25 Incredible Tips to Help You Lose Weight for Good!

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Losing weight must be one of the most popular resolutions ever, and why not? Everyone wants to look good, feel good, and be healthy. For some people, losing weight comes fairly easily, but it doesn’t stay off. For others, it seems to be just plain old hard work.

One of the secrets to losing weight and keeping it off isn’t swearing off ice cream and cake forever or making a commitment to exercise one hour every single day until the end of time; it’s about those little decisions you make every day.

We all know someone (perhaps even ourselves) who worked really hard at losing weight but gave up after 2, 4, or 6 weeks because it didn’t feel as if they were getting results in proportion to their efforts. In order to lose weight and keep it off, you must remain consistent and make small, reasonable changes.

Losing weight takes time. Our bodies don’t like to do this because they see fat as a kind of bank account against possible starvation. Rather than fight your body, it’s much easier to fool it. Make it burn very small bits of fat over time.

OK, so some of you don’t want to hear that “over time” phrase. Like our microwaves, Netflix accounts, and search engines, we want it all and we want it now!

Of course you can always choose to go on one of those fad or crash diets and you will probably lose weight quickly. The problem with these, though, is that you will gain it back and then some the minute you stop. You risk your health when you go that route as well.

So if you want to lose weight naturally, gradually, easily, and have it stay off, try some of the tips below. Not everything works for everyone, but you will certainly find a few of these that will work for you.

1. The Journal

OK, everyone suggests this, but who actually does it? Keep a food diary for one week (no cheating!) and write down every single thing that goes into your mouth, including condiments and that taste from a friend’s pecan pie. One study done at the University of North Carolina found that people eat an extra 115 calories per weekend day, mainly from fat and alcohol. Once you see it all on paper, you will see where you can make cuts.

2. Buy a Pedometer

These are inexpensive and they can really help. Use it for 2 or 3 days and take note about how much you generally walk. Most sedentary people only take between 2,000 and 3,000 steps per day. Aim to add 1,000 more steps to whatever your average ends up being. If you can, adding 2,000 more steps each day might help you stop from gaining weight even if you never change your caloric intake.

3. Think Blue

Scientists don’t know why this works, but it does. Check out how many restaurants and fast food places use red, yellow, and orange themed decorations. Studies show that these colors tend to make people eat more. You will never see a restaurant decked out in blue. Blue is an appetite suppressant. Use blue plates and glasses, cover the table with a blue tablecloth, use blue napkins, and you might even want to think about wearing blue to the dinner table.

4. If You Sit All Day

If you are like many people, you are stuck at a desk job, you drive to and from work, and your idea of exercise is walking to the sofa. Set a timer and get up off your seatand walk briskly for just 5 minutes every two hours. At the end of the day, that’s like taking a 20 or 30 minute walk. If you can sneak in 10 minutes every two hours, that’s a 40 minute walk! You don’t have to do it all at one time to get the benefits! Try walking for 5 minutes before you walk into the office and 5 minutes before you get into the car. All those little things add up!

5. Take the Stairs

The Center for Disease Control says that if you spent 10 minutes every day just walking up and down stairs, you could lose 10 pounds in one year (assuming you don’t increase your calorie intake.) Losing weight doesn’t get much easier than this!

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