Weight loss tips

Weight loss Tip 11

Try to reduce the Fat, Sugar and Salt in your diet.

Diets high in fat and sugar are typically also very high in kilojoules or calories which when combined with low levels of exercise or activity can contribute greatly to us being overweight.

In addition, excessive levels of fat, sugar and salt in our diets have been shown to contribute to a variety of serious health conditions.

Foods that are 'low in fat' have 3g or less fat per 100g. Drinks low in fat have 1.5ml or less per 100ml.

Foods 'low in sugar' have 5g or less per 100g and drinks low in sugar have 2.5g or less per 100ml.

Foods 'low in salt' have 120mg or less per 100g.

While all the foods we eat won't have levels of fat, sugar and salt as low as this, these measures can be useful when we are comparing food options.

Weight loss Tip 12

Join a gym or hire a personal trainer with a friend.

Joining a gym or hiring a personal trainer with a friend has many advantages.

Foremost among these advantages are that you'll have a workout buddy, who can keep you motivated and keep you company while you get used to the gym environment and exercising regularly, and you'll save money because most gyms and personal trainers offer discounts when you join or train with a friend.

Just be careful to make sure that both of you are as committed to exercise as each other and be prepared for the time when your workout buddy isn't able, or doesn't want to, workout any more or as regularly as you do.

Hopefully by the time this happens (if it happens at all), you'll have made new friends at the gym or enjoy exercising so much that you are motivated and happy enough to do it on your own or find a new workout buddy.

Weight loss Tip 13

Participate in a weight loss challenge.

Getting yourself a diet buddy or buddies and setting yourself a 12 week weight loss goal is a great way to lose weight.

Losing weight when you've got someone else to compete against will give you extra motivation and help you to stay on track.

The members of the Weightloss Forum currently have such challenges which you can participate in simply by registering as a member of the forum, which is totally free.

Weight loss Tip 14

Walk for a ½ hour instead of watching TV.

Some people believe that watching TV is a great way to wind-down after a hard day and doing exercise is often the last thing on their minds.

But going for a half-hour or hours walk instead of plonking down in front of the TV can help you de-stress, clear your mind and set you up for a relaxing evening and a great night's sleep.

You can make the walk even better if you take your partner, children or dog with you.

Weight loss Tip 15

Share an entree or dessert with a friend.

Many of us put on weight because we make careless or unconscious eating decisions, like automatically ordering an entree or dessert while at a restaurant.

Most restaurants main meals are already too big and as well as eating them, many of us eat entrees and/or desserts as well.

If this sounds like you, start sharing your entree or dessert with a friend and your waist-line will thank you.

Weight loss Tip 16

Vary your exercise.

In addition to helping us avoid boredom, adding variety to our exercise program actually helps us lose more weight and become fitter.

When we perform the same exercises at the same intensity, our bodies get used to our routine and stops responding. Muscles only get stronger when they need to adapt. By changing exercises and the order in which we do them, we keep our body guessing and force it to respond and adapt.

Weight loss Tip 17

To get a an idea of your fitness level before starting a new exercise program, try running or walking for 12 minutes and see how far you get.

If you can walk or run 1.6 kilometres in 12 minutes or less, then you're in decent shape. Most beginners won't make it this far in under 12 minutes, so don't be too hard on yourself if you don't.

Beginners should start out at a comfortable pace and increase their speed as their fitness improves.

Weight loss Tip 18

Eat leaner red meat & poultry.

Fat contains 37 kilojoules (9 calories) per gram while protein and carbohydrates only contain around 17 kilojoules (4 calories) per gram so it makes sense to try to reduce the amount of dietary fat in our diets if we are trying to lose weight.

One relatively simple way of doing this is to eat the leanest red meat and poultry available to us.

As well as buying the leanest meat and poultry we can in the first place, we can also trim off any access fat from our cuts of meat and remove any skin from our poultry.

Weight loss Tip 19

One of the reasons many of us are putting on weight year after year is that we have lost all sense of correct portion sizes.

Because most meals served in restaurants and at home are much larger than we actually need to maintain a healthy body weight, some people use a very simple technique to successfully lose weight and keep it off – they only eat half of what is on their plate!

Could this work for you?

Weight loss Tip 20

Walk during your lunch break.

For most of us our lunch break is an ideal time to go for a walk but many people miss this opportunity to build their fitness, relieve stress and burn precious extra calories.

If you aren't motivated enough to go walking alone, organise a walking group among your colleagues, you're sure to find other people who want to get fitter and lose a little weight.

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