6 Underrated Tips for Weight Loss
6 UNDERRATED Tips for Weight Loss
By Tyler Le Floch
Are you on a weight loss journey and feel like you've tried everything?
Here are six weight loss tips you might not have heard of yet.
TLDR:
Drinking Enough Water: Drink half your body weight in ounces every day. Increase this amount if you drink caffeine!
Getting Enough Sleep: Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep per night - increase if you are feeling daytime fatigue, mood swings, and difficulty concentrating.
Avoiding Long Bouts of Sitting:
Taking a 10-minute Walk After Each Meal:
Food Order Matters: Eat your veggies first, followed by protein, and then carbohydrates.
Using Slow Tempo Exercises: This will help in building lean muscle mass and boosting your metabolism, allowing your body to burn more calories throughout the day.
1. Drinking Enough Water
Drinking enough water is crucial for weight loss due to several reasons - I will highlight 3 main reasons.
Firstly, water acts as a natural appetite suppressant, helping to reduce feelings of hunger and prevent overeating during meals. Consuming water before meals can create a sense of fullness, leading to reduced calorie intake and promoting weight loss.
Secondly, staying well-hydrated supports a healthy metabolism. Water helps increase the body's ability to burn calories by supporting various metabolic processes, including fat metabolism.
Moreover, proper hydration aids in reducing water retention and bloating, contributing to a lighter and more comfortable feeling.
Determining how much water to drink varies based on individual factors such as weight, activity level, and climate. A common recommendation is to consume at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day, known as the "8x8" rule. However, some experts suggest drinking half of your body weight in ounces as a more personalized guideline - and this is what I would recommend as well.
If you are drinking caffeine, I would also recommend increasing your water intake even more.
Additionally, listen to your body! If you’re thirsty, your urine color is very yellow, or you’ve increased your physical activity that day, increase your water intake! Keeping a water bottle accessible and monitoring your hydration throughout the day can help ensure you're meeting your body's needs.
Personally, I make sure I drink a minimum of four bottles of these a day, checking in during work breaks to make sure I am on track.
2. Getting Enough Sleep
Getting enough sleep is essential for weight loss due to its influence on various hormonal and metabolic processes. I cannot stress this one enough.
Lack of sleep can disrupt the balance of hormones that regulate hunger and appetite, leading to increased cravings for high-calorie foods and reduced feelings of fullness. Specifically, insufficient sleep can elevate levels of ghrelin, the hormone that stimulates appetite, while decreasing levels of leptin, the hormone that signals fullness, resulting in overeating and weight gain. Moreover, adequate sleep supports a healthy metabolism, as it allows the body to repair and regenerate tissues, including muscles that play a crucial role in burning calories and maintaining a healthy weight.
Determining the right amount of sleep varies among individuals but generally falls between 7 to 9 hours per night for adults. There is a lot of controversy and new studies emerging that suggest that women may need more sleep in men, but it seems as it is too early to tell the details of this claim, or exactly how much more sleep women might need. Either way, it is essential to listen to your body's signals and recognize signs of sleep deprivation, such as daytime fatigue, mood swings, and difficulty concentrating, so that you can adjust your sleep accordingly.
One of the most beneficial things that I have implemented is maintaining a consistent sleep schedule every night. Even if I don’t have a client at 6am every morning, I make sure to wake up at 5am everyday. In addition, creating a relaxing bedtime routine and optimizing your sleep environment can help improve sleep quality and support weight loss efforts.
Getting enough sleep is so high up there on the health, productivity, weight loss, and EVERYTHING benefits that I recommend, that I even made a #FitstyleFriday about it.
3. Avoiding Longs Bouts of Sitting
Avoiding long bouts of sitting is crucial for weight loss because prolonged sitting leads to reduced energy expenditure compared to standing or moving. When you sit for extended periods, you burn fewer calories, which can slow down your metabolism and hinder weight loss efforts.
Additionally, research has linked sitting for long hours with various health concerns, including weight gain and increased risk of heart disease. To combat these risks and promote weight loss, it's essential to incorporate movement throughout the day, aiming to reduce overall sitting time by substituting it with standing or physical activity.
Here are some strategies that I would recommend to help bring more movement into your day:
Break your work up with the Pomodoro Technique. I use this simple app, which I like because it will block-out distracting apps.
Check out 10Min Reset - it’s a way to break more effectively and avoid the social media doom scroll.
