16 weight loss secrets you need to know

We all know that losing weight is not easy! If it was, we wouldn’t be spending endless amounts of time searching for the answers to questions like:

‘Where is the first place to lose fat?’ or ‘How does weight loss work?’

The difficult part of this is no one knows what and who to believe, there’s so much noise and so many myths. Many things happen when you lose weight and first start your weight loss journey.

We were going to give you 10 things you’d need to know in order to lose weight, but we got a little carried away. So here’s 16 weight loss secrets you don’t have to keep quiet about.

1. You’re not ‘dieting’, you’re eating better

When we talk about losing weight, our first thought is always around diet and what we eat. More often than not, this leads to us restricting ourselves; instead of doing this, try and build a healthy relationship with food.

Try and view it more as healthy eating and not ‘dieting’ as this tends to lead to yo-yo dieting which is not good for your long term health. Making healthier decisions over-processed foods will eventually become second nature.

If you spend time thinking and enjoying the foods you can have, you’ll less likely crave the things you’re not having.

2. Take time with your meals

When we eat our meals too fast, it can then become easier to eat more. This makes it difficult for our brains to register that we’re full.

Studies have shown that taking time to eat our meals can help us eat less and increases the production of hormones related to weight loss. What’s more, is that because you’re chewing your food more, you’ll likely eat fewer calories and focus on what you’re eating.

3. Swap snacks for healthier options

When your kitchen is filled with processed and sugary snacks, you simply cannot blame yourself for wanting to eat them. To get over this hurdle, try and empty your cabinets of these and replace them with healthier alternatives.

You don’t have to tell us, we know that snacking is so tempting at times. This is why filling your fruit and healthy snacks rather than chips and candy is better to keep you on track.

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4. Portion control: smaller plates

A huge part of successfully shedding the pounds is portion control. If you’re still wanting to know ‘how does weight loss work?’, it’s all about calorie deficit.

Also Read: How to tone up and shed thigh fat

This means that you’ll need to be burning more calories than you’re consuming. A really easy way to consume less is by eating your meals on smaller plates, you’ll be more in control of what you put on the plate and not go overboard. It will make you more aware of how much you’re eating.

According to studies, you can support your weight loss efforts by keeping a food diary and/or taking photos of the meals you make for yourself. There are so many apps you can use nowadays, so no excuses.

5. Welcome the right carbs

Cutting back on refined carbs will keep you on the right path to your weight loss goals. We’re not saying to cut out carbs completely as this will lead to you depriving your body of essential vitamins and minerals.

Most diets will have you restricting yourself on the carb front, but you need those complex carbs in your meals and snacks. When we talk about cutting them out, we mean things like pasta and white bread as they are calorific, have no nutritional value and lack in fiber too.

Besides, research has shown that processed carbs can cause your blood sugar levels to rise, making you hungry and more likely to destroy your efforts by snacking and making the wrong food choices.

6. Cut back on sugar

Lowering how much sugar we consume is an obvious one when it comes to losing weight. Many of us consume far too much of the stuff.

Studies have shown that when you consume too much sugar, you’re running the risk of becoming obese, as well as developing health issues such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Put simply, if you want to try and lose a few pounds, start cutting back on sugar.

By this, we mean processed sugar, not natural ones. It would be a very sensible decision to opt for fruit and consume natural sugar rather than scoffing candy.

7. Boost your metabolism with spice

If you’re one for eating spicy food, then you’re going to love this! Capsaicin is a fiery compound found in chili peppers; it’s been shown to slightly suppress your appetite and boost your metabolism too.

Also Read: How to get a peachy bum and tone your glutes

Don’t get over-excited and start eating loads of fiery food though, this solution is not long term and becomes less effective.

8. Increase fat burn with coffee

Drinking coffee (opt for black if you can) has not only been known to make you feel full for longer, it can also enhance your metabolism by 3 to 11%. Not only that, according to research, coffee can also increase fat burn by 10 to 29%.

Be mindful though, when you start adding creamer and sugar, you’ll be adding to your daily calorie intake too! To maximise the many health benefits and antioxidants, try drinking your coffee black.

9. Boost fat burn with green tea

Not only does green tea have a plethora of other health benefits, but it can also aid in your weight loss, too!

Even though green tea does contain a minimal amount of caffeine, it’s also packed with powerful antioxidants that work in a similar way to coffee when it comes to boosting fat burn.

10. Enhance weight loss: drink water before meals

There are many things beyond our control when you lose weight, like where you lose the fat from. Although, there are many weight loss tricks and tips you can work into your life to support your goals.

One of these is drinking water before you eat. According to research, drinking water enhances your metabolism by 24 to 30% over a 1.5 to 2 hour window.

Further studies have shown that if you drink 17 ounces of water 30 minutes before a meal, not only will you likely eat less, you’ll be more hydrated too! Dieters who follow this can lose 44% more weight than those who don’t.

11. Fat loss bestie: HIIT

If you want to shed those pounds, you’re going to want to burn some serious calories. What is the best workout for this, you ask us? Well… let’s take a look!

Even though there are plenty of other bodyweight exercises you can do, if you want to burn an amazing amount of calories, then you’re going to want to do HIIT workouts (high-intensity interval training). For the best results, spend 30 minutes doing a HIIT workout and we guarantee you’ll be feeling the burn.

Yep, that’s right. There is just no need to be spending countless hours incline walking on a treadmill in order to lose weight. HIIT workouts are quick intervals with short rests, not only does this mean you’ll be burning more calories in less time. But it also boosts your metabolism and fat burn so you’ll be burning calories even when you’ve finished working out.

Take a look at ‘our best workouts for women tight on time’ to get adding this into your life.

12. Add some weight

Muscle loss is just one of the many things that happen when you start losing weight. It’s a very common side effect in dieters, as well as metabolic slowdown.

To curb this from happening, add some weight training into your workouts alongside your regular cardio. This will help prevent muscle loss and aid you towards that definition as you begin to lose weight.

Not only that, but weight lifting can also help to keep your metabolism elevated, keeping you on track.

13. Forget about spot reducing

We’re really sorry to tell you this if you didn’t already know. But yes, spot reducing is a myth! Whether it’s to ‘tone up and shed thigh fat’ or ‘get a peachy bum and tone your glutes’, we know you would love the choice of where the fat goes from first.

But the truth of it is, that when we start to lose weight, we don’t know where it’s going from. “Where does weight loss show first?’ is a very common question asked amongst those wanting to lose weight as many of us want it to go or not go perhaps, from specific areas.

For us to be able to tone up, we need to lose fat first and then build the definition in particular areas.

14. Get good rest

We know we’re right when we say that we all love sleep, who doesn’t? Not only does resting allow us to tackle the day ahead but bad quality sleep has been linked to obesity.

Just take a sec and think about it – When we’ve got no gas in the tank, it’s so easy to crave your favorite junk foods and sabotage your healthy eating!

Sleep not only allows our body to repair, especially if you’ve been smashing those HIIT workouts, but it also keeps us on track with eating healthily too.

15. Losing weight without exercise

‘Do you need to exercise to lose weight?’ – Well, whilst it might be possible to shed pounds without exercising, it will be more difficult and take some serious willpower.

Also Read: The best workout for women tight on time

If you don’t want to or can’t exercise, then you’ll need to decrease your daily calorie intake significantly. This will mean no snacking between your meals and eating smaller portions at meal times.

Why not give salads and low-calorie options a try?

Even if this is a choice you are adamant on, we would also recommend pairing healthy eating with some form of regular exercise to boost weight loss and improve your overall health and avoid restricting, short term fad diets.

16. Be consistent

You’re definitely not alone in trying to figure out how weight loss works. The simplest way of putting it is, eating less and moving more.

Whilst you may feel like you’re doing the right thing by missing meals on occasion, it isn’t sustainable or good for you. Consistency is key to reaching your weight loss goals.

When you consistently exercise and burn more than you eat (a calorie deficit) you will be on your way to achieving your body goals.

Excited to share these secrets?

By now, you’ll have the strategy for hitting your fitness and weight loss goals! Remember, stay consistent, drink plenty of water and wave goodbye to restrictive diets.

However, if you need a helping hand with your weight loss goals, why not try Zotrim? Our 100% natural appetite suppressant can help kick those pesky snack cravings to the curb, helping you stay on track for success!

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Jane

Jane

Jane is our resident health, diet and wellness expert. She loves putting together articles packed full of the latest facts, science and advice from reputable sources within the health and wellness industry. If you have any questions please get in touch via our contact page.

Want to lose weight? Check out Zotrim

Why Zotrim?

Free delivery icon

Free Delivery

Natural herbal ingredients icon

Natural Herbal Ingredients

Vegan Friendly icon

Vegan Friendly

Money back guarantee icon

100% Money Back Guarantee​

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