Hugo L
Are you looking for a way to lose weight that works long-term? Forget about magic pills, and don’t even think about starving yourself! It doesn’t work!
Now, let’s talk about what really works. More specifically, let me tell you about 5 foolproof no-bullshit no-nonsense ways to lose weight that anyone can do. Without even breaking a sweat!
If you can’t follow all five recommendations, that’s fine. You will still lose weight, even if you only do one or two of them. But do all five, and the results will be much greater.
Does any of these 5 ways require you to do extreme things? No, pills or starving aren’t involved (I told you already!). It’s all about changing your lifestyle, and making smarter everyday choices (that might not be the most comfortable choice short-term). Let me explain:
1. Get a Dog
Get a dog? What, why? Is he crazy?! No I’m not crazy. Here’s why you should get a dog:
Long daily walks is one of the absolute best ways to lose weight and to reduce stress. A healthier body and a happier and less stressful mind isn’t too shabby, right? But this post is about weight loss, so let’s check some numbers.
Calories burned when walking
Walking in a fast pace for one hour burns somewhere between 136 and 272 calories. These numbers are for a 150 lbs person, so let’s use 200 calories as a realistic number. 1 hour of walking per day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks per year, makes a grand total of 72,800 calories burnt. 72,800!
For an adult woman, that equals 36.4 days of the recommended daily intake of calories. More than 36 days of everything you eat! As you probably understand by now, the long-term effect of the daily walk is tremendous. If you stick to normal foods in moderate amounts (more on that later), this point alone is guaranteed to make you lose weight!
Why the dog is important
Sometimes though, getting out for a walk isn’t easy. I know from my own experience, that on rainy or very cold days, it’s tempting to stay at home on the couch instead of walking for an hour in bad weather. And this is where the dog comes into the picture.
The single best way to get your lazy ass up from the couch is to get a dog. Because the dog needs its walks, no matter what the weather is like. And since you’re a kind and generous person, you won’t deny the dog that pleasure.
Personally, I walk for 1½ hours, six days a week (my girlfriend walks the dog the 7th day), and I haven’t weighed this little for many years. I haven’t changed anything else in my life, so I’m confident when I tell you that dog ownership is a sure way to weight loss (as long as you give the dog the walks it deserves and needs)..
So, what kind of dog should you get? All dogs need at least four daily walks, but large sized dogs usually need longer walks than smaller ones. Consult a professional dog expert to help you get the right type of dog for you and your family’s needs.
2. Eat Smarter
You don’t need to eat any special or weird foods in order to lose weight. You just need to stick to normal but healthy foods, and to avoid overeating. Let me break it down for you:
- Avoid junk food. Let’s be honest. Junk food is called precisely that because it’s bad for your health. Ok? So skip pizzas and french fries on weekdays, and save that pleasure for the occasional Saturday night. You should definitely not eat junk food more than once a week. And that’s an absolute maximum!
- Think balance. What you should eat, is food from a well-balanced diet that contains both fish, lean meat, vegetables and fruit. It’s very important to get all the vitamins and minerals your body needs (and also the healthy fats found in fish).
- Low-carb. Try to cut down on carbohydrates and instead increase the amount of proteins you eat. That’s the basic idea behind low-carb diets, which I have found to be very effective.
- Stop eating when you’re full. The extra pieces of food you manage to squeeze in after you’re full are totally unnecessary