“How Can You Lose Weight for Good?” — is a question asked a lot.
If you’re asking yourself this question too, trust me, you’re not alone.
That’s why today, I’m sharing 5 surprising (and never talked about) ways to lose weight and transform your health — fast. Including:
- 3 ways you can lose weight without changing what you eat.
- How you can lose weight without dieting or feeling deprived.
- The easiest way to stop overeating.
- 2 habits that’ll reduce your tiredness, give you more time AND help you lose weight.
- The best way to lose weight without eating less.
- A simple way to curb cravings.
- Why short-term fixes don’t work (and what does).
How Can You Lose Weight for Good
Short-Term Fixes
I think I’m right in saying most people are telling you, that to lose weight you have to go on a diet, restrictive eating plan or simply “be good”.
And yes, while short-term fixes like these can help you lose some weight, they’re not easy or enjoyable. And they certainly don’t help you lose weight for good.
Worse than that, they can actively prevent you from losing weight long-term and keeping it off for good — because they end up slowing down your metabolism and confusing your body.
And, since I’m all about helping women, like you, be happy and healthy for life without “rules” or restrictions, you’ll not find that kind of advice here.
Long-Term Healthy Habits
For me, learning all about how you can lose weight for good comes down to discovering simple sustainable healthy habits that work for you and your lifestyle. So, you no longer have to worry about your weight and can instead focus on becoming the person you want to be.
What Are Healthy Habits?
Healthy habits are simple actions, behaviours or steps you repeat often and automatically — that over the long term, have a positive effect on your health, happiness and life.
Healthy habits are things you’re glad you did and you never feel guilty about. They make you feel good.
The Positive Impact of Healthy Habits
When we find small healthy habits we enjoy and repeat them day after day, they start to become automatic. And once automatic, they make being healthy super easy. Which in turn, makes losing weight and keeping it off for good achievable.
The best thing about healthy habits is once they become automatic, it starts to feel weird if you don’t do them. So, yes, while some healthy habits might feel difficult at first, after just a few weeks or months, they become so easy you’ll find it difficult not to do them.
With that said, I think you should make healthy habits as simple and easy as possible so they never feel hard — not even in the beginning. This is why you’ll find the tips below super simple.
5 Simple Ways You Can Lose Weight
#1 — Eat With No Distractions
When was the last time you had your breakfast, lunch or supper without looking at your phone, TV or emails at the same time?
No judgment here by the way — I know this habit is simple, but not necessarily easy to do or remember. Or, at least, that’s the case for me.
With that said, my recommendation for this healthy habit is to try it at breakfast first — to help you remember to do it, create a reminder on a sticky note or your phone that you’ll see each morning.
Then aim to eat your breakfast each day, without doing anything else at the same time — no phone, TV, emails, to-do list or book.
At first, this will feel strange and uncomfortable because we’re so used to multi-tasking, but if you can, stick with it for a few days and see what happens.
Here are some of the surprising benefits you’ll start to feel when you eat without distractions:
- Enjoying your food even more.
- Feeling more satisfied after you’ve eaten.
- Better able to recognise when you’re hungry and full.
- Reduced overeating — as you start to notice when you’re satisfied rather than “stuffed”.
- Able to make wiser and healthier food choices.
- Improved appetite control.
- Weight loss and improved management of emotional eating.
#2 — Get More Sleep
Do you know when you don’t get enough sleep, it’s harder:
- To regulate your mood, which can lead to emotional eating.
- To make “good” decisions that lead to the results you want — and make you feel good long-term.
- For your body to lose fat.
- To resist junk food and sugar because your body struggles to regulate your blood sugar — which leads to cravings.
- For you to regulate your hunger, appetite and how satisfied you are after you eat — which can lead to overeating and binge eating.
This means getting more sleep is another way you can lose weight without changing what you eat.
And as you’ll know, it’s recommended we get anywhere between 7-9 hours of sleep.
So, to increase how much sleep you get, my suggestion is to start small — by going to bed just 10 minutes earlier than you do right now. Then, every week or two, go to bed another 10 minutes earlier. Until you reach a point where you’re getting at least 7 hours of sleep — because anything less will significantly impact your health and in turn your ability to effectively manage your weight.
In addition to the weight loss benefits of getting enough sleep, you’ll also:
- Have more energy and vitality.
- Feel happier, calmer and more emotionally stable.
- Think, learn and remember things better.
- Have better moods.
- Increase your productivity.
- Boost your immune system.
- Better recover from injuries, illness and stress.
#3 — Work Less
Do you know when you work over 40 hours a week, you don’t get any more work done?
I know this doesn’t make sense, but research shows people who work too many hours start making mistakes, get distracted easily and make poor decisions.
