Weight Loss Tips and Tricks

I will go ahead and make the first tip. Logging your food helps you know what you're eating and how much. I use Spark People to do this. I don't use all their features, but I really like their food tracker. It helps me keep a close eye on what's coming in my body. There's a recipe builder in it too, so if you have a favorite thing you like to cook, you can add all your ingredients and the servings it makes. Then it will break down the nutritional information per serving. This tool is invaluable.

It also has a fitness tracker. It takes into account your weight and your activity and breaks it down accordingly.

For example, Monday I went to the gym. I did a full-body workout. Most of what I did was strength training, so it doesn't track the calories burned. But I did 10 minutes on the recumbent bike before strength training and I burned 165 calories. I also did a 5 minute run (as in vigorously pedaling on it) on the elliptical machine at the end of my workout and burned an additional 85 calories.

Also, if you don't want to sign up for Spark (which is free, btw), you can go to this page for calculating calories burned and it uses your weight and the exercise you do to calculate your calories burned. My 50-minute strength training workout I did Monday burned 421 calories.

When my son was born, I was home with him for about 6 months when I realized I had gained 20 lb. My way of dropping those 20 lb. was to not eat breakfast until I was actually hungry for it (i.e., not habitually at 7:30 a.m.). I ended up getting hungry at about 10-10:30. That allowed me to skip lunch entirely. I then had a midafternoon snack that I would have had anyway, and then a normal dinner. I also started doing the exercises I mentioned in another post, and I shed those pounds within a few months. I honestly think the late breakfast made a huge difference for me.

I concur with the breakfast to kickstart your metabolism. A lot of different sources I've read say that even a small breakfast (i.e., a 1/2 of a banana or a piece of toast or even a handful of dried cranberries) will start your body going. You're also supposed to eat within the first half hour of waking for this to be most effective.

I have a hard time with this also, but I find that if I try to do this, I will be less hungry throughout the day. I can eat something small when I get up and then eat something a little bigger a couple hours later when I'm hungrier (like eggs).

Yogurt is great for weight loss, but I don't really enjoy eating just a cup of yogurt. What I do is, in the morning, I get out a flavor (usually vanilla) and mix dried fruit, flaxseed (1-2 tablespoons), and generic brand grape nuts (about 1/8 cup) into it. It give it texture and the yogurt is more the "binding" or the "milk" to my cereal mixture.

If I don't do it for breakfast, it makes an awesome mid-afternoon snack. You can also add your favorite fresh fruits to it too.

These are the ones I use and so far, I've been pretty successful with slimming up.

- NEVER go into a food style/snack style store when you are hungry.

- I always brush my teeth as soon as I get a craving for something sweet to eat. I read this somewhere years ago, and only started doing this about two months ago. I discovered that as soon as I brushed my teeth that hankering for chocolate or sweets disappeared.

- Cut out all creams from sauces, and never use store bought creamy sauces, instead use a tablespoon or two of sesame paste in your pasta sauce. It thickens it up, gives it a creamy texture, and sesame seeds are high in manganese and copper not to mention other good things. This works really well if you have recently discovered you are lactose intolerant as missing that creamy texture in sauces is a biggie. And reduces your calorie intake huge time.

- Spurt walking. Walk super quick for a minute with really short steps. Then keep the short steps but walk about half pace. Back and forth. Just not so good if you forget to change it up. Which is my thing. This one boosts your metabolism and burns fat lickedy split. And on the other hand, if you use a treadmill, never use it flat, always have it on an incline you burn the fat faster.

- Never drink cold water. This is a Chinese thing; but I swear by it. Always drink room temperature water or warmer, and while eating, only have a small cup so you do not drink too much too fast. According to the TCM doctors, it aids with digestion and absorption of the good stuff of food, then it helps with passing the food, keeping you feeling fuller longer.

