Easy Weight Loss Tips When You are On-The-Go
62Between work, family, traveling, school, whatever may be causing your hectic schedule, there hardly seems time to breathe let alone plan time for losing weight. If you happen to be one of those rare and perfect people who can eat whatever they want and never gain a pound, and have not ever struggled with your weight, aside from the rest of us not liking you, this article is not for you. For the rest of you who are interested in dropping a few pounds and are leading an on-the-go lifestyle here are some easy tips that won't screw up your schedule.
- H2O. This may sound simple and even a tad silly because we've all heard it before, however upping your water intake can make a huge impact on your weight. People with busy schedules tend to rely on coffee, energy drinks, even soda for a quick jolt. These are B-A-D. Truth be told there is NO substitute for plain old H2O. Switching to water alone will allow you to lose around 20 pounds a year, feel better, as well as maintain your energy for longer time periods. Our brain will sometimes send out the hunger signal when the body truly only needs water. When you feel yourself getting hungry, especially during a time when you aren't normally hungry, try drinking 8ounces of water. Wait 10-15 minutes and see if you are still feeling the need to eat.
- Stomach Says...Stop! This point continues from the previous statement. Along with eating and chewing slower, stop eating the moment your stomach tells you to. Food is readily available at any point, all around every city we may be in. Often times people make the mistake of eating until they are ready to explode. This is unnecessary. I promise you, when you are ready to eat once more, you will be able to find food again. Learn to listen when your stomach has enough. Eating slower can also allow your stomach a little time to catch up and realize you are full. We are meant to eat to live, not live to eat.
- An Apple a Day...Not only keeps the doctor away but keeping healthy snacks like an apple or an orange with you at all times will curb snack cravings during the day. When you feel hunger creeping in it is always easier to stick to any diet plan if the necessary food item is right in front of you. Adding little healthy snacks in your diet throughout the day will also speed up your metabolism as well as digestion. Let's just say it, if you have any trouble in THAT area, you know the one, then adding some fruit during your day is going to regulate your toilet time. If fruit isn't up your alley there are always snacks like the 100 Calorie Snack Packs of cookies or crackers. They make a great snack without putting a huge dent in your weight loss plans.
- 1/2 It Please! Portion control is one of the easiest and fail proof ways to drop some weight. Many on-the-go people don't have the time to cook a feast every night. Be realistic and learn to plan a way for weight management even at restaurants. The easiest way is to immediately ask for a to-go box the moment your food arrives. Take half of the entree right away and put it in the to-go box. Eat what is left on your plate and if you are listening to your body when it says 'full', chances are you will be satisfied with only half the size. Take the leftovers home or to work and then you have a meal ready for the next lunch or dinner already proportioned.
- Fit it in. With all these tips above you will no doubt drop weight if you stick to them, but we all know exercise will always be key in losing weight. A lot of us don't have an extra 2 hours to hit the gym on a regular basis. That's O.K. Fit it in where you can. Take stairs when possible, it does more than you think. If you have an hour lunch break then find a spot nearby even the steps in your building where you can simply walk for 15 minutes of your break. That still leaves 45 minutes to actually eat and get yourself prepared to head back for the rest of the day.15 minutes, that's all it takes, and you are guaranteed to not only drop pounds but feel rejuvenated overall.
Living healthier requires making the choice, and sticking to it. Making that choice isn't always easy especially when you are constantly running around, but it CAN be done. Implement these simple tips into your daily life and give your weight loss a jump start.
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Thank you Flora! I just found HubPages the day before yesterday and so far I'm loving it! Tea is a pretty great alternative to coffee, energy drinks, and sodas. I love tea myself but for me it has to have a sweeter taste to it. When it is cold I love the different fruit flavored teas etc.
I can also definitely relate to having weird sleep patterns. At the point in my life that I was the heaviest I had ever been I started developing sleep apnea. I never got a solid nights rest plus being startled awake every couple of hours because you can't breathe was pretty terrifying lol. That was the point I started getting my life turned around health wise.
