The Fighting Fit Blog

My Top 10 Tips On Losing Weight

If you’re looking for tips on losing weight, then this article is for you. Unlike most personal trainers and fitness instructors, I’ve actually struggled to lose weight and keep it off.

I used to be naturally skinny, but a string of injuries and a chronic illness wrecked my metabolism as well as my ability to exercise three hours a day (yes, I really did exercise three hours a day, for years in fact).

As you can imagine, I had to learn how to control my weight in spite of being limited in my exercise options and despite having a slowed metabolism. This makes for a tough challenge when it comes to losing weight.

That’s something that many trainers with naturally high metabolisms and the ability to exercise for hours on end do not understand (I used to be one of them). So, if you’re in that boat this list of tips on losing weight will hopefully help you in your quest to lose weight.

I’m going to list my best tips on losing weight here. Some of them may seem a little crazy, but trust me they are things I learned about the hard way. Also, some may seem like things you already know as common knowledge. However, if you’re not doing it then “I know that already” does you not a bit of good. If you see something on this list of tips on losing weight that you already know and aren’t doing, start doing it!

So, without further ado here are my top 10 weight loss tips.

My Top Ten Tips On Losing Weight

Tips On Losing Weight #1: Skip The Sugar

Among all my tips on losing weight this one seems the most obvious, but the problem is that most people think they’re doing this but they aren’t. Sugar signals your body to release insulin which stores excess calories as fat. It also contributes to inflammation, which in turn elevates cortisol, another hormone that keeps you fat. Skip all sugary foods except for a treat once or twice a week.

Tips On Losing Weight #2: Skip The Bread and Pasta

This is another really important one among my tips on losing weight. You see, even whole wheat bread can be fattening. Why? For one, it’s calorically dense, but that’s not the end of the story. Starches are mostly digested in your mouth by ptyalin, an enzyme-containing compound in your saliva. In a nutshell, ptyalin breaks starch down into sugars, which leads us back to weight loss tip #1. So, save your breads and pastas for a treat once or twice a week when you’re trying to lose weight.

Tips On Losing Weight#3: Eat More Fruits and Veggies… Especially Veggies

Fruits and veggies are just plain good for you. Also, the carbs you get from them are much more slowly absorbed than those derived from sugary and starchy foods. In short, you should enjoy limited amounts of fruits when attempting to lose weight, and as much non-starchy veggies as you want (note: this means skip the baked potato and banana if you’re trying to lose weight).

Tips On Losing Weight#4: Eat LOTS of Lean Protein

Among the tips on losing weight this one get the most resistance from women, since they think eating protein will make them fat. It doesn’t! Protein is lower in calories per gram than carbs or fat, and it has a favorable effect on your insulin when ingested with carbohydrates. Basically, proteins, fats, and fiber slow down the absorption of carbs into your blood, blunting the release of insulin. Since insulin makes you store excess calories as fat, this is a good thing. In addition, protein helps build lean muscle tissue, which burns more calories than fat. So, load up up lean cuts of fish, white meat, and limited amount of lean red meat.

Tips On Losing Weight#5: Eat More Fiber

As I mentioned in tips on losing weight #4, fiber slows the absorption of carbs into your body. In addition, a certain amount of calories remain bound to fiber and are flushed out of your system without being absorbed. Finally, fiber fills you up without adding much in the way of calories. So when it comes to green leafy vegetables, eat up!

Tips On Losing Weight#6: Get MORE Good Fats!

Good fats are unsaturated fats, particularly omega-3 fatty acids of the type found in fish. We get way too many omega-6 fats in our diets, and too few omega-3 fats. Your body needs fat, but you want to replace unhealthy fats with healthy ones. This helps reduce inflammation in the body, which in turn helps reduce cortisol, and some researchers even believe it lowers leptin resistance as well (leptin being the hormone that increases the amount of fat you burn – being leptin-resistant is bad for weight loss). So, increase your intake of healthy fats and cut back on your intake of unhealthy fats.

Tips On Losing Weight#7: Skip the Fried Foods

Okay, I just told you to cut back on unhealthy fats in #6 on my list of tips on losing weight. This is how you’re going to do it. Fried foods tend to be laden with unhealthy saturated fats. Moreover, they are often stuffed with trans fats, which wreak havoc on your metabolism. Finally, fried foods are often breaded, which ends up being a double-whammy (fat + starch = calories going straight to your hips, thighs, and tummy). Skip the fried foods.

Tips On Losing Weight#8: Cut Processed Foods From Your Diet Entirely

Processed foods are filled with trans fats, added sugar, and added chemicals – of which, we have no idea how they affect our bodies. Show me a person who eats all processed food and I’ll show you someone with a high body fat percentage. Even “skinny” people who eat a lot of processed food have high percentages of body fat. Take the extra time to eat food that is as close to its natural state as possible. You’ll feel better and the weight will come off easier.

Tips On Losing Weight#9: Eat Less, But More Often

Among the entire list of my tips on losing weight, this one seems to be the best known but least done. Eating smaller meals and portions but more often has a positive effect on your insulin, so long as those meals pay attention to the previous eight tips above. Portion control = calorie control, and eating more often has a stabilizing effect on your metabolism. Plan to eat 5-6 small meals a day to keep your metabolism higher and to keep your blood sugar levels stable.

Tips On Losing Weight#10: Drink Plenty of Water, Exercise, and Get Plenty of Sleep

Okay, so that’s three tips on losing weight in one. Drink at least 64 ounces of water a day, as studies have shown increased water intake may assist with weight loss. Exercise at least three times a week. A study of 160 people who lost twenty pounds or more permanently showed that 70% exercised at least three times a week. Finally, get enough sleep. Lack of sleep leads to increases in cortisol, which I’ve already told you can contribute to weight gain.

And that’s it – my top ten weight loss tips. Follow them and you will find it much easier to lose weight. I hope this list of top ten tips on losing weight help you in your weight loss and fitness journey.

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