Getting ready for summer: effective weight loss tips

To lose weight, you need to follow a certain holistic strategy, namely, have regular physical activity, chew your food thoroughly to speed up your metabolism, and control your hunger throughout the day. Additionally, it is important to choose fiber-rich foods such as vegetables, fruits, legumes and vegetables because these foods take longer to digest in the stomach, reducing hunger throughout the day.

Here are some tips to help you lose weight faster:

1. Chew your food well.

Proper chewing of food helps you lose weight because it increases the length of time you eat, causing your stomach to send a signal to your brain that your body no longer needs to eat, increasing your feeling of fullness and decreasing the amount of food you eat.

While eating, it is recommended to avoid distractions such as watching TV, mobile phones or reading.

2. Be in a calorie deficit.

To lose weight faster, it is recommended to maintain a calorie deficit, that is, when the number of calories consumed in the diet is less than the calories consumed per day. This forces the body to use fat reserves as an energy source, promoting weight loss.

To reduce the number of calories in your diet, it is recommended to choose natural and healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat proteins and legumes.

3. Drink enough water throughout the day.

Drinking enough water throughout the day helps you lose weight because water takes up space in your stomach, prolonging your feeling of fullness and reducing your desire to eat.

The recommended amount of water per day ranges from 1.5 to 3 liters, and varies depending on factors such as weight, age and physical activity.

Those people who find it difficult to drink plain water can replace it with unsweetened tea or water flavored with ginger, mint or lemon, for example.

4. Engage in physical activity.

Exercising for 30 to 60 minutes at least 3 times a week is essential for losing weight and reducing body fat as it helps speed up your metabolism, stimulating fat loss in the body.

Exercise should be of moderate to high intensity. This could be aerobic exercise, dancing, running, swimming or cycling, endurance and strength exercises.

5. Eat more protein.

Eating low-fat proteins with every meal, such as tofu, eggs, fish or chicken, helps you lose weight because these foods increase the release of peptide hormone, which promotes satiety, reduces hunger and promotes weight loss.

Thus, for lunch or dinner you can eat 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon of beans, 1 small chicken fillet or medium-sized white fish fillet, and for breakfast or an afternoon snack, for example, 1 natural unsweetened yogurt.

6. Avoid ultra-processed foods.

To lose weight, you should avoid consuming ultra-processed foods because they are low in fiber and may contain flavorings, sugar and/or fat, in addition to ingredients that stimulate pleasure and desire to eat, increasing caloric intake in the diet and promoting weight loss. Here are some examples of ultra-processed foods to avoid:

Cookies or snacks;

• Ice cream;
• Breakfast cereals with sugar;
• Dressings and sauces such as mayonnaise, ketchup and salad dressings;
• Carbonated drinks and powdered drinks;
• Frozen foods such as hamburgers, ready meals and others.

Fast food and meat products such as sausage, ham, etc. are also over-processed foods that can hinder your weight loss process.

7. Eat foods rich in fiber.

Eating natural, fiber-rich foods at every meal, such as brown rice, whole grain bread, beans, apple, melon, lettuce, pumpkin and tomatoes, can help you lose weight. This is because fiber forms a sort of gel in the stomach, increasing digestion time between meals, which prolongs the feeling of fullness throughout the day and reduces food intake.

8. Reduce your carbohydrate intake.

A low carbohydrate diet helps you lose weight. This is because you reduce your intake of carbohydrate-rich foods, such as bread and pasta, and increase your intake of protein, fiber and healthy fats, nutrients that control hunger and improve bowel function.

9. Avoid extreme hunger.

With severe hunger, a person can eat much more in one meal than he really needs. In addition, most often the hand reaches out to high-calorie foods, which affects weight loss.

10. Reduce your food portions.

Eating too much food contributes to weight gain, which is why it is important to consume five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, less than 30% of your daily calories from fat and less than 10% of sugar, according to the WHO.

11. Sleep 7 to 9 hours.

Sleeping 7 to 9 hours a night helps you lose weight because sleep increases the production of growth hormone, which is important for metabolism and reducing body fat.

In addition, during sleep, ghrelin and leptin are produced, hormones that regulate the feeling of hunger and satiety. For this reason, sleep is a natural way to balance your appetite and make weight loss easier.

12. Avoid drinking strong drinks.

To lose weight, it is recommended to avoid drinking hard liquor as it contains a lot of calories, making it difficult to lose weight.

In addition to this, drinking strong drinks is usually accompanied by snacks, which also harm the weight loss process.

13. Write down everything you eat.

Writing down everything you eat throughout the day is also a good strategy for losing weight because it helps you become more aware of what you eat and helps you identify what you can eliminate in order to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle.

In your daily food log, it is important to indicate what you ate for breakfast, afternoon snack, lunch, dinner, meal times, what exactly was eaten and in what quantity. For example, spoons, glasses or plates can be used as measurements. In order to understand your eating habits, the journal should be kept for 3-7 days.

14. Drink lemon juice.

Lemon juice helps you lose weight because it cleanses your taste buds, reducing your desire to eat sweet foods. Lemon juice can be drunk, for example, as an additive to tea or water.

And in any process, the main thing is not to overdo it!