Easy Weight-Loss Hacks! Tips and tricks that are easy to do and will help make losing weight a little bit easier :D

Weight loss is a battle that I’m sure a lot of us have faced or are currently facing. We are always striving for that perfect body, to lose a little bit more weight and to look a little bit trimmer. Unfortunately, life makes it hard to stay focused on weight-loss and making the healthier choice. All things that taste good are always more laden with calories than anything else, unhealthy food is a lot more convenient, and sometimes that takeaway meal is just calling to you too strong for you to ignore. I’ve been on a weight-loss mission for a long time. I’ve tried different diets, and exercise plans and nothing was working so I ended up getting really upset at myself for not being able to make it work. Then I realised that I was making weight-loss too hard for myself, pushing myself and changing things too quickly for me to really adapt to them. I also didn’t realise that there are a few tricks you can use that can make a world of difference in trying to lose weight. These tricks have helped me out a lot, not because they are the precise and perfect weight-loss method, but because they make losing weight and being healthier, in general, a little bit easier. They help take something huge, like changing your lifestyle to either drop some weight, become fitter or just be healthier, and make it a little more manageable with these tips that can help you stay on track. Now, as I have said, doing these things will not be the only thing that helps you lose weight. All those significant lifestyle changes require patience, dedication, energy, effort and perseverance. But, these tips will help you on this changing path and make things a little easier, at least in my opinion. So, here are ten easy weight-loss hacks, or tips, that could help make things a little easier on your weight-loss journey. I hope you enjoy this post and find at least one tip that works for you!

Water is your best friend

Water. I never realised quite how big of a difference drinking water can make when you are trying to lose weight, or just be healthier. Drinking the proper amount of water per day not only keeps you properly hydrated (you never realise how dehydrated you have been until you start drinking enough water for your body, trust me), but it also does wonders for your body. Drinking enough water can stop you from getting headaches, having sinus problems, give you more energy, help with your skin. In general, it is good for you. The other reason why water should be your best friend is that sometimes water can help us realise that we aren’t as hungry as we think. If you find yourself feeling hungry, try drinking a glass or two of water. You may find that you weren’t, in fact, hungry. Your brain was just telling you that you should eat something when your body didn’t really need it. What you can also do is drink a glass of water before you eat a meal. That way, the water will fill your stomach a little, so you don’t feel as hungry, and it will stop you from overeating because you have already filled up a little on water. There are so many benefits to drinking water, so why not try just upping the number of glasses you drink per day. I think you’ll be amazed at the results.

Don’t skip breakfast

I never used to eat breakfast. You can ask my family or all of my friends, but I was just someone who never ate breakfast. I knew about all the health reasons why breakfast is good for you and how it is the most important meal of the day, but I was just never hungry in the morning. However, I soon realised that skipping breakfast was a massive problem because it was making me more hungry later in the day so I was more prone to snacking on unhealthy things, but it was also draining because my body was running on nothing for the beginning part of the day. Learn from my mistakes and don’t skip breakfast, even if it isn’t your thing. Just give yourself a little something in the morning to give you some energy. Because I’m not a big breakfast person, I now just make myself a smoothie or have some yoghurt and fruit, or even just a rusk or two, but I never skip breakfast now. Another reason to not skip breakfast is that eating breakfast kick-starts your metabolism and wakes it up, so eating even a little something in the morning can help boost your metabolism, so you lose weight more effectively.

Green tea

Green tea is a blessing in disguise that I never appreciated until now. Drinking green tea is a great weight-loss hack because green tea is a known metabolism booster (you can check all of the weight-loss/dieting pills. Most of them contain extracts of green tea). But, it is also great because it is surprisingly filling. Like with water, if I feel snackish I’ll make myself a cup of green tea, and usually, I don’t feel hungry anymore once I’ve finished it. How great does that sound? Now I know that a deterrent can be that green tea isn’t always the most delightful tasting beverage because it can be so strong and bitter. However, there are many different types of green teas now, so there’s bound to be a flavour you enjoy. I mean, I cannot drink the pure stuff that my mom drinks, but I just love the pomegranate one. If you like tea and are looking for something healthy to drink, try green tea. It is awesome!

Healthy snacks to get you through the day

Snacks can sometimes be crucial to getting you through your day. Not all of us can last from our morning nibble and a cup of coffee all the way until dinner time like some people I know. We need a snack or two to keep us going in between the primary meals. The only problem is that the snacks we tend to reach for are unhealthy and filled with salt or unwanted chemicals. So, even though the snacking is okay, what we snack on is doing damage to our weight-loss plan. The solution is to turn to healthy snacks, which I promise are not bad. If you are craving something salty, preferably have some nuts instead of a bag of crisps. If you are craving sweetness then rather have a small portion of fruit. There are so many healthy alternatives that actually taste good. So, if snacking is what you do, go for a healthier option. It will make such a difference.

