Need help shedding fat after the holiday season? Try these 13 effective weight loss tips! Especially when combined with healthy lifestyle habits such as getting adequate sleep, exercising efficiently and keeping stress levels low, these nutrition tips will help you lose weight and feel your best in 2014.
1. Eat Mindfully When you improve how you eat, you’ll naturally improve what you eat. By eating more mindfully, slowing down and chewing more you’ll improve digestion, feel full faster and find food to be more nourishing. 2. Hydrate With Water Water supports fat loss, promotes detoxification, and prevents you from drinking sugary processed beverages. Stay hydrated by starting each morning with a large glass of water and pack a bottle to fill wherever you go. 3. Eat a Protein-Rich Breakfast Crucial at breakfast, high-quality protein promotes fat burning, reduces cravings, and sets the tone for better health choices the rest of the day.
4. Enjoy More Vegetables Include more veggies in your daily diet to increase fiber, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and antioxidants. The more veggies on your plate, the less room you’ll have for insulin-spiking refined carbs (bread, pasta or chips). 5. Snack On Walnuts An easy snack to pack, walnuts are a good source of anti-inflammatory omega-3s that burn fat, reduce cravings, and keep you full long after you eat.
6. Choose Whole Foods Choose whole foods (veggies and fruits) over processed products (pasta and cookies). In general, the less refined a food is the more nutrients it contains.
7. Read Food Labels Look for labels with minimal ingredients and avoid words you can’t pronounce, as well as anything “low-fat,” “fat-free,” or “sugar-free.”
8. Cook With Coconut Oil Ideal for cooking, coconut oil contains metabolism-boosting medium-chain fatty acids that provide high satiation and long-lasting energy. 9. Favor Fruit For Dessert Naturally sweet and packed with nutrients, antioxidants and fiber, fruit helps reduce inflammation, curb cravings, and support weight loss. Although it's recommended to eat them more early in day rather later since some fruits are quite high in fructose. 10. Swap Your Salt Swap table salt with a high quality, unrefined sea salt or pink salt as Celtic salt or Himalayan Pink salt. Having the opposite effect of table salt, unrefined sea salt is essential for reducing water retention, improving digestion, and supporting overall health. 11. Identify Food Sensitivities
A common and hidden cause of weight gain, identifying and treating hidden food sensitivities (dairy, gluten, eggs, citrus, etc.) is crucial for permanent fat loss, cooling inflammation, improving health, and preventing disease. 12. Plan To “Cheat” Plan one to two “cheat” meals per week to indulge. This helps you feel more nourished and makes it easier to eat healthy the remainder of the week.
13. Make One Change At a Time Trying multiple things at once leaves you clueless to what’s actually working. It can be a frustrating waste of time, money and effort. Start small and make one change at a time so you can listen to your body and track improvements. Learn How Chicago Fit Performance Can Help You!