7 Weight Loss Tips for Women That Really Work

Have you ever wondered why some women are in perfect shape and effortlessly maintain their ideal weight while others seem trapped in an endless cycle of diets marked by a series of successes and failures?

It turns out that there’s something that women who maintain their weight and health do that the rest of us don’t. They work smarter not harder.

Achieving your ideal weight is not about good luck or starvation diets but about adopting healthy habits and sticking with them.  This is one of the most important lessons we teach at our weight loss camps for women.

Learn, Adopt, Practice

The first step is very basic. You must first learn what to do. Below are seven tips that will lead you down the path to a fitter, slimmer you. Once you understand what to do, adopt all seven tips as daily habits. The final step is to practice, practice, practice.

1. Eat BreakfastThe single most common characteristic shared between those women who have achieved and maintained weight loss is that they eat breakfast. Regularly eating breakfast reduces hunger throughout the rest of the day, decreasing the likelihood of overeating and making poor food choices later. It also gives your metabolism a big boost. Eating breakfast can increase your metabolism by as much as 10% for the rest of the day.
2. Drink WaterThe American Heart Association recommends that women consume no more than 6 teaspoons of sugar daily. Yet the average American consumes an extra 385 calories, or 23 teaspoons of sugar a day. That’s over 140,000 calories a year! Replacing sugary drinks with water is a simple step on your road to shedding pounds. Water helps to energize your muscles, hydrates your skin, and keeps your kidneys functioning properly.
3. Introduce healthy snacks into your dayPreventing yourself from getting overly hungry is a useful tool in successful weight loss. When we are hungry we tend to make unhealthy food choices, reaching for high fat, high sugar and high salt convenience foods as they are instantly available.  In addition, going more than three hours without eating causes your levels of cortisol rise. Higher cortisol levels signal your body to store fat in the abdominal region.  So always have healthy snacks such as carrot sticks, a piece of fruit or lean beef jerky on hand to keep hunger at bay between meals.
4. Eat Whole Foods FirstWhole foods —fruits, vegetables, legumes—contain lots of fiber but few calories. This means that they satisfy your hunger while delivering nutrient rich foods to nourish your body. A good rule of thumb is to aim for having 80% of your diet be from whole food sources.
5. Make Dinner the Last Meal of the DayPut a ‘sorry we’re closed’ sign in the kitchen if you have to, but once dinner is finished, close the kitchen. The problem with eating late at night is that researchers have shown that the extra calories consumed after 7:30 p.m. tend to tip the scales over what total daily calorie consumption should be. Rarely is the late night snack comprised of a plate of carrots and celery.
6. Exercise DailyThe American Heart Association recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity at least five days per week and moderate- to high-intensity strength training at least two days per week for overall cardiovascular health. For some, daily exercise comes naturally. For others, it’s tough to get started. Keep in mind that daily exercise is a skill that you improve at. Stay with it and the results will be clear.
7. SleepNot only does sleep provide you with the energy you need to exercise daily, it also regulates your metabolism, repairs your muscles, and improves your memory so you can remember why you are working so hard to form new habits in the first place. Aim for at least 7-8 hours each night, and you’ll find yourself healthier and fitter in no time.

As you commit to forming your new, healthier habits, remember that along the way setbacks will happen. Instead of giving up your new habits entirely, simply reset the next morning. Your goal is to integrate new habits into your life to last. It won’t happen all at once. Stick with it and the results will be more than worth it.