Lose Weight the Healthy Way with Sensible Methods that Work

Wondering how you can finally ditch the extra pounds for good? Crash diets are temporary and that’s why they don’t produce lasting results. Once we’ve reached the goal, we celebrate by getting some new, smaller clothes... only to slip back into old habits that put us right back into that bigger size.

What is the ideal body fat percentage for men versus women?

According to this Women’s Health Magazine, the body-fat ranges for optimal health are 14 percent to 30 percent for women and 6 percent to 25 percent for men.

How do you implement lifestyle changes that result in lasting weight loss and a lower body fat percentage to improve your health? By changing your mindset and changing your habits. It’s a slow and steady path, and that can feel frustrating if you were hoping to see dramatic results in a week. But if you sustain the new way of eating and continue to increase activity levels, you’ll likely start to look slimmer and feel better... and instead of yo-yoing with your weight and clothing size, the changes will stick. Here are some simple habits that can result in weight loss over time: Don’t snack before bed.

Avoiding snacks after 8:00 p.m. is a great way to stay on track with weight loss. When you eat food later on at night, not only are you consuming calories at a time when your body is least likely to burn them because you’re sleeping, but you’re also inviting all sorts of digestive trouble. Digestive upset often leads to poor sleep which stresses the body and makes it more difficult to lose weight.

Have a salad starter.

Mind the age-old advice to enjoy salad before your meal. You’ve probably heard that eating fresh vegetables and fruits primes your digestive system for the heavier foods of your main course. This is true, and it also helps to keep you regular. Staying regular means that when you do a scale reading, you’re more likely to have accurate results based on what’s in (or not in) your body.

Make healthy meal makeovers a constant.

How do you turn your favorite comfort foods and favorite recipes into healthier versions of themselves? Simple, look for ways to reduce saturated fat, or trade some of the saturated fat in the recipe for healthy fat. A simple example: you’re serving buttered corn niblets for your family. Reduce the butter to half and drizzle in some olive oil during the cooking. No one need be the wiser, and everyone can be that much healthier if you make these types of adjustments par for the healthy course.

Hang with healthy eaters.

Birds of a feather flock together, so if you’re a bird who wants to lose weight, spend your free time with friends who share your goal and embrace a healthy lifestyle. If you love having a buddy or group of buddies to keep you accountable, then join forces. Form a walking group, share healthy recipes, and serve healthy alternatives to the traditional party fare when getting together with friends and family.

Give yourself a weight loss incentive.

It can be anything you want. Looking great for your spring vacation plans. Fitting into those jeans you outgrew. Wanting to up the sexy factor for your anniversary date. If you’re someone who needs a reason to get motivated, you can find one... and if you can’t, start making some plans to focus on healthy weight loss goals.

Want to Lose Weight? Try These Lesser-Known Tips and Tricks:

Weight loss and good nutrition go hand in hand. Of course, you’ll want to increase the amount of daily exercise you do. But dietary changes also play a big part in dropping and keeping pounds off, as well as reducing your body fat percentage.

Eggscellent ideas for weight loss.

What’s the deal with eggs? Healthy, or no? Do they make you fat, or help you lose weight? Eggs actually can help you lose weight, but the key is in the preparation.

If you’re going to eat weight-loss friendly foods, just be sure to enjoy them prepared in as nutritious a manner as possible.

How to healthy up your egg dishes?

The key here is sticking to high fiber, low fat, or healthy fat accompaniments. So if you’re looking to lose weight, the quintessential bacon egg and cheese on a buttered, white roll definitely does not make the cut. However, two hard boiled eggs accompanied by one slice of whole grain bread and a small side salad make the cut. Top the salad with your favorite nuts, olive oil and vinegar for a healthy and protein-plentiful lunch option if you’re looking to lose weight.

