50 Ideas to Help you with Weight Loss

1. Always change your workouts after 7 days. This will stop you getting bored and will wake your body up with a new routine.

2. Aim to do 3 quick toning sessions a week as this increases the active muscle tissue that speeds up your metabolism.

3. Take two stairs at a time and avoid using a handrail, you will use more muscles and engage your core tummy muscles.

4. Do some 4 minute HIIT workouts to melt off belly fat.

5. First thing in the morning do 30 star jumps or 2 minutes marching on the spot, to speed up your calorie burn.

6. Jump off the couch when the TV adverts come on and march on the spot this can burn off approximately 30 calories in 3 minutes.

7. Add some fast bursts of walking to your walks, just for 20 seconds walk faster then come back to a normally walking pace, keep alternating, not only will you arrive quicker but you will melt off more calories.

8. Don’t just stand there! Do calf raises or squats while brushing your teeth

9. Move every 20 minutes give yourself a reminder on your computer or phone to encourage yourself to get up and walk around, as this helps keep your metabolism high.

10. Be a fidget, the more you move the more calories your body burns.

11. When you are on the phone, stand up and walk around instead of just sitting.

12. If you are watching TV come down onto the floor and do some ab crunches.

13. Pull your tummy in and hold for 10 seconds, do this 10 times and do it twice every day, helps tone your abs and makes your core stronger and burns a few more calories.

14. When waiting for the kettle to boil march or jog on the spot.

15. Get some sticky notes and write some quotes on being healthy, then post them on your fridge, this will make you think twice on your food choices before you open the fridge, especially if you are feeling like a snack.

16. Keep a food diary for 5 days and be honest with everything you eat and drink, plus also how you felt before and after eating, this will highlight what you need to change and make you think twice.

17. Plan your meals in advance, use one evening each week as the time to look online or go through your recipe books to find healthy recipe’s and either order online your ingredients or make a shopping list for the next day.

18. Follow the 80 – 20 rule , this means eating healthy foods 80 percent of the time, and indulge in a little bit of what you fancy 20% of the time.

19. Don’t obsess over counting calories but be aware of how many are in the foods you eat.

20. When you start to have a sugary craving strike, do some self-pampering like, have a bath, paint your nails or a put on a face pack.

21. Cut up a lot of vegetables and have them in a container in the fridge ready to grab when you need a snack.

22. Keep your fibre topped up by always eating the whole meal versions, in other words, go for brown bread, instead of white bread, go for whole meal pasta instead of white pasta, brown rice instead of white rice.

23. If you are making a smoothie then add some oats to to it as this will help to keep you feeling fuller for longer.

24. Be sure to always have your breakfast, as this instantly speeds up your calorie burn.

25. Put protein on your plate for both breakfast and lunch as is suppresses ghrelin, which is a hormone that stimulates your appetite.

26. Fibre is your friend as it will help to prevent bloating from constipation.

27. Get your carbs right, and limit the bad carbs, like cakes, muffins and bagels, instead go for pitta breads, oatcakes and sweet potatoes.

28. Instead of having fruit juice for breakfast have a grapefruit instead, not only is it healthy this fruit aids weight loss,

29. Add some seeds to your soups and salads, this will increase the fibre and protein and make the meal feel more satisfying.

30. By ditching the fizzy sodas you will stop drinking huge amounts of calories, try going for a more healthy option instead and chose fizzy water and add in chopped fruit for flavour

31. Resize your dinner plates or use a side plate, if you go for a smaller plate it will still look full but your portion size will be less and therefore you will be eating fewer calories.

32. Have a complete sugar free day at least 3 days a week.

33. Have a glass of water with every meal.

34. Keep snacks to 100 calories or fewer.

35. Go for foods with higher based water content, such as cucumber, celery, melon and tomatoes, as these will help fill you up and prevent bloating.

36. When a sugary cravings does get the better of you, go for dark chocolate but try and eat only a square not the whole bar.

37. Make your own low calorie and low fat ice cream by using frozen bananas with a little cocoa powder and honey.

38. Make pasta using vegetables like carrots or courgettes instead of traditional pasta spaghetti or make rice out of cauliflower instead of the traditional option.

39. Be smart when it comes to your cereals, as often these can have more sugar in them than sweets. Check the ingredients on the packaging.

40. Add some ice to a glass of water as this helps you burn a few more calories.

41. Go for a black coffee instead of a white one, as skipping on the milk, helps reduce the calories.

42. Don’t buy junk food or sugary snacks, then you can’t be tempted.

43. Don’t dial a pizza instead make your own, by using a whole meal tortilla under the grill with a little low fat cheese and roasted cherry tomatoes.

44. Don’t grab a croissant and coffee on the run, as this super high in fat and calories, instead go for a banana and green tea.

45. Always order smaller portions if on offer when eating out or chose a starter as a main. This will cut the calorie consumption as large can be triple the amount of calories.

46. Be in bed by 10:30pm as getting your 7-8 hours will help stop you feeling tired the next day which then can make you miss workouts and cause extra snacking.

47. Swap the baggy tracksuit and oversized jumper, as these comfy clothes can encourage being lazy, whereas fitted clothes re-enforce being active and help encourage better posture.

48. Remember to keep an eye on your portions with your meal being balanced. Remember that your portions of: meats, pulses and fruit should be the size of your palm, with fish,turkey and chicken the size of your hand, grains, potatoes, bread and cereal just over the size of your hand, cheeses and nuts the size of two fingers and butter & spreads the size of your thumb. The portion of vegetables should be the size of both hands.

49. Once a week, measure your waist, this is the best way to keep an eye on your weight and weight loss, far better than stepping on weighing scales.

50. Don’t worry if you slip and have a day when you over indulge or don’t exercise, it is okay. Just enjoy it, then dust yourself off and start again the next day. It is okay to have a break, to have a day when you just can’t face exercising or eating as healthy. Use this as the 20 part of the 80:20 rule (Tip 18)

 So there you have it – here’s wishing you success on your weight loss journey!