Deciding to lose weight can be easy, but the hard part comes when you are looking for a diet and exercise routine that works for you. You have countless dieting and exercising methods available to you; it is difficult to determine which ones are helpful and which can cause more harm than good. This is why a few weight loss tips for beginners are necessary to give you a solid starting point to work from.
Informed Food Choice
What you eat will have the most significant effect on your weight loss journey. More so than exercise, your diet is crucial to lose the weight you want and to maintain your goal weight once achieved. There are several nutrients that you need to implement into your daily meals.
Protein
- Meat – Beef, chicken, pork
- Fish – Salmon, trout
- Plant-Based – Lentils, beans, tempeh, quinoa, tofu
Monosaturated Fats
- Olives
- Avocados
- Nuts – Almonds, walnuts, peanuts, macadamia nuts, pecans
- Peanut butter
Vegetables
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Tomatoes
- Spinach
- Cucumber
Portion Control
Even the healthiest of food can be harmful if you do not have it in the right quantities. You need to make sure that your food portions are small enough to stay within your calorie limits. It can be easy to forget to limit your foods when they are considered healthy, but too much can set you back. As for the opposite problem, you do not want to deprive yourself of food. Fasting is just one of many weight loss myths that may do more harm to your body in the long term.
Be Careful of Fruits
While fruit juices are natural and can seem as healthy as vegetables or vegetable juice, the sugar content in juice form is extremely concentrated so that it can slow or even halt progress on your diet. Be aware of the sugar content within fruit juices, stick to whole fruits like:
- Apples
- Pineapples
- Blueberries
- Watermelon
Fruit juices may come from whole fruits but it may not be the healthiest option available and moderation is always the key.
The Right Physical Exercise
Going to the gym and getting in shape doesn’t mean you have to bench press double your body weight or go on the treadmill for an hour at the highest speed. Going to the gym and pushing yourself to your limit can have the opposite effect that you intended, whether it is causing physical harm to your body or destroying your motivation.
Go at Your Own Speed
Walking three miles on a treadmill or doing soft exercises in a pool for an hour may have the same effect as running, but you are putting less stress on your body. Optimizing your exercise routine may require you to dedicate more time, but the payoff is subjecting your joints and muscles to less stress, which motivates you to stick to your workout. The alternative is burning yourself out by over-exercising and neglecting physical activity.
Know How Your Body Responds
While the advice for beginning your weight loss applies to most individuals, you still need to pay attention to how your body works. If you have pre-existing health conditions that may affect what you can and cannot eat, then contact your doctor to come up with a plan.
