The key to effective, long-term weight loss is achieving an average loss of 1 to 2lbs per week. A woman needs to eat approximately 2,000 calories each day to maintain their weight or 1,500 to lose 1b of weight a week. Men need 2,500 calories a day to maintain or 2,000 calories to lose 1lb of weight a week. However, you need to take into account factors such as height, activity levels, age, metabolic health and current weight to ascertain your own personal calorie intake for effective weight loss.
Each pound of weight is equivalent to approximately 3,500 calories. To lose 1lb of weight a week, you need to consume 3,500 calories less than you burn. Broken down over the week, this equates to burning 500 calories more than you eat on a daily basis.
So how can you lose weight without feeling hungry? Below we will show you 5 diet and lifestyle changes you can start making immediately:
Increasing Protein Can Reduce Appetite
Protein not only reduces your appetite, it also increases your metabolic rate and contributes to the health and growth of muscle mass. Additionally, protein can help to fight cravings. So, if you want to lose weight and keep the weight off the you need to consider a permanent increase in protein intake.
Switching to a protein-rich diet can help your protein intake. Increasing your protein levels in the form of protein whey powder can also be a faster, more effective way of providing your body with all the amino acids quickly and easily.
Avoid Sugary Drinks
Drinks such as chocolate milk, fizzy drinks and fruit juice all contain sugar. These liquid calories are one of the most unhealthy things we now drink. It is easy to gain weight through sugary drinks because liquid calories are far easier to consume than solid calories. Having said that, it is possible for someone to lose weight with sugary drinks too. Contradictory? Not really.
In theory, a person could consume half a dozen drinks containing a total of 1,200 calories, eat or drink nothing else for the rest of the day, and they would lose weight. As long as they stay within their daily calorie limit a person can lose weight, regardless of the food or drink they consume that make up those calories. However, nutritionally, it’s a different story. Whilst sugary drinks do contain the calories, they do not contain the fibre or protein that your body needs. Think quality over quantity.
Drink More Water
A simple way to lose weight is to drink more water. Try and drink 2 litres of water a day to burn an extra 96 calories each day. Drinking water 30 mins before a meal will help to give you that fuller feeling, preventing you from overeating, in turn consuming fewer calories.
Some people turn to fruit juices or fizzy drinks because they find the taste of water too bland and boring. If you are one of them, use a fruit infusion flask or bottle to add the taste of your favourite fruit to your water. This will give your drink a little extra zing and flavour, encouraging you to drink more and stay healthier.
Exercise and Lift Weights
When you strength train and lift weights , you inhibit muscle loss and also stop your metabolic rate from slowing down. An increased metabolic rate means that your body will continue to burn calories at a faster rate even at rest, long after your workout is over. Additionally, combining strength training with cardio based exercise such as jogging, swimming or walking are great for overall weight loss and your general health.
If you are pressed for time and want to combine both strength training with a cardio workout, then kettlebells are what you are looking for. Kettlebells are the perfect all round workout to build strength and stamina. A kettlebell workout will not only build up strength in muscles you never knew you had, but it gets your heart rate up and pumping in no time at all.
Reduce Carbs
An effective way to lose weight is by cutting carbs. Research has shown that if you eat a low carb diet to the point of feeling full, you are likely to lose 2-3 times as much weight as you would by following a low fat diet. Additionally, low carb diets have other benefits too which are health related. They are especially effective for people who have type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome.
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