These days it’s harder than ever to stay thin and keep the extra weight off. We work longer hours, we’re always on the go, we eat fast food because it’s convenient and we’re constantly stressed. All of these things go hand in hand with rapid weight gain, and it’s quickly reaching epidemic proportions.
So what can you do about it? Here are three great tips to help you lose that weight and keep it off.
1. Watch What You Eat
There is nothing more important to losing weight than watching what types of food you eat. It doesn’t matter if you exercise 24/7, if you are constantly eating fried fatty foods then you WILL gain weight. Maybe not right away but trust me your metabolism will slow down and you will start to pack on the pounds.
So what should you eat? For some of us making small adjustments to our diet will pay big dividends. Little things like eating a salad instead of french fries, or cutting back on one soda a day will help you get slim and trim. For other people it’s not that easy, and a more drastic diet is in order. There are some really good diets out there like Weight Watchers and Medifast that have been proven to show results but it’s nothing you can’t accomplish on your own. If you try one of these diets make sure you use medifast coupons on your order so you don’t overpay, especially if you’re prone to quit dieting when things get hard.
2. Get More Exercise
Once you’ve squared away your diet the next best thing is to get out and get more exercise. Some people are gym rats and just don’t feel right if they don’t hit the treadmill every morning. For them, that’s wonderful, for me I’m not such a big fan of staying indoors.
I much prefer to get out and take a jog in a neighborhood or park I’ve never been to, or climb a mountain, or go play some street hockey with my buddies (rollerblading is fantastic fun and great exercise if you haven’t tried it. Probably the best exercise you can do if you’re older is to go swimming every day. Swimming gives you a lot of exercise but it also takes the weight off your joints and lets them heal as opposed to trying to go for a run which can wear away at your hips, knees and ankles over time.
3. Eliminate Stress
I call stress the silent weight gainer because when we’re stressed your body tends to crave high calorie foods to help you deal with it. The Mayo Clinic did a great article on this and I suggest you go read it if you have time.
I know, some of you are saying “how can I eliminate stress when I need this job?” That’s a tough one, but if you can afford it and if you have options taking a less stressful job or putting yourself in otherwise less stressful situations will really make you feel better, which will help you eat less and exercise more. That’s a real win-win and your waistline and your scale will thank you!