If you want to achieve natural weight loss, it is essential that you alter your mentality and behaviors. By doing so, you can create new behaviors that are sustainable and long-lasting.
Retraining your mind allows you to view food as fuel for life and exercise as a pleasure and source of strength. It also frees up internal resources to help you lose weight, maintain your new lifestyle, and keep it off permanently.
1. Clean Up Your Diet
Clean eating is not just a trend; it’s a lifestyle that benefits both you and the environment. Eating clean is all about incorporating fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins into your meals while cutting back on processed foods such as junk food, sodas and fast food.
Eating healthily also involves experimenting with new foods to keep you interested in what you eat. For instance, colorful options like berries, greens, red peppers, turmeric or sweet potatoes can provide fiber, antioxidants and other health advantages.
2. Change Your Mindset
One of the most essential factors in weight loss is your mindset. A negative outlook can make it extremely challenging to stay committed to a diet or exercise plan.
Conversely, a positive outlook can motivate you to take action and tackle challenges in life, ultimately helping you realize your aspirations.
You can cultivate a positive mental attitude through many means, but the first step is recognizing what needs improvement.
Focus on one area and analyze it closely for some time. Doing this will give you a better insight into what works and what doesn’t.
4. Stay Hydrated
Water is your body’s primary natural appetite suppressant and increases metabolism. Additionally, it makes you feel fuller so that you can eat less food.
As a general guideline, aim to drink half your body weight in ounces of hydrating fluids each day. So if you weigh 160 pounds, that would be 40-80 ounces.
Staying hydrated during exercise will maximize the effectiveness of your exercises, as it hydrates muscles and joints, assists the lungs, heart and other organs to function optimally during activity and reduces muscle cramping.
In addition to drinking water, eating fruits and vegetables that have a high water content as well as those rich in electrolytes such as sodium and potassium can also help flush out extra fluid from your system.
5. Get Enough Sleep
Sleep is as essential to weight loss as eating right and exercising regularly. Not only does it regulate metabolism, providing energy, but it also suppresses hunger hormones which could otherwise lead to weight gain.
Researchers from the University of Chicago have observed that sleep deprivation impairs your body’s capacity to process carbohydrates and insulin, which in turn transforms sugar, starches and fats into energy. Insulin sensitivity – linked with weight loss – also decreased in this study group.
Fortunately, getting enough sleep is not a struggle. You can even identify your “chronotype,” or when you feel most rested and energized, to work towards creating an ideal sleeping schedule. The more time spent sleeping, the greater energy levels you’ll have to stay motivated towards reaching goals.