- And my personal favourite? The reward program. If I walk between three and ten kilometres a day, I get to splurge and go to the Shangri-la for the day and use their spa facility. A swim, a sauna, the steam baths, the whirlie pool, if I have stayed within my budget for the week an oil massage from head to toe. Sigh...

- Throw out the scale. I used to get obsessed with numbers that read on it and found it was doing more harm then good. Cause a lot of what I am doing is not weight loss, but toning. And that means I am actually gaining weight as muscles weigh more, and even though I know this it was still something to get all wonky about...the numbers. Instead, just look at your clothes and how you wear them.

I LOVE all of these tips! What a great way to start your club, BBW!

For myself, I've found that substituting unhealthy things I love with better versions of the taste has worked great. My tummy is still happy, my brain doesn't know the difference, and I don't take in as many calories. The best one a friend of mine taught me is that using plain, non-flavored Greek yogurt in place of sour cream makes a huge difference! (I don't know how anyone can eat that stuff like regular yogurt cause it definitely tastes like sour cream!) Instead of juice, as I don't drink soda anymore, I drink water flavored by a little powdered fiber mix.

I'm also choosing more raw vegetables than cooked now. First, because there is less food being added to them like sauce, sugar, cheese, and salt. But not only that! Water soluble vitamins (the B complex and C ones in particular) are easily destroyed during the cooking process and they're also not stored in the body and will be urinated out. So if you didn't get your dose today, you can't pull from any stored supply. The fat-soluble vitamins, however, DO store in your body so if you eat a relatively balanced diet, you don't need to supplement for them (vitamins A, D, E, and K).

I also agree with WomanChina about spurt walking and throwing out the scale!!! But I definitely can't give up cold water. I love love love super cold drinks, especially when it's unbelievably hot outside. You actually burn more calories having your body warm up the fluid than drinking hot liquids and it cooling inside your body. But mostly I just like feeling cooler.

Darling Jen I agree!!!!! Get rid of all the beverages that come in cans and bottles and go with plain and simple water or self brewed (LEAF!!!!!) tea!!!! MUCH better for you all around.

I take my water, pour a pitcher full and drop in some sliced fruits to give it a subtle hint of flavour if I want something other than water. No juices (unless I make my own), or soda pop or anything like that. THAT is where most people one day discover that they get too many sugars from.

Don't get me wrong.. I love to suck back a sports drink in the middle of summer... or have a rye and ginger ale every so often... but mainly water, tea and coffee are my only liquids.

I try to keep gum around so when I am tempted to eat something I shouldn't I can pop gum to keep my mouth busy. Brushing your teeth is also a good way to keep from eating when you're not hungry since things taste funny after your brush.

There are some great tips here!

I am in treatment for an eating disorder, so please take my tips with caution. I'll share the ones that I believe to be healthy, but I may not be the best judge of that.

There is no way to lose weight besides eating less (calories) and exercising more. Whatever lifestyle changes you make need to be maintainable. If it's not something you could take on for the rest of your life, then you will most likely yo-yo and gain the weight back.

When you prepare your plate, fill half of your plate with veggies (steamed, grilled, boiled, or salads). The second biggest item on your plate should be protein (meat, tofu, etc) and the next biggest item should be whole grain (brown rice, quinoa, etc). You can use any remaining room for a sugary or fatty treat, but make it small!

We all slip up. Never punish yourself for a binge by restricting. Just take some time to examine what made you binge (to see if there's a pattern) but then try to move on. You'll have more success feeling slimmer and sexier, not by making yourself feel like a gluttonous failure.

Anyway, I hope that helped.

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Eat lots of fiber. It's filling, it lowers your bad cholesterol, and you'd be amazed (and horrified) by how much of your weight is actually the contents of your colon. The higher your weight is above your "ideal" weight (assuming it is body fat, not muscle) the slower your digestive system will function (in general). If you are overweight or obese, you may be hiding 5 or more pounds of compacted fecal matter in your gut. This is not harmful, but it will make your belly a bit bigger. Just don't use laxatives unless you've gone more than a week without pooping!