8 Weight Loss Tips: Nutrition

It’s almost January, which means a new start! New Year resolutions are getting closer very quickly and one of the most common resolutions is weight loss. Allow me to give you some tips on how to lose weight. This very article is about weight loss tips regarding nutrition. The next article shall cover losing weight through working out. But now, here are eight tips that help you to lose weight without feeling hungry all the time.

Number 1: Drink water
Perhaps one of the least favorite tips that I give to my clients is to drink a lot of water. A lack of proper hydration can be one of the reasons why you cannot lose weight. The way this works is that most of the time you feel hungry it is actually mild dehydration. Your hunger would fade away if you just had a glass of water or some other drink. My recommendation is to drink at least 8 to 12 glasses of water a day. Carry around a bottle and fill it with tap water at least four times a day. That is, if your drinking water is safe of course. No need to buy fancy, bottled water if you live in a country with proper tap water. As you can see, weight loss is as simple as drinking some more water.

Number 2: Spread your calorie intake throughout the day
Before making all kinds of assumptions that eating multiple meals a day burn more calories or thinking that it is bad to eat only two or three meals makes you fat, read this carefully!. The main reason why I put this one up the list is that eating multiple, smaller meals throughout the day instead of a couple of big ones is because of satiety. Many of us eat too much, because they have this constant feeling of being hungry. If you eat multiple smaller meals frequently you won’t have that empty feeling in your stomach. Other than that it shouldn’t matter for your body how you spread your calorie intake throughout the day. You could maintain or lose weight just as well if you eat 2 meals of 1000 kcal instead of 5 smaller portions of 400 kcal. The fact that you have more small meals means you are less likely to become hungry or have graving.

Number 3: Avoid empty calories
Empty calories are basically foods that do not deliver anything else besides calories. If you eat a banana you get your calories in, but also many vitamins, fibers and minerals. Candy on the other hand solely contains calories and no other beneficial nutrients. Many nutrients help you to feel full, which I explain in the next tip. Empty calories do nothing good for your weight loss process, so keep that in mind!

Number 4: Eat more fibers, fats and protein
Fibers are becoming increasingly popular and recognized, fats slowly start to lose their bad name and protein has always been considered pretty useful. Regardless I think it’s important to explain more about these main nutrients within the story of weight loss. Fibers help you to feel full. They attract water and fill up your stomach. Fats basically do the same thing. They reduce the hungry feeling, because they have a slow digestion time. The longer the food is in the stomach, the longer it takes you to become hungry again. Proteins also take longer to digest compared to carbohydrates and therefore you should consume plenty of it to make the weight loss process a lot easier.

Number 5: Eat slowly
I can give a short explanation for this one. If you eat slow your stomach gets the chance to send a signal through to your brain that you’ve had enough. However, if you eat like a contest eater you stuff yourself with way more foods before your body even gets the chance to tell you its full. So take your time and chew your food properly!

Number 6: Eat at the same times daily
Get some consistency in your diet and plan out your meals. I used to eat at set times every day and would count down the minutes before I was allowed to eat again. Try to eat something every 2.5 – 4 hours or so if your agenda allows you to do so. This gives you a psychological edge in weight loss, because you know when you can expect to eat again. If you do not know when you are allowed to eat again you may overeat or give up, because you can’t bare the idea of not getting your food soon enough.

Number 7: Big Breakfast
Start your day with a big, well-balanced breakfast with plenty of protein, some fat and a lot of (complex) carbohydrates. A piece of fruit, some eggs and a bowl of muesli, cereal or oatmeal is perfect to start your day. By skipping breakfast there is a chance your hunger builds up, which causes you to eat way more than you should the next planned meal.

Number 8: Know how much you should eat
The final tip is also one of the most important ones namely that you should know how many calories you are allowed to eat for any given goal you have. There are a lot of calculators to be found online that can give you an idea of how many calories you should eat. If you want to lose weight you generally need 500 kcal a day less than you would need to maintain your body weight. Knowing the exact amount of calories allows you to consistently lose at least one pound of weight a week. My JeromeFitness App has a calculator for your required calorie intake and I also have the formula out on my website: http://www.jeromefitness.com/nutrition-for-six-pack-abs/

So there you have it, eight easy to apply tips to lose weight. Do you have a New Years Resolution regarding weight loss or do you simply want to know everything there is to know about getting six-pack abs? Then hang on and get my first eBook in January. Subscribe to my newsletter to stay up-to-date and follow me on social media to purchase the book as soon as it gets out! And for now, Happy Holidays and a successful, healthy and fun 2015!