6 Easy Weight Loss Hacks

When you think of weight loss, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?  Dieting, right?  While that’s indeed one way to enhance your weight loss, there are other aspects that can also help you drop unwanted body fat and have the number on the scale going down.  In this article, I’m going to show you six weight loss hacks that have nothing to do with dieting or restricting the things you eat on a daily basis.  I think you’ll like the results that can be yielded from the below.  If that sounds interesting, let’s hop into it.

 

Prepare for the Week

 One area where many people fail in their weight loss efforts is planning.  Many people wake up, raid the fridge and eat whatever they find.  While it’s great that you aren’t being wasteful, what’s in the fridge might not be the best thing for you.  That’s where prepping your foods and meals for the week is essential.

 Take one day out of the week and create a meal plan and grocery list.  Then, hit up the grocery store and ONLY purchase the things on your list.  For convenience sake and if you have the extra money, opt for everything trimmed and precut – it will save you a ton of time as well as minimize cleanup.  That means precut vegetables, boneless chicken breast with the skin and fat removed, precut fruit, etc. 

 It may not seem like it but buying things precut is one of the fantastic weight loss hacks as it frees up your time to focus on other things – like making sure you fit in your workouts.

 

Do More Outside of the Gym

 This hack is so simple yet people are creatures of habit and it puts them in a tough spot.  When you go to the grocery store or any store really, where do you park?  Probably the closest spot you can find, right?  Not only does it take time driving up and down the aisles trying to find the closest spot, but you’re also limiting your overall movement and steps for the day. 

 

Rather than parking up front (anywhere you go), park in the back of the lot and walk up to the store.  All those extra steps add up over the course of a day.  Instead of taking the elevator up to the next floor of a building, take the stairs.  After dinner, go for a family walk or take your dog for an extra-long walk. 

 

Simply put, I want you to move more during the day.  Make a conscious effort to do so and watch how many extra calories you can burn during the day while having nothing to do with actually dieting or restricting the foods you eat.

 

Focus on Quality Sleep

 You should be getting a minimum of seven hours of quality sleep each and every night.  Not getting enough sleep can crush your energy (both physically and mentally) the next day and due to a lack of sleep toying with your hormones, they could cause you to binge on foods and increase your appetite. 

 

Try to get on a schedule where you’re in bed every night at the same time.  Set an alarm if you have to.  This will help you plan your day and also ensure you are getting the proper rest needed to recovery both mentally from daily stresses as well as from your intense workouts at the gym.

 

This is one of the helpful weight loss hacks that not many people focus on but has a direct correlation with your weight and weight loss success.  If you have trouble sleeping at night, find the root of the cause and fix it.  Room too loud?  Get a white noise machine.  Room too hot?  Turn on a fan or the air conditioner.  Room too bright?  Wear a sleeping mask.  Get it?  Be a problem-solver.

 

Drink More Water

 When you think about it, our body is mostly made up of water.  Our cells need water, our muscles need water, everything needs water.  When we don’t drink enough or are even tipping the scale of being dehydrated, everything slows down – including your metabolism. 

 

Additionally, one of the best weight loss hacks and benefits on this list deals with drinking water.  If you find it difficult to pull yourself away from the table at meals, drink a glass of water before you even sit down.  This will start the process of your stomach sending signals to your brain that it’s starting to fill up.  This signal will then help you feel satiated sooner rather than after you polish off your third helping.

 

An easy way to figure out how much water you should drink during the day is to take your body weight in pounds and divide it by two.  That will give you an estimate of how many ounces you need each day (minimum).  If you exercise regularly, drink even more to replenish what was lost during training.  Water will also help flush out toxins in the body.  It’s a win-win.  Drink more (water).

 

Remind Yourself of Your Goals and Motivations

 It seems so simple yet it needs to be on our list of weight loss hacks.  Your motivation needs to be burning from within.  Meaning, you should wake up every morning ready to tackle your goals and have a burning desire to achieve success.  This doesn’t need to just be for weight loss either.  It could be career goals, financial goals, family goals, whatever.

 

But remind yourself often of why you’re doing the things you’re doing.  If there’s no true reason, you’re less likely to go after your goals and grind it out until you achieve them.

 

Eat More Calories from Protein

 Protein is incredibly important when it comes to building lean muscle mass.  The more muscle you have, the more calories you can burn during the day – even while at rest.  That being said, protein also has an extremely effective thermic effect – more so than any other macronutrient.  What this means is, when you consume protein, your body needs to burn calories in order to break it down into a usable form. 

 

So, if you consume protein at all meals (including snacks), you essentially turn your body into a fat-burning machine since the body needs energy to digest the protein.

 

Look for lean protein sources such as chicken, turkey, lean cuts of meat, fish, and whole eggs.  If you find you aren’t taking in enough whole food sources, consider using a protein shake throughout the day to get your intake up.  It would also be a good idea to consume a protein shake following your workouts to kickstart the recovery process.