As we approach the warmer months, many of us may be thinking a little more seriously about weight loss. Yet losing weight can feel impossible at times, and because of this, we may give up too quickly.
In any weight loss journey, the end goal needs to be about sustainability – not just the smaller number on the scales. Thankfully, incorporating a few small changes into our daily routines can help us lose those unwanted kilos and more importantly, keep them off.
Try including the following five habits in your daily routines if you aren’t doing so already and remember that weight loss goals should be gradual and sustainable.
1. Plan ahead
Planning the week’s meals in advance allows you to take more control over your personal nutrition needs. Meal planning requires some effort initially, but the pay-off is worth it. The benefits of meal planning include:
- You’re consuming well-balanced nutritious foods
- You’ll have more controlled portions
- You’re less likely to snack on convenient yet nutritionally void foods, that can be calorie-dense
- You can save time and money
- You can reduce stress around mealtimes.
To help with weekly meal planning, try the following tips:
- Write out a weekly meal plan then create your shopping list
- Set aside a meal prep day
- Educate yourself on safe food storage
- Invest in a good quality collection of reusable meal prep containers.
2. Eat more protein
Protein is one of the three major macronutrients (the other two being carbohydrates and fat). Protein is essential for building muscle mass, repairing cells and making new ones.
Consuming protein also affects satiety – the feeling of fullness. High protein diets reduce hunger, therefore we eat fewer calories.
To increase protein consumption, try the following tips:
- Prioritise protein at breakfast
- Incorporate more protein-dense foods in your diets, such as eggs, lean meats, tuna, cottage cheese, Greek yoghurt, oats, and lentils
- Aim daily for approximately 0.8g of protein per kg of body mass (this will vary from person to person depending on specific needs).
3. Drink more water
Our bodies can often confuse thirst for hunger, so it is important that we stay regularly hydrated throughout the day. Quenching thirst can prevent overeating, promotes cardiovascular health and cleanses our body.
To increase water consumption, try the following tips:
- Carry a reusable water bottle with you
- Keep a jug of water at your work desk to refill your cup
- Track your water intake using phone apps
- Add natural flavours to water to make it more enticing, such as mint, lemon or strawberries
- Include water-rich foods in your diet, such as cucumbers, watermelon or zucchini
- Replace sugary soft drinks with sparkling or mineral water.
4. Keep a food diary
A food diary is an excellent way of keeping track of the food and drink you consume throughout the day. Many of us are blissfully unaware of our daily food consumption and total calorie intake until we lay it all out on paper and analyse it properly.
Keeping a food diary can help weight loss by:
- Providing us with a breakdown of our total daily calorie intake
- Providing us with a starting point against which we can make healthy adjustments, such as increasing vegetable intake, or reducing sugar consumption
- Revealing habitual eating patterns
- Revealing emotional triggers or connections with our food.
Keeping a successful food diary can be achieved by using the following tips:
- Record food and beverage consumption as soon as you consume it
- Be very specific about ingredients and quantities
- Utilise apps to make recording your daily food consumption easier
- Ensure you include alcoholic beverages.
5. Incorporate high-intensity workouts
High-intensity workouts are workouts which alternate between intense bursts of activity at maximum effort and less intense activity or even complete rest.
Research has shown that high-intensity exercise burns more calories than steady, low-intensity exercise performed for the same amount of time. High-intensity exercise also increases our metabolic rate which means we will continue to burn fat more efficiently even at rest.
To increase the intensity of your activities, try incorporating some of the following into your daily exercise regime:
- Running at various intervals during your daily walk – such as run for 200m, walk for 200m
- 40 seconds of sprints and 20 seconds of low-speed work on a bike
- Max effort burpees in 4 minutes
- Skipping for 3 minutes
- High knee jogs for 2 minutes.
Dayna Jackiw
Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certified