Jump on a bike or treadmill. If possible, get one for your office! I recommend a Concept2 bike - you can easily set up an iPad so you can take a call on it.
If you can, go outside for a quick 5 or 10 minute run around the block. Or if you can take a call on a walk, even better!
Do a quick stretch, refill your water, run to the restroom, do some dishes, or water the garden. Look at something far away & away from your computer!
4. Taking a 10 Minute Walk After Each Meal
Taking a 10-minute walk after each meal can be beneficial for weight loss as it aids in digestion, improves blood sugar control, and boosts metabolism. Physical activity, even in short durations like a 10-minute walk, can help to stimulate the muscles, leading to improved insulin sensitivity and better utilization of glucose. This can result in more efficient energy expenditure and potentially contribute to weight loss over time.
Additionally, walking after meals can help reduce the postprandial spike in blood sugar levels, which may otherwise lead to increased fat storage and contribute to weight gain.
Skipping a 10-minute walk after meals can have adverse effects on digestion and metabolism. Without this post-meal activity, food may digest more slowly, leading to feelings of bloating and discomfort. Moreover, a lack of physical activity after eating can contribute to a sedentary lifestyle, which is associated with weight gain and increased risk of chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes.
Therefore, incorporating a brief walk after meals can be a simple yet effective strategy to support weight loss efforts and overall metabolic health - especially right now, when it is {almost} summer and still light out after dinner, it’s a great time to start building this habit!
5. Food Order Matters
The order in which you consume different types of food can significantly impact your weight loss journey.
Eat your meal in this order:
Vegetables
Proteins & Healthy Fats
Starch
Sugar
Prioritizing protein-rich foods towards the beginning of your meal can help promote feelings of fullness and reduce overall calorie intake. Protein takes longer to digest compared to carbohydrates and fats, which means it can help stabilize blood sugar levels and curb cravings.
Following protein with slow-release carbohydrates, can further sustain energy levels and prevent spikes in blood sugar. On the other hand, consuming fast-digesting carbohydrates first can lead to rapid spikes in blood sugar, followed by a crash, which can trigger increased hunger and potentially result in overeating.
Additionally, the order in which you eat your food can influence your body's metabolism. A slow-carb approach, which prioritizes low glycemic index foods, can help maintain stable blood sugar levels and support fat loss.
By focusing on nutrient-dense foods and mindful eating practices, you can optimize digestion and nutrient absorption, which are crucial factors in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. Therefore, paying attention to the sequence of your meals and choosing foods that promote satiety and steady energy can be a valuable strategy in your weight loss efforts.
6. Using Slow-Tempo Exercises
Slow-tempo exercises play a crucial role in weight loss by maximizing muscle engagement and metabolic rate during workouts.
This isn’t intuitive for some people, because it may seem that the only way to lose weight to is increase your heart rate and move quicker.
But when you perform exercises at a slower tempo, you increase the time your muscles are under tension, leading to greater muscle fiber activation and growth. This not only helps in building lean muscle mass but also boosts your metabolism, allowing your body to burn more calories throughout the day.
Slow-tempo workouts also emphasize proper form and control, reducing the risk of injuries and ensuring effective muscle targeting.
Incorporating slow-tempo exercises into your routine can be beneficial for weight loss. Here are some example workouts that demonstrate alternating tempos:
Squats: Lower yourself down for a count of four, hold for two seconds at the bottom, then rise up for a count of four.
Push-ups: Lower your body down for a count of three, pause for one second at the bottom, and push back up for a count of three.
Lunges: Step forward and lower into a lunge for a count of four, hold for two seconds, then return to the starting position for a count of four.
Plank: Hold the plank position, focusing on engaging your core muscles, for a count of 20-30 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds before repeating.
Have you incorporated any of these tips?
How have they worked for you?
Comment below - would love to hear about your journey!
If you’re able to incorporate all 6 of these tips into your weight loss journey, you’ll be one step closer to reaching your goal even quicker.
For an even more personalized journey, check out my 8-Week Weight Loss program. It is a combination of online personal training programmed workouts, nutritional guidance, and daily checking. When we commit to improving our bodies and health, it creates a deeper self confidence that has a positive ripple effect throughout our lives. I’ve noticed this in myself and the hundreds of clients I’ve coached over the past 13 years.
If you’re feeling inspired, set up a call and get your first free weight loss workout here.