Are you looking to lose weight from your body? Do you think it’s difficult to shed off some pounds of your body? Are you not sure how to burn calories? Well, to be honest, it is not that difficult. It's all about taking one step at a time and you will see effective results. Weight loss can be overwhelming because you won’t get instant results but patience and consistency is the key to success.
Weight loss is more about action rather than a thought. You have to burn calories, eat healthy foods, make a few lifestyle changes in order to reduce weight. Here are a few lifestyle changes that can help you to start with the process of weight loss:
Improve your sleeping habits:
A quality sleep is necessary for you to start with weight loss and management. You need to sleep and wake up at a set time. You can’t feel tired and expect to lose weight.
Around 13.5% of people above 18 in America reported feeling tired and exhausted on most days.
First of all start with increasing the quantity of your sleep. In America more than one third of the people get less than 7 hours of sleep.
In order to get started on your journey of weight loss, start by improving the quantity of your sleep. Once the quantity will improve, so will the quality. Try to at least get 8-9 hours of sleep at night. Your body adapts to this change which will help to reduce hunger and cravings.
Usually after dinner if you do not get to bed on time, your body will ask you to feed it; hence leading to untimely eating which will impact your weight. Sleeping will help you avoid untimely eating and get proper rest. When your body is at proper rest you can be productive in your day as well.
Say no to sugar:
Weight gain is the result of sugar consumption. You may think how? Well, when you consume sugar you are not getting any real nutrition but only empty calories. These calories add up to your weight.
Refined sugar is also a source of temporary energy but your body needs food sources that can give you sustained form of energy. Sugary foods will give you sudden energy pangs and once the energy is utilized your body would crave for more food.
Reduce and manage stress:
What are you stressing about? Is it a work thing? Is someone not picking up your calls? Did you not get the concert ticket? Do you think these things are worth stressing over? Of course, your life’s problems need your attention but that does not require you to have stress.
Stress is only going to make the situation worse. Instead focus on reducing stress so you can deal with things in your life in a better way and also focus on losing weight without stressing over it.
People do take stress just by thinking about their grown tummy. Well, relax, take a few deep breaths and give yourself a break. If you can gain some pounds on your body, you can shed them off as well.
Indulge yourself in stress relieving activities that can help you calm your mind. Try yoga, running, walks in the park, get some sunlight, journaling, reading before sleeping etc for less stress in your life.
Reducing and managing stress will also help you better your sleep schedule to get better quality and quantity of sleep.
Drink more water:
Hydration is a vital part of your journey towards weight loss. Drinking plenty of water will keep your body hydrated and may also help easily burn calories. Water will keep you feeling full. Drinking a glass of water 30 minutes before every meal will help you cut your portions.
Drinking water will also help you to avoid other unhealthy drinks like sodas. You can also look for options other than just plain simple water. Include weight loss drinks, detox waters like cucumber water, healthy smoothies that can keep you feeling full.
Don’t fall for fad diets:
Did someone promised you can lose 10kgs in 10 days by following their diet? Do not fall for such traps. One cannot reduce 1 kg weight in one day no matter how hard they try. So, give your body some time to adapt to the idea of you losing weight.
You can start with small steps which will eventually lead to visible results but it will take time. Following diets with no scientific evidence can harm your body and health in the long term. These results won’t be effective and you might end up being nutrient deficient.
Prepare your body:
How can you prepare yourself to start on the path of weight loss? You need to start with small steps like incorporating more fruits and vegetables, drinking more water, starting daily walks, avoiding processed foods, junk foods and sugary foods for now.
Once you have started to incorporate these changes, then you should decide on your goal. Weight loss, weight gain, muscle gain, healthy and clean eating could be your health goals that you want to work on.
Once the goal is decided, write it and work towards it. Ensure to write down a specific goal and break it down into smaller steps.
Consult a dietitian:
For better results you need a well planned diet plan that can align with your health goals and produce effective results.
A dietician will help you in weight loss by ensuring to include food packed with nutrients. Right food means right calories intake. Hence you will only have to burn calories in minimal amounts because you are not consuming extra calories in the first place.
There are people who might not have enough time to prepare their meals. So, does that mean they cannot achieve their fitness goals? Absolutely not. In fact you can not only consult a dietician for a well-planned diet plan for yourself but can also opt for meal services that offer healthy meal plans delivery at your doorsteps.
Burn calories:
If you want to lose weight your major focus will be on burning calories. Burning calories becomes easy when you are consuming less calories in the first place. Here are a few effective ways that can help you burn calories:
Count your calories:
A calorie is an energy measuring unit. Counting your calories can help you burn more calories. How? Well, you have to see what you are eating and how much of it you are eating.
Natural food sources have less calories as compared to refined and processed foods. This is the reason why nutritionists will include clean natural sources of food that will help you feel full and reduce your overall calorie intake.
Start moving your body:
To burn calories, you need to ensure that you move your body more often. Build small habits that can help your body to move frequently.
For instance, start taking stairs instead of elevators, take breaks from sitting, take a detour of your home/office when on break etc.
Turn your daily chores into active errands. Start taking a bicycle to your grocery store, take regular walks in parks; start taking walks in your home; start talking on the phone while walking.
Be active while doing even simple household chores. Turn some volume up on your Alexa while cleaning, set a timer to complete a chore so you can complete it actively.
Easy exercises:
Move your body with the help of easy exercises. You should climb stairs daily.
Start challenging yourself to complete a task in a specific time to encourage activity in your body. Once you incorporate such exercises into your life, it will be easy for you to shift your exercise routine to a more disciplined one.
Running/jogging/skipping:
Move a step further when you have incorporated short bursts of exercises. Start from jogging in the morning. Prepare your body for heavy exercises like running or skipping. Swimming is also one effective activity that can help you burn calories in a day.
Gym and training:
If you have a more disciplined routine you can start your gym training.
Cardio is the best way to burn calories. Get yourself into cardio and you will start to see the results.
Muscle building will help you to increase your metabolism resulting in more calorie burn even when you are resting.
Boost metabolism:
You can also burn calories while resting. You didn’t know that? Improved metabolism can help burn calories even if you are not doing anything. You can boost your metabolism by muscle building. But here are easy ways to boost your metabolism:
- You need to increase your daily activity. For such changes try increasing your daily activity like taking stairs instead of elevators; walk to your nearest grocery store, ride a bicycle in your area, daily walks etc.
- Keep yourself hydrated. Drinking plenty of water can help your body to function effectively eventually resulting in increasing your metabolism.
- Change your food habits and include clean foods and beverages in your diet. A balanced diet packed with nutrients will help regulate your appetite and metabolism.
- Take the help of a nutritionist to get a well-planned diet for yourself that will support your fitness goals.
- You need proper sleep so you can regulate your satiety hormone that helps you feel full. When you do not get enough sleep your body produces a hunger hormone called ghrelin.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q. How many calories to burn to lose 1 kg weight?
Ans. One needs to burn 7700 calories to lose 1 kg weight.
Q. How many calories are burnt in 10000 steps?
Ans. Around 700-800 calories are burnt when you walk 10000 steps.
Q. How many steps will lead to losing 1 kg weight?
Ans. To burn 1 kg weight you need to take 160,000-240,000 steps. The exact count of steps depends on the age, gender, current weight, height and other factors as well.
