My 5 Top tips for weight loss

Over the last four months I've learned some valuable lessons regarding weight loss and healthy living. I want to share my top five tips with you!

1. Eat - this may sound like a no-brainer, it is very important. Food is not our enemy, far from it. Food is fuel that we need for our bodies to function. The important thing is to provide your body with the right types and amounts of food. Frequently when people are trying to lose weight they decrease the amount of food that they are eating but sometimes this can be the opposite of what we need to do. Personally, I was eating too little and I slowed my metabolism down. When I did eat, most of the food was high in fat and calories, a terrible mix. Now, I am eating much more food - I grace and eat about 5 meals a day and I have been losing weight consistently. Be sure to eat enough! Food is our friend, we just have to make the right choices.

2. Exercise For many busy women, finding the time to fit in exercise is extremely difficult. Many of us do not have one full hour to devote to exercise but you can still get exercise in. As a mom with a toddler at home I have to get the exercise in when I can. I utilize nap times and sometimes late evenings to exercise. I've found that by doing 20 minutes of exercise at a time I am able to move my body almost every day. If you don't have 20 minutes do three 10 minute sessions throughout the day. Your body will thank you for it!

3. Journal
Write down the food and/or exercise that you do on a daily basis. I know what you may be thinking "uh oh, here goes another fanatic trying to convince me to log food" but just listen. It took me awhile to get to the place where I could log all of my food but I've found it to be tremendously helpful. I use an online tool, Sparkpeople.com that helps me assess if I've met not only my caloric goals but my nutritional goals too. This is an invaluable resource for me because I am better equippe to make good food choices without need to actually "count" calories. With practice I've been able to determine the foods that I can eat.

Perhaps you aren't convinced and that is okay, you might want to just journal your exercise. That is where I started and it helped me keep track of my activity level. When you are ready to journal regarding food, perhaps rather than track what you are eating, you can write down how you feel before and after you eat. This awareness can help you determine if you are mindlessly eating, emotional or stress eating and in the long run I think you will learn a great deal from this exercise.

4. Celebrate - Be sure to celebrate your victories. Too often when we are on a journey to healthy living we wait until we reach our final goals to celebrate. I believe in setting up mini-goals along the way. Every pound loss is a victory in my book and when I go down a size I treat myself with a new pair of jeans. Other ideas are manicure, pedicure, massage, you are working hard and deserve to reward yourself!

5. Remember - We all have setbacks. Whatever your idea of the "perfect" way to lose weight entails, understand that at some point you will fall short of your ideal. Perhaps you won't meet your exercise goals for a day/week/month or maybe you will overindulge over a weekend or for a week. This happens to EVERYONE! The important thing to do, no matter what, is to get back up, dust yourself off and move forward. Don't let your hard work go to waste because of a slip-up. Move Forward!

That's it. My five tips for weight loss. I hope that they are as helpful for you as they are for me. And I'd love to hear your tips, be sure to leave a comment with your suggestions!

Comments

*Lissa* said…
Great tips, Renee! The only thing I would add is: Find a supportive community, whether it be online or offline, and immerse yourself in it. Having people cheer you on or give you that extra push when you need it can make all the difference.
Tamona said…
Now I need a post that tells me what kind of camera you use. Beautiful post, beautiful pictures, and wonderful advice.
Great post! I especially like the food one. I have thought that for many years, just needed the gentle reminder again
great tips.. number 1 and 3 are two things that i swear by, i make sure to always keep snacks with me and to eat (healthy of course) and i couldn't live without my journal, it helps to see where your weaknesses may be as well.. thanks for sharing
Sorry i forgot to mention my tips i swear by.. drink plenty of water, take a multivitamin, vary your workout routine
Krystal Grant said…
This is a great top 5. I've rededicated myself to a healthier lifestyle and these tips will certainly help me. Thanks.
Anonymous said…
Those are some great tips. I never thought of journaling how I feel after eating. :) Great tip!
Miz said…
I entirely agree! and for ,e number is is always to remember I am the expert of my own body.

would you ever consider a guest post for me?

Id love it!
Renee - love your tips for losing weight - I'm struggling with it right now! Would like to reprint them on our site and reference back to you and your site. I would also like to see if you would be interested in a discount or giveaway to your readers of our Fitness.doc - kind of like your journal but helps to realize why you slipped so you can try to resolve the issue or avoid the setback moving forward. I think you would like it! Contact me at annemarie@getbuttonedup.com if you are interested! - AMF
Louise said…
Awesome tips! Am printing this out.
Unknown said…
Really helpful advice. A weight loss program will need significant changes in your life if it is to be a success. One of the most significant aspects of losing weight is attitude and changing bad habits and replacing them with new, but good ones, something that requires certain constancy.

Thanks.

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Reggie said…
Nice post!!!

Last year in April I went to the doctor and he remarked on how I was overweight. I'm 6'2 and I was then weighing about 215. That's the most that I've ever weighed. He also mentioned that he probably needed to put me on insulin. I walked away from his office determined to lose weight. I started walking in the evenings and I stopped eating fried foods and ice cream and those fattening drinks from Starbucks. Over the course of last summer I lost 40 pounds. I'm still presently hovering around 175 and I have no intention of gaining that weight back. This month I challenged myself to not eat meat; and although I won't be restricting myself like that again anytime soon, I'm not piling on the pounds again anytime soon.

Diet and exercise are a lifestyle towards living a longer, fuller life.
Linda said…
Hi Renee,

I like your site. Living with MS and having lesser mobility along with difficulty with movement and loss of strength on my left side, have to figure out some type of exercising that will help me lose some weight. With low thyroid that doesn't help either. Not sure what to do, but hope to find a way.
Take care,
Linda

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