Drink coffee to lose weight. There’s a lot of misinformation about the effect coffee has on our ability to lose weight. If you’ve been advised to cut back on coffee, it’s probably not the actual coffee that’s causing the problem. More likely, it’s whatever you’re putting in it such as fattening and

sugary creamers which is causing you to either gain weight, or not see success with trying to lose weight. Black coffee has been shown to boost metabolism by as much as 29% as a result of the caffeine speeding up your body systems. If you prefer to take your coffee with some form of fat, try reduced-fat milk as it’s not going to put you over the limit.

Put cooked barley into the rotation.

Little known fact, barley which you may know from the classic beef barley soup, is way underrated when it comes to weight loss. Studies have shown that this whole grain has a low glycemic index. Eating a serving of it does not spike blood sugar in the same way that white flour-based cereals, starchy sides like pasta, and bread products do. The same is true for other whole grains such as oats, millet, buckwheat, spelt and amaranth. So if the traditional bowl of oatmeal doesn’t do it for you, try barley for a hearty whole grain-based breakfast.

Choose healthier fats for weight loss and good health.

Butter is hard to resist as most of us would agree. Cream cheese, too, tops the list for being high in saturated fat and therefore not heart-healthy or weight loss-friendly. But the immune-boosting, bad cholesterol-lowering, antifungal properties of coconut oil make it an excellent replacement for butter in many cooked dishes. Coconut oil even can be used as a healthy spread for toast, whole grain English muffins, waffles, or pancakes. Other forms of healthy fat include olive oil, olives, avocado and assorted nuts, nut oils and nut butters. Add in small amounts to your favorite foods and snacks. Example: avocado toast, olives in your salad or as part of an appetizer tray that showcases healthy veggies. For the occasional cream cheese alternative, try lower fat Neufchatel. It’s not as beneficial to your health as the hearthealthy fats listed above, but the lower fat content, as well as limiting portion sizes, can help you indulge in a cream cheese craving without wrecking your healthy eating plan. Next time you reach for the butter dish, reconsider what you’re spreading on your toast or adding to your rice and potato sides . Healthy mini meals can save you from binging. When it comes to staying satiated without cheating, think out of the lunch box. We have all experienced the 3:00 p.m. snack craving that has you hungry for Krispy Kreme’s and all things that will break your diet.

A mini, second “lunch” at this time could be just the thing to get you over the hurdle and out of the junk food danger zone. Think 3 oz. of cooked chicken breast a small salad and low-fat dressing.

Prepare easy homemade, healthy dressings.

Not too keen on the bogus ingredients in your store-bought bottled low-fat salad dressing? A lot of these blends contain dubious-sounding additions to help with flavor and consistency. It’s easier than you think to create a healthy sandwich spread or salad dressing. Use spices from your kitchen cabinets like dill, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and oregano. Add two tablespoons of Greek yogurt and stir in a tablespoon of healthy olive oil with about two teaspoons vinegar.

You can make single servings of your homemade dressing, dip or sandwich spread to have with whole grain bread and cut up veggies.

Or if you’d like to keep some homemade dressing on hand, simply wash out one of your recycled jars or bottles with lid. Prepare your mixture ahead of time, then store in the fridge to use over the next several days. Keep in mind that shelf life is shorter with homemade, so make smaller portions that will be used up in time.

Find simple solutions for adding more veggies.

Having frozen vegetables on hand makes it easier to stay on top of your weight loss goals. Sometimes after a busy day at work we just don’t have the energy to chop up that carrot, even as easy as it may be. Simply opening up a package of frozen spinach or green beans to add with a small bit of water into a pot and cooking with a splash of olive oil and a smashed garlic clove is a quick and easy way to add a healthy veggie to your main meal.

You can also advance-prep your fresh veggie snacks. Wash, slice, and store in an air-tight storage container in the fridge, for use over the course of a few days. Another option if you’re low on time is to shop for pre-cut veggies. You’ll pay more, but if it works with your budget and schedule and helps you stay on track with healthy eating, it may be worth the higher price.