Thank you for your comment you are my very first one on HubPages! I really enjoyed reading your hubs today as well. You are a wonderful writer! I got started reading through Hubs this morning and read several of yours first thing. I had to tear myself away! I have been super impressed with so many great writers on this site. :)
Very sound, very balanced advice, JenniferRW. Love the tip about water- I used to not drink nearly enough, but then discovered the glories of hot water in China. I've been hydrated ever since, and highly recommend it.
Love it! Superb information! I do it all! It's amazing how much less you can eat when you learn better portion control. The picture is to the point and so true! Hahaha!
I swear, water can become addicting or something. I can't explain it but when I drink tons of water, then all I ever want is tons more! (Along with coffee and still the occasional coke, I wish I could learn to take my own advice more lol cause I do drink plenty of water, but I am a caffeine addict. Sometimes I may feel a little guilty about it, but at 7a.m. I would probably marry coffee truth be told.)
The picture is probably my most favorite part of the whole thing, that hub being my very first one I didn't really take the time to explore around the site and set the words at a very short limit because I wasn't completely informed of specific rules or obligations regarding the hubs. Now after looking around some more, I hope the ones I continue to post after it will display more of my personality because unfortunately this one doesn't contain too much spark. I guess I could always go back and edit LOL I completely forgot about that! I do appreciate your compliments so much though, Thank you! I'm very glad to have met you by the way! :) I mentioned in the last comment I read the Lady Gaga blog and loved it but I also was reading the Country Songs about Rain Hub lol that one made me laugh because I never knew there were SO many songs involving rain! I knew 90% of the songs listed there being from Kentucky I was definitely raised on Country music. I've grown to love ALL music but country will probably always have a soft spot in my heart and I just loved that hub from beginning to end.
Another great hub. Well researched and again well written. I'm now your 10th follower. I know from experience that just spending half of my lunch hour just walking has helped me to shed a few pounds a month. Very useful and voted up.
Thank you again! I'm glad to hear that walking like that has helped you out, the main reason I included that one in the hub was when I was growing up I remember my mother taking 20-40 minutes out of her day to just walk around the neighborhood, she went from a size 18 to an 8 just from that and portion control. I was impressed back then but now at 29 myself, it's become a tad harder to lose weight of course, so it really hit home. Yay I have 10 followers! I have thoroughly enjoyed my time so far here at HubPages, everyone has been super sweet. Thank You so much! :)
Voted up , useful and interesting , i cant do energy drinks , to much sugar and they dont taste good anyways , i try to watch everything i put in my mouth , since ive hit past forty , everything has slowed down except the aging process ! lol ,thanks for the tips ! have a great day all day !
Thank you Jami for the kind comments! I agree 100% about the energy drinks. About 3 years ago I used to literally drink the sugar free ones like they were heaven sent lol. They gave me energy and I felt like they were ok since they were technically 'sugar free'. After doing a little more research I found out I was insane actually. LOL thanks again for stopping by here :) I really appreciate it!
Very useful hub Jenifer! voted up and useful. My problem is portion control! But I do drink lots of water.
@Gypsy, thank you again for another great comment. Portion Control was always my issue in the past. Especially if I'm eating one of my favorite foods or something that just tastes great. I would wait until I was at that point of feeling like I was going to physically pop before I would quit. That's really the most difficult one for people who just like food. I am one of those people. I really dig the flavors and textures and tastes of a variety of food and get enough. I had to work a long time to 'train' my mind and my stomach to all work together and to physically make myself push away my plate...lol
Great advice! I definitely agree about eating slower and paying attention to when you are full. I feel like something that helps with that is just focusing on eating while you're eating. So many times, I end up eating while I'm on the computer (oops, better stop right now!) and I look down and honestly have no recollection of eating, but my meal is all gone! It helps me to make sure I take a few minutes to just focus on my food - that helps me notice right away when I feel full.
@twoseven thanks for your comment! Don't feel bad, even with all the 'good advice' I give other people it definitely doesn't mean I don't sit right where I am typing and snack occasionally or eat my meals LOL Don't tell anybody... it really does help to listen to your body, it really took me forever to really pay attention and do it. Thanks so much I'm glad you liked it! :)
FloraBreenRobison 8 months ago
Welcome to hubpages. I refuse to drink energy drinks. I have odd sleep patterns but I rely on tea to wake me in the morning.