By RMHP
Many people try fad diets to quickly lose weight. These diet plans may promise fast results, but they rarely deliver lasting change. If you really want to lose weight, and keep it off, avoid jumping on the bandwagon of the latest fad diet. Instead, focus on developing new healthy habits that will lead to lasting results. Here are some of the healthiest ways to lose weight and keep it off for good:
You might think that the key to losing weight is cutting out fatty foods, however, that’s not necessarily true. While you should limit foods with bad fats, such as fried foods, pastries, and chips, you shouldn’t cut out all fats.
Load up on foods with good fats, like avocados, peanut butter, and salmon. Not only will the good fats in these foods protect your heart and lower your cholesterol, but they will also make you feel fuller, so you don’t reach for unhealthy snacks to satisfy your hunger.
People who want to slim down tend to choose cardio exercise over weight training. It’s true that cardio can help you burn a lot of calories, but both types of exercise are necessary for healthy weight loss.
Lifting weights can increase your resting metabolic rate, which is the calories your body burns when it’s inactive. This means you can burn more calories throughout your day simply by adding weight training to your workout. Combine this with cardio, and you will reach your goal weight in no time.
There are several reasons why increasing your water intake may help you achieve your weight loss goals. First, the brain often confuses thirst with hunger, so you may end up eating an unhealthy snack when you just needed a glass of water. Drinking more water will prevent these mixed signals from causing you to overeat.
Proper hydration can also make your workouts more effective — dehydration affects your body’s ability to build new muscles. Staying hydrated can also help you fight off fatigue so you can spend more time working out to reach your goal weight.
Numerous studies have established a link between stress and weight management. If you’re under stress, your body will respond by releasing cortisol, which is a hormone that can trigger cravings for sugary or fatty foods. Because you’re under stress, you’re more likely to give in to these cravings and devour unhealthy foods. High cortisol levels can also increase the size of fat cells and the amount of fat stored in your abdomen.
Don’t let stress stand in the way of your healthy living goals. Use these resources from the Rocky Mountain Health Plans (RMHP) Blog to learn how to get a handle on stress: