There are many types of diet plans out there that can be confusing with how they work and might not be healthy for your body in the long term.
You may not know this, but you can simultaneously lose weight and eat unhealthily. As long as you are in a calorie deficit, it is possible!
However, our goal should be to lose weight while following a healthy diet. You will feel more energized, your body will function better, and you are more likely to live longer.
In this blog post, we will cover 9 ways on how to do a healthy diet to lose weight!
#1 Cook At Home
What may be hindering your weight loss is how much sugar, salt, and processed foods you are eating.
Prepackaged meals are full of preservatives and chemicals! Not to mention how unhealthy the long list of ingredients that we can’t even pronounce are for our health.
Eating out is also a bad idea. You have no idea how much and what oils they cook used, or maybe what’s on your food or how fresh it is.
Click the link to check out my blog post on how to stop eating junk food.
Suppose you cook at home instead of dining out or ordering pizza or Chinese takeout. In that case, you’ll automatically cut back on these empty calories!
Cooking at home, such as roasting, baking, and boiling (rather than deep frying), will help you consume fewer calories.
Deep-fried foods are high in calories and can tempt you to overeat. Vegetables lightly stir-fried, roasted, or baked instead of boiled don’t have nearly as many calories and can fill you up faster.
Click the link for my best tips on how to make healthy food taste good when you cook!
#2 Eat An Appetizer
Start each meal with an apple, a salad, or soup under 100 calories. It should be a nutritious and low-calorie option.
Eating an appetizer before eating a meal will help you consume fewer calories than you might otherwise.
An appetizer can curb your appetite before you have the main course, and even feel too full to order dessert. Helping you eat fewer calories.
Also, an appetizer can encourage more mindful eating. It can make it easier for you to pace yourself with the first course, and wait until your body can know how hungry you still are before deciding how much food would be appropriate to eat on your next course.
Download this cheat sheet to learn the secrets to go from busy and out-of-shape to energetic and fit!
#3 Eat Whole Foods
Eating whole foods helps you lose weight because they’re often lower-calorie than processed or packaged foods.
Whole foods are fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and other naturally occurring food that come from the earth.
For example, eat the apple instead of drinking apple juice that has had all the fiber ripped away and in which sugar has been added.
Instead of eating empty calories, for example, carbs like pasta or rice – which turn into sugar rapidly – whole food items result in much slower digestion, so they don’t leave you feeling tired and heavy after a meal.
Steady blood sugar levels are important to how the brain regulates appetite and how the body burns calories.
It’s easier to stay on track once you’ve switched gears to whole food!
#4 Eat More Fiber and Protein
Eating more foods with fiber and protein contributes to a feeling of fullness and reduces cravings. This can help keep you from overindulging in high-calorie, less-than-healthy choices.
The best way to add fiber is by adding vegetables to your meals, such as dark green leaves like spinach or kale. Other foods containing a lot of fiber are chia seeds, oats, beans, and artichokes.
Protein also helps you grow and maintain muscle, making it easier to burn calories.
Foods that contain plant-based protein include tofu, chickpeas, edamame, and plant-based protein powders.
Foods containing protein are an excellent choice for a pre-workout boost or post-workout recovery tool that will aid in shedding pounds!
#5 Stop Drinking Alcohol
It’s difficult to lose weight when alcohol is consumed in excess because alcohol contains a lot of calories.
One beer contains about 155 calories. A margarita can have anywhere from 200 to 500 calories on average!
Over time, quitting drinking alcohol can translate into significant changes for your weight and your health. Remember, don’t drink your calories!
#6 Drink More Water
Just by switching to drinking water instead of other sugary drinks, you will already be saving tons of calories!
Water can also naturally suppress your appetite. Drink a glass of water before every meal. You will be more likely to eat less because the water will have created a sense of fullness.
Drinking more water will affect your overall health and how you feel. It can increase how much energy you have throughout the day, decrease constipation, and avoid dehydration.
Finally, drinking more water can help boost your metabolism as it helps your body flush out excess water and toxins.
Carry a water bottle with you all day to encourage you to drink more water!
#7 Stop Using Oil To Cook
By eliminating the oil from your cooking routine, you are giving up one of the most calorie-dense ingredients around.
Cut out butter, vegetable oils, mayonnaise, and other foods loaded with fat. Yes, they make food taste delicious, but they are also major contributors to weight gain.
To give you an idea, 1 tablespoon of oil has about 120 calories!
Instead, cook with water, broth, or citrus juices. These ingredients will help to add flavor to your favorite dishes.
Instead of frying, you can boil, bake, microwave, or steam your foods.
If you still want to use some oil, only use the following types as they are the healthiest: olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado oil.
Also, use oil spray bottles as you are more likely to use less oil and save a lot of calories.
#8 Avoid Sugary Foods & Drinks
If you have the willpower to cut down on how often or how much sugar you consume, you will decrease your cravings for refined sugars and be more likely to lose weight.
Sugary foods can easily lure you to consume more than you had planned because they trigger your sense of taste and hunger hormones, so you keep wanting more!
Sugar is a simple carbohydrate. A lower overall carb intake means fewer calories from carbs stored as fat in your abdomen.
Sugar contains calories, which means it has energy in it. Excess energy is stored as fat.
A diet higher in sugar has been linked with obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Sugars found in natural foods include fruit, dairy products, and vegetables. Fruit will provide you with a natural sugar boost but only have the effect of taking away from your main meal if eaten too close to it.
Avoiding sugars often means forgetting sodas, juice drinks, and sugary desserts like cookies and donuts. Sugar is found in many packaged foods and beverages – not just sweets.
In fact, food manufacturers put added sugar into savory sauces and processed meats because it enhances the flavor while boosting their preservative power.]
Get used to using fruit to sweeten up your food, such as smoothies, syrups, oatmeal, etc.
#9 Stop Chasing Myths
Here are some weight loss myths that you need to be aware of:
- The sauna does not burn fat – it will just reduce your water weight.
- Diets don’t work long-term – all you need to do to lose weight is be in a calorie deficit.
- Don’t do cardio on an empty stomach – you will have no energy and therefore burn fewer calories during your workout.
- Cleanses and weight loss pills don’t work – you will gain the weight back after you stop.
- Lifting weights doesn’t burn more calories – cardio does (however, don’t neglect strength training to build muscle).
- Intermittent fasting doesn’t help you lose weight – however, studies have shown that it can help you live longer.
Conclusion
I commend you for wanting to lose weight and wanting to do it the healthy way.
Because the truth is that you can lose weight even by eating junk food if you are in a calorie deficit at the end of the day. However, that would not be good for your body in the long term.
It’s no secret how difficult it can be to lose weight. The good news is that there are many ways you can make your diet more healthy and effective for losing weight.
One way is by switching to cooking at home instead of buying fast food. Another tip is to avoid oil, processed foods, and sugar. Finally, you need to stop believing in weight loss myths that lead you nowhere.
Which of the 9 pro tips you learned today do you want to start implementing in your diet today?
Lily
Hi, I'm Lily! Like you, I have struggled with my weight. It was not an easy journey but I was able to lose 40 pounds and have kept it off for 14 years. My goal is to share with you all the research, tips, and tricks that I have learned over the years to help you lose weight also.Download this cheat sheet to learn the secrets to go from busy and out-of-shape to energetic and fit!
