5 Simple Tips for Easy Weight Loss

If you want to start losing weight, but are hesitant to make world-shaking changes in your life right away then don’t fret. Although establishing a healthy diet and more exercise in your daily life will both be key in reaching your weight loss goals and maintaining your weight over the long-term, there are some simple things you can do right now that will start to help you shed some weight. After all, sometimes it takes seeing to believe and some people may find shedding a few pounds using these tips for easy weight loss the motivation they need to take on bigger changes and challenges.

Following these simple tips, such as snacking smartly and subtracting one high-calorie item from your diet, can help you shed some weight easily.

5 Simple Tips for Easy Weight Loss

1. Make Fiber Your Friend – Fiber takes more time to digest than other types of food components and for this reason, eating foods high in fiber can keep you feeling full for longer after a meal. In addition, fiber helps to stabilize blood sugar levels following a meal, which lowers the amount of insulin your body produces and helps to curb hunger (for more information, please read the post “How Fiber Helps Weight Loss“). To start losing some easy weight right away, substitute some processed carbs with high-fiber foods instead. Some high fiber foods you can easily add to your daily diet include vegetables, fruits, beans, brown rice, high-fiber cereal and whole grain bread.

2. Embrace the Power of Protein – Gram for gram, protein has the same number of calories than carbohydrates do, but like high-fiber foods it takes much longer to digest. Replacing a few carbs in your diet with protein instead will help you to avoid those nagging hunger pangs between meals (read the post “Weight Loss Benefits of Protein” for a further explanation). Some easy high-protein foods you can add to your diet include eggs, low-fat turkey meat, low-fat or fat-free dairy (e.g. cheese, yogurt and milk) and fish.

3. Snack Smartly – Snacking between meals is a fact of life for most of us, but if you do it smartly you can really reduce the amount of calories you consume each day. Smart snacks should be high in either fiber or protein for all of the good reasons discussed above. One of the best snack foods are nuts because they are high in fiber, protein and monounsaturated fats, although you want to eat only a small handful (I find that eating 10 almonds can be a very satisfying snack). Other smart snacks could include low-fat cheese, a low-fat or fat-free yogurt cup, a small cup of applesauce, a few strips of beef jerky or some fruit.

4. Avoid Artificial Sweeteners – Although artificial sweeteners can be much lower in calories than sugar or honey, some research suggests that their consumption might be related to over-eating and weight gain. For this reason, eat foods and beverages that have been sweetened naturally, or not at all. For example, instead of buying yogurt sweetened with aspartame, buy some unsweetened yogurt and add a small amount of honey to it. Honey and raw sugar are both excellent substitutes for artificial sweeteners in food and beverages. Of course, when at all possible, avoid sweetening your food all together.

5. Subtract One High-Calorie Food or Beverage – Of all these tips for easy weight loss, the simplest is subtracting one high-calorie food or beverage from your daily diet. Take a look at your eating habits and see if there is one food or beverage you consume on a regular basis that is high in calories. In many cases this includes the coffee you buy on the way in to work, the breakfast sandwich you grab on the go or the couple glasses of wine you like to drink at dinner. If you skip consuming these empty calories, or substitute them with a healthier alternative that is lower in calories you will save yourself at least a couple hundred calories each day, which can really add up.

By following these 5 Simple Tips for Easy Weight Loss you should start to see a drop in your weight in a few days. Although these tips aren’t the answer for long-term weight loss or weight maintenance, they will show you how making just a few small changes in your daily diet can help you start losing weight. Good Luck!

Other Related Posts and Articles you May Find Interesting: “Eating Slower Improves Weight Loss”, “5 Natural Ways to Increase Metabolism”, and “Ways to Cut 100 Calories Daily”.