Make exercise easy

Exercise is not always fun, and I can completely relate to everyone who doesn’t daydream of going to the gym or running for however long when they have free time. Also, the idea of spending hours and hours exercising to get into shape can seem so exhausting and off-putting that it scares us from exercising at all. Trust me, I understand the love-hate relationship with exercise, I really do. Unfortunately, there isn’t any proof to say that it isn’t good for us and won’t help with weight-loss so if you can’t avoid exercise, at least try to make it easy for yourself. Instead of forcing yourself to go for a run, why not take up walking? Go walk your dog, or park a little further at the shops or make a habit of taking the stairs instead of the lift. Or, if you aren’t into traditional exercising, try something different. Maybe high-intensity interval training is more your thing, or youtube a dance workout. Even if you just fit in ten minutes a day, it is better to do something than nothing, and by making exercise easier to do, you won’t end up hating it and might actually get more into it than you expected. Who knows?

Don’t drink your calories

Have you ever wondered how many calories are in fruit juices, sodas and alcohol? Well, I don’t want to tell you because it is scary, but if you are interested, you can google it. The truth is, there are more hidden calories in what we drink than in what we eat, so we end up drinking away a lot of our calories. For example, if we eat chocolate, we know on some level that we are eating a lot more calories than we would if we were eating fruit. But what about if we have a glass of fruit juice? We think it is healthy because it is fruit, but little do we know that there is so much sugar in it that we may as well have teaspoons of sugar in our water or drink a can of coke. I know it can be hard to turn away all those delicious tasting drinks but try and limit yourself to the amount you drink. Not only will you stop drinking so many of your calories, but you will also slowly lose the taste for wanting those more calorie-heavy drinks. It’s a win-win.

Use smaller plates and bowls

Sometimes when we grab a big plate or bowl to serve our food in, we often end up putting more on our plate than we actually want. Why is that? Because we instinctively try to fill our plate, so if there is a big gaping space that could be filled with food, we will fill it instead of leaving it. How do we fix this? Easy. Just use smaller plates and bowls. That way, you will automatically serve yourself smaller portions. You will also avoid overeating because you will have less on your plate and you also stop yourself from eating everything you served yourself on the bigger plate, even when you know it was too big a portion. It’s an easy trick to do, but it works wonders, and you’ll be surprised how you don’t actually need to eat all that could fit on that big plate. A small plate is usually just enough.

Don’t just sit

There is nothing wrong with sitting. The problem is that there is that most of our days involve sitting. We sit at work, we sit to study, we sit to watch tv, check social media and so much more. Very few of our typical day-to-day activities require us to be active. So, instead of just sitting, why not try doing something else. Maybe try using a standing desk every now and then, or do a low-impact workout while watching tv. You could say that every time the ads come on, you do pushups or crunches, or you could even squat while watching something. Another idea is instead of sitting on a couch, you get yourself an exercise ball to sit on. It is much better for your posture, and you will be working your core. It’s just a little something extra in your day to push you towards your goals.

Don’t ban anything

One thing that I hate about most diets or new eating plans is that you are forbidden from eating certain types of foods. No carbs, no sugar, no chocolate, no fat, no protein, no whatever. While it is great because it is part of something that will help you achieve your goals, the only issue I have with it is that as soon as you ban something, you get cravings. Think about it like a naughty child. As soon as you tell them they are not allowed a cookie, they will deliberately try to sneak around and get one. As soon as you ban certain things from your diet, you can get cravings that get so bad you can’t help but give in to them but then all of your hard work is ruined. So, the best thing to do is to not ban anything. Instead, eat in moderation and limit yourself to only ‘once in a while’ or something like that. That way, you won’t get cravings for things, but you also stay healthy because you aren’t overdoing things.

Be kind to yourself

This one is probably the hardest in this list, but it is essential for success. Something vital that you need to try to do is be kind to yourself. If you don’t end up going to the gym today for whatever reason, don’t beat yourself up about it. If you end up having a little cheat day, don’t worry about it because it happens to everyone. Most importantly, if you don’t see changes happening immediately, be kind to yourself and remember that it takes time to see even the smallest difference. Sometimes we feel crushed if we don’t do the steps we set out to do for the day, or results don’t happen as fast as we want, and that can stop us from pushing through. Don’t let that happen. Don’t beat yourself up if things like that happen and rather be kind to yourself and say that you will do better tomorrow, or be kind and think that if you keep going, the results will start showing. Being kind to yourself will help you get through the rough spots and through to where you actually see the difference, but it will also help you foster a love for yourself and your body as you go through the process, which is the most important thing of all.

And so there you have it! I hope that you all enjoyed this blog post and found it helpful and useful. I also hope that it motivated any of you trying to lose weight that there are little, easy things to do that can really help, and I hope that you all found at least one tip that you want to try or works for you. Weight-loss can be a real challenge, and while these tips aren’t all it takes to achieve those goals, they can help you get there and make the process a little easier. Thank you all so much for reading today’s post. If you enjoyed it, please don’t forget to hit the little like button at the bottom of this post and subscribe so that you don’t miss out on any future posts. I wish all of you all the best in the different journeys you’re on, and with the goals you are trying to achieve, and I hope you all have a great rest of your week.

Lots of Love

Blondey on a Mission xxx