10 top tips to help you lose weight
1. Rule 1
Eat under 2,000 calories a day (or 1,500 if you’re a woman), every day. If you do this consistently, you will lose weight. We promise.
2. Reduce your portion size. Full stop
- One medium sized plate
- It doesn’t especially matter what you eat
- But more protein and vegetables, and less carbs (bread, potatoes, rice) is a good start
- 3x a day, at set meal times. With no starters, puddings, or seconds
- Aim for under 2000 calories a day
- No snacks between meals, or just fruit if you have to. It will feel hard at first, but your body will adjust after a week or so.
- Don’t skip breakfast!
- Oh yes, stop eating when you are 80% full.
Oh yes .. keep it simple ..
2. Simplify your meals
Focus on portion size, and try to increase your intake of protein, fruits, and vegetables while reducing carbs like bread, rice, and pasta.
3. Little/no alcohol
Avoid it. Alcohol is high in calories, so avoid it.
4. Drinks
Stick to low calorie – e.g. water, diet drinks, or diet squash. No sugary fizzy or milky drinks, smoothies, or fruit juice.
5. Exercise
Do some. Regularly. While exercise won’t cause a huge amount of weight loss on its own, it’s great for your fitness. Aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise, three times a week.
6. Go for a (long walk)
But you have to walk 7 km to burn off 500 calories. Food intake reduction is more important (much) than exercise.
7. Monitor your progress
Weigh yourself once a week, using the same scales and at the same time each day. You should lose about 2kg in the first week, then around 1kg per week.
8. Calorie counting apps
If you find calorie counting helpful, there are plenty of apps available to make it easier. A good one is MyNetDiary. It helps you track your calories and stay on target.
9. It’s a marathon not a sprint
It will take at least six weeks (0ften 8) to lose one stone (6kg). So you need to be patient.
10. Don’t be too hard on yourself
It’s OK to have a cake, hot chocolate or beer occasionally.
