The Best Ways to Lose Weight

The best ways to lose weight always include replacing fad diets with sensible eating and crazy exercises with a solid workout of your favorite physical activity.

There’s really no magical formula you can use to lose weight. Sorry, you’ve come to the wrong place. Fad diets may help you lose weight, but the pounds almost certainly will quickly return.

The same goes for exercise. Have you joined a gym, worked out the first two or three visits, and then never returned? You’re not alone.

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Losing weight takes effort and discipline. The good news is you can do it! Here are the best ways to lose weight.

1. Talk to your doctor. Depending on how much weight you want to lose — 15 to 20 pound or more — you should consult with your doctor. If you want to drop a size or lose 5 pounds, you can do it on your own, as long as you don’t have problems with your health.
2. Eat the right fats. Fats are good for your brain. Healthy fatty foods like olive oil, omega-3s, nuts, fish, and avocados help lower cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease. Stay away from fatty processed foods.
3. Shop on a full stomach. Don’t go to the supermarket when you’re hungry. Plan your meals ahead of time, and take a list of the foods you’ll need. Stick to your list. That way, you won’t indulge in foods that aren’t good for you.
4. Drink green tea, herbal tea, coffee, and water before a meal. It fills you up and will make you eat less.
5. Exercise. Weight training, walking, jogging, running, cycling, or any other activity that you look forward to works. This can be your “me time,” which is just for you. If you need motivation, call a friend and schedule times when you’ll both walk or exercise together.
6. Get your thyroid checked. One of the symptoms of an underactive thyroid is having a hard time losing weight. Your thyroid controls your metabolism, if it’s off kilter, it will make it harder to lose weight. Call your doctor and get a thyroid test. It’s a simple blood test that can be done at your doctor’s office.
7. Eat breakfast. When you skip breakfast, you become hungry during the day, which means you’ll eat more.
8. Snack. Yes, you’ve read that correctly. Eat a piece of fruit, plain yogurt with cut up fresh strawberries or blueberries, a peanut butter sandwich, or other healthy snack around 3 p.m. That’s slump time, when you’re feeling tired a few hours after lunch and before dinner. By eating sensibly now, you’ll ward off the need to stuff your face with junk food later.
9. Break up your workouts. Instead of cramming all of your exercise into one hour a day, plan to exercise three times a day for 20 minutes each. That can be a walk before work, at lunchtime, and after dinner.
10. Exercise at work when you can. If you have a business call, put it on speaker phone and walk back-and-forth in your office.
11. Sleep. When you’re exhausted, your body rebels and wants to sleep. If you get a full 8 hours, you’ll be refreshed and able to exercise during the day.
12. Leave the car in the garage. If you live within a mile of a supermarket, your office, or friend’s house, ditch the car and walk. At the supermarket, buy healthy items that you can easily carry.

Remember that there are so many ways to lose weight. The best approach is a sensible one that incorporates exercise into your day. Eat wisely, and find an activity that you’ll look forward to doing. Those are the best ways to lose weight.

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