If you are struggling to lose weight, you are certainly not alone. In theory, accomplishing this goal seems easy. Just change our diet to healthy food and start exercising more… But, as we all know, changing our unhealthy ways can be quite the challenge. We have a lot of stuff working against us. Poor self-image, deeply ingrained bad habits, limiting beliefs about what we are capable of, and let’s not forget, good old fashioned laziness.
So, what are some easy to identify keys to solving the weight loss issue?
Keeping Stress at Bay
If you are living in the modern world, you are probably experiencing plenty of stress—much of it self-induced, most likely. When we have any sort of goal in mind regarding our health, finding ways to manage our stress is paramount to achieving said goal. This is because it really messes with our minds, which in turn, will mess with our efforts to make positive change.
Being highly stressed will sabotage your weight loss attempt at every turn. It will make you more likely to eat emotionally, crave foods that are not good for you, choose sedentary activities in favor of exercising, less concerned about your health, and more pessimistic about your ability to really lose this weight once and for all. When we don’t feel good, we tend to make decisions that are not good for us. When we are feeling good, we are more motivated to make healthy choices. We want to ensure we keep feeling good, and it is easier to make the decisions that will support this desire.
You must take an active role in finding ways to fight stress. There is no one best method—it is all about what gels with you most.
Tap into the Power of Nature
Tap into the power of nature to maximize your weight loss efforts. While those hyped-up diet pills are nothing more than, well, hype (and potentially dangerous due to hidden ingredients,) there are several natural substances that may complement your weight loss efforts quite nicely. And I mean just that—complement.
Don’t look to supplements, natural or pharmaceutical , as some magic bullet that will just melt away the pounds as you continue to eat as you wish, and veg out in front of the couch for hours on end. But combining several strategies that give your core practices of diet and exercise a nice boost, it can add up to big results.
Green tea has been getting a lot of attention in recent years, as research on populations who consume it on a regular basis suggest it may offer numerous health benefits. One such benefit is in the realm of weight loss. One substance in particular, catechins, appears to prompt the body to burn more calories, and tap into its stores of fat for energy. While drinking green tea may be helpful, you are probably better off getting a quality supplement (or at least combining the two forms) such as Healthy Trim Green Tea Extract.
While whey protein has always been a popular supplement for increasing muscle mass due to its rich stores of protein, it may also act as a natural appetite suppressant, helping you cut calories with greater ease. And, its muscle-building benefits are an added bonus, because the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn throughout the day, 24/7.
Chitosan’s origins may not seem very appetizing—it is a fiber that is found in the main component of the shells of bugs and crustaceans—but it may be a worthy addition to your weight loss arsenal. This particular type of fiber is a popular holistic treatment for lowering cholesterol, but it is also gaining a reputation as a supplement to help the body reduce the amount of fat absorbed after eating.
Take the Focus off Your Appearance, and Put It on Being Healthy
A big reason why you probably want to lose weight is because you want a better body, and to feel more attractive. Absolutely nothing wrong with that—even the least vain among us probably want to feel good about how we look. But, if you put too much focus on this result, it is easy to lose steam early on. It can take awhile to notice a considerable difference in how you look, and it can be hard to stay motivated when you look in the mirror everyday and don’t see much of a change. Try to shift your focus to being healthy—if this is the primary goal in mind, it will be easier to achieve weight loss, because simply making better choices regarding diet, exercise and other aspects of your lifestyle will help you achieve this aim. You will feel good about making these decisions, and you will feel motivated to keep making them. You will push a bit farther each time. And before you know it, you will start seeing the physical changes—they are happening whether you are focusing on them or not.