when cooked to your liking, are totally delicious, and something you’ll look forward to making. Being a mindful eater can also help you consume less food in general and take in less calories, due to being satisfied quicker.
3) Eat low carb/high fat
Once you learn to become a mindful eater, then you can switch your focus to choosing much healthier food options. And when it comes to how to start losing weight, this is going to include a major reduction in sugar and all refined carb products.
If reducing sugar is an issue for you, we encourage you to simultaneously increase the amount of fat in your diet. And in fact, the very popular keto diet does just that – encouraging you to eat 70-75% of your diet from fat, 20-25% from protein and 5-10% from carbs. If keto is too drastic for you, you can just simply reduce your current carb intake as much as possible.
The reason you want to up your fat intake is because healthy fats (such as avocado, coconut, MCT oil, olives and olive oil, full-fat dairy and more), will fill you up and also provide your body with invaluable nutrients. Plus, these fats will up your body’s fat-burning ability, and help you burn more calories.
And in general, when your body has less carbs, (or glucose), it starts to burn your fat reserves and also stores less fat in general… which is obviously a win-win!
4) Up your intake of protein
Along with eating more healthy fats, you also want to make sure you’re eating enough protein. You want to make sure 20-25% of your diet is from protein, and this can be from both animal and plant-based sources.
Believe it or not, plants actually supply a great amount of protein – while also being high in fiber, antioxidants, and other nutrients. In addition, plants are extremely heart healthy, and replacing some heavy meats and other sources of saturated fat with plants is beneficial for your heart, cholesterol levels, and overall health.
5) Try meal replacement shakes
A great way to increase your intake of plant proteins is with the best plant-based meal replacement shakes. For instance, our top-rated shake right now works its magic for weight loss with a premium mixture of proven proteins pea, brown rice, and hemp – which helps boost your body’s metabolism and initiates fat-burning.
These incredibly simple, tasty shakes are also a great asset in a simple meal plan to lose weight. Simply replace 2 meals per day with these meal replacement shakes, and aim to eat a low-carb diet the rest of the time – with a major focus on low-carb veggies, along with plenty of protein and healthy fats.
These shakes are great for meal prep, because you just add a single serving of the protein powder into a glass or shaker cup with a healthy beverage, shake and go! By replacing two of your meals with these shakes, you only have one meal to worry about planning, and a few snacks if desired!
6) Create motivation to work out
Along with eating a cleaner diet, adding in exercise is also an important part of a healthy lifestyle. And a great secret to how to start working out is by giving yourself an appealing motivator!
For instance, you could do some cardio in front of the TV while catching up on your favorite Netflix show, or do the treadmill or stairs while reading a new book. Or, you could make yourself a soundtrack of all your favorite music to accompany your workout.
In addition, you could allow yourself a small food indulgence after working out, with the condition that it’s only 100 calories or less. Another great idea is to have an indulgent meal replacement shake smoothie after your workout, to make it seem like you’re having a “dessert”, when it’s really a super-health food. Whatever motivator you use, make sure it doesn’t detract from your overall weight loss efforts and goals!
We hope you enjoyed these tips to kick-starting weight loss in 2020… Check out more health and fitness articles to help you stay on track with your goals on the DietShake-Reviews.com Health Blog today!
Sources:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-to-lose-weight-as-fast-as-possible
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/a25384401/how-to-start-losing-weight/
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/8-steps-to-mindful-eating
