Discover 5 small changes to lose weight and kickstart a healthier lifestyle. Simple tweaks that can make a big difference in your weight loss journey.
Most everyone has ideas about how to lose weight, but few follow through with a plan. If you’re serious about slimming down, these small changes to lose weight could be the game changer you need.
These changes aren’t the “end all, be all” to lose weight, but rather, are a rock solid place to start the process. They are more like small lifestyle changes that can really make a difference when it comes to losing weight.
5 Small Changes to Lose Weight
As I said earlier, these methods are not extreme in any way. But, the minor adjustments for weight loss listed in this article will definitely make a difference in you motivation and will to succeed.
Change #1 – Eat at the Table
If you are one of those people or families who usually eat in front of the TV, it will really help your weight-loss goals if you turn that TV off, set the table, and engage in some meaningful conversation.
The reasoning behind this is that, if you eat while watching TV, your brain is distracted, so you will generally wind up eating way more than you should eat – the numbers show an approximate 40% increase in food consumption while watching TV.
So, it does seem insignificant, but it’s one of those simple lifestyle tweaks for slimming down that makes a difference. If you can eat your meals without the distraction of TV, you can focus more on what exactly you are eating, which means you’ll eat less.
Change #2 – Don’t Use Red/Yellow Plates
You must be thinking I’m crazy. Trust me, this is one of those easy modifications to shed pounds. It’s just simple psychology. Psychologically, certain colors stimulate specific parts of your brain, causing an increase (or a decrease) in hunger.
This is why, if you look at pretty much every fast food joint, the dominant colors are red and yellow. The McDonald’s arches, the Burger King signs, the Wendy’s Logo, the list goes on and on.
Every one of those places incorporates yellow and red into their massive signs, ads, menus, and billboards because red and yellow stimulate hunger.
It’s a genius businesses plan that gets customers to order more food, but if you are trying to lose weight, you should avoid using plates of those hunger-stimulating colors.
Change #3 – Take the Coffee, Make It Black
This really goes for any drink, but a consistent area of unnecessary calories and sugars comes in your morning coffee. If you put coffee creamer, sugar, cream, etc. into your coffee, you’re adding a lot of extra carbs and empty calories. Empty calories? The calories with no nutritional value that quickly turn into fat stores.
If you really can’t drink your coffee or tea straight and black, try a small spoonful of honey. This is a good way to sweeten your drink naturally, avoiding any processed sugars, and improving the taste of straight black coffee.
Change #4 – Fruits and Veggies
At the same time as you are making an effort to eat less processed and refined foods, you should be making every effort to incorporate greater levels of fruits and vegetables into every meal.
Changing the foods you come to rely on isn’t really one of those subtle shifts for better health. No! Dietary changes can be more than difficult. But, whether we like to admit it or not, we’re overweight because of the foods we’ve been eating.
Moving to a nourishing diet and healthy habits isn’t subtle but life changing.
They will keep you feeling full longer, and they are natural whole foods; this means you’re getting all the vitamins, nutrients, and minerals you need to be healthy. Reach for that apple instead of the Kit Kat.
Change #5 – Ween Yourself Off of Processed Stuff
This goes together with the nutrition tip above “eat more fruits and veggies”. It will be much more difficult for you to try and quit ‘junk’ food cold turkey.
Instead, try to simply let your supply of junk food dwindle, and instead of replacing it, simply purchase more healthy alternatives. I’ve learned that eating healthy foods during the day helps me stop snacking at night.
By the time your final package of Ritz crackers is sitting in the garbage, you might not even be tempted to buy another.
Why is Losing Weight So Hard?
I would suggest that one of the reasons it’s so hard is because we look for quick fixes for losing weight. And the truth is most people can lose weight with crash diets. But when they do, they can’t stop dieting without gaining weight.
You can see from this post that losing weight naturally (without surgery) and staying at a healthy weight isn’t fast. It’s about changing your mind and your habits. But the results are satisfying and likely to produce so many benefits that the journey is worth the effort.
Biological Factors That Make Weight Loss Difficult
- Set Point Theory: Your body has a natural tendency to maintain its current weight. And when you lose weight, it will fight to get back to it’s last heaviest weight.
- Metabolism: Your metabolism slows down as you lose weight, which makes it harder to burn calories. Exercise routines are crucial when losing weight because they will help keep your metabolism elevated.
- Hunger Hormones: Ghrelin is a hormone that signals the brain that it’s time to eat. Some studies indicate that as you lose weight, Ghrelin production goes up, increasing your feelings and desires to eat.
- Palatable Foods: Processed and high-sugar foods trigger overeating and are addictive. Why make losing weight any harder by eating processed and high sugar foods while you’re dieting?
Psychological and Emotional Factors That Make Weight Loss Anything But Easy
- Emotional Eating: Most overweight people have a strong addiction to coping with stress, anxiety, or boredom with emotional eating. That may be the hardest habit to break when it comes to losing weight.
- Expectations Too High: Face it, losing weight is hard! Sometimes we set unrealistic goals leading to unrealistic expectations and turn the pressure up to get there. We can’t meet our unrealistic weight loss goals and that results in frustration and feelings of inadequacy, impacts motivation to keep going.
- Social Environments: Family gathering and work events are the worst place for unhealthy food choices, making it hard to stick to your diet plan.
What Are The First Signs of Weight Loss?
We all look for signs that we’re losing weight. Some of us start looking for those signs on the first day, which we later realize was a little insane.
But, when you first start losing weight, you might see some physical signs before the scales start changing. In fact, early signs that you’re losing weight can include both physical and non physical changes.
Either way, you’ll know your weight loss journey has started.
Look for These First Signs of Weight Loss
Here are five common first signs that you are losing weight:
- Looser Clothing: Your clothes may start to feel less snug as you lose inches.
- Increased Energy Levels: You may feel more energetic throughout the day.
- Improved Sleep: You might notice better sleep and more restful nights.
- Reduced Bloating: A decrease in bloating can be an early sign of weight loss, due to dietary changes and fluid loss is usually the first to go.
- Visible Changes in Face: Your face may appear slimmer, with more defined features like your cheekbones and jawline.
Losing Weight is Hard
Losing weight is one of the hardest things you can try to accomplish. Again, because it involves a full shift in attitude, mentality, and a lifestyle of regular exercise.
The easiest way to do it is in bits and pieces. Shift minimal parts of your lifestyle, one at a time and gradually adjust yourself to a healthier environment.
Summary
Just because it’s hard to lose weight, doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Honestly, the small changes I’ve listed won’t look like much when you have a lot of weight to lose.
Yes, these methods are small, easy to implement, not the end-all, be-all but powerful, nonetheless. When you look at the sum of all of them, you’ll see they are actually the root of any successful weight loss campaign.
And as a bonus, when the extra pounds are gone, healthy weight management will be your new way of life.
The biggest thing to remember: be patient and implement these 5 Small Changes To Lose Weight.