The truth is, when you work less, you get more done. You’re happier. And your work’s higher quality.
How does this relate to losing weight?
When you work too many hours, you reduce your ability to regulate your behaviour — so you end up making poorer food choices. You lose your focus more often — so you end up looking for quick fixes to boost your energy — such as chocolate, crisps or another caramel latte. And you’re much more tired — so the last thing you want to do when you finish work is cook something or prepare your lunch for the next day.
For many of us, working too much is probably one of the biggest reasons we don’t eat as healthily as we want, exercise as much as we can, or feel as good as we wish we did. So, why not give this tip a go and see what happens?
Again, start small. If you currently start work earlier than you need to, try going in just 10 to 15 minutes later at first. And, if you’re in the habit of working late, try setting an alarm for 10 minutes earlier than you usually finish and stop working when it goes off. Alternatively, make sure you have something planned a few nights after work so you have to leave at a certain time.
#4 — Add a Pause
Most of your actions stem from a thought and feeling. But did you know you can “add a pause” between them?
Many of the things you do are so automatic you don’t notice you’ve had a thought and feeling that resulted in you doing some sort of action. Of course, we don’t need to “add a pause” to everything we do, nor would we want to. But for those actions or behaviours we sometimes regret, we can help reduce them by “adding a pause” between them, and our thoughts and feelings.
For example, if you find yourself craving a third latte for the day, “adding a pause” means you take a second to simply notice you’re craving. By consciously saying to yourself “I’m craving something sweet and thinking about having a latte.”
This helps you eat better because when you notice you want to do something before you do it and say to yourself what you’re thinking and feeling, it gives you a chance to pause. This pause can sometimes be enough for the craving to disappear — but sometimes not.
Regardless of the outcome (we’re not aiming for your craving to disappear it’s just a bonus), the best thing about a pause, is it helps you become aware of your behaviours before you do them rather than after, which long term can significantly transform your health.
My suggestion for starting small is to aim to notice your thoughts and feelings for one behaviour a day. For example, if you always want a croissant and coffee on your way to work when you’re tired, before stopping at Starbucks, simply say to yourself, without any judgment, “I’m feeling tired today and want a Starbucks.” After doing this, sometimes, you’ll get a Starbucks, and other times you won’t.
As they say, awareness is the beginning of change.
Bonus Tip:
Once you’ve noticed and named your thoughts for a while, I recommend aiming to wait 5 minutes in between your thoughts/feelings and the behaviour they’re nudging you to do. For example, whenever I’m craving a coffee in the afternoon, I give myself 5 minutes to continue doing what I’m doing before I make a coffee. Sometimes, I’ve forgotten about it after 5 minutes (or decide I no longer want it). And other times the craving is still there and I consciously decide “A coffee it is!”
#5 — Plan When You’ll Eat
Most of us do best with some sort of routine. Both your mind and body, like to have structure — to know what’s happening and when. And this goes for your meal times too.
Evidence shows regular meals spaced evenly throughout your day help you:
- Lose weight/fat.
- Gain lean muscle.
- Create sustainable healthy habits.
- Improve your health, fitness and performance.
- Get better at recognising your hunger and fullness cues.
- Reduce over-overeating.
- Reduce food cravings.
- Boost your metabolism.
My suggestion for this tip is to start with breakfast. So, if you don’t already, aim to eat breakfast around a similar time each day. Then build your eating plan from there.
The ultimate goal is to find a meal and snack schedule that works for you. My recommendation is usually: 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch, super) and 3 snacks (1 mid-morning, 1 late-afternoon, and one after your evening meal) but please experiment and find what works for you.
Bonus Tip:
Consider setting yourself an “eating window” each day. For example, you might choose to only eat between 7.30 am and 9 pm, on most days. This one change can significantly improve your eating habits and help you lose weight for good.
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And there you have it, 5 simple ways you can lose weight for good by building healthy habits in your life.
Which one will you try first?
How Can You Lose Weight? Another Option
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This coaching experience has helped many people eat healthier, exercise more and feel better mentally and physically so they can finally be confident, happy and healthy. You deserve the same. So, go to beckyholliday.com/personal-health-coaching to get on the waitlist and learn more.
You’ll Love This Too
If you enjoyed this post and are looking for more tips on how you can lose weight without dieting, restriction or guilt, you’ll love these:
- This is the Best Exercise Schedule to Lose Weight
- How to Lose the Weight You’ve Put on in 2 Really Simple Steps
- 10 of the Best Simple & Healthy Junk Food Swaps
- The Best Quick & Easy Snacks That Are Good for You
- Learn 5 Things That’ll Transform Your Health In 5 Minutes Or Less (Free Health Guide)
Here’s to no more diets, restrictions or guilt.
With love,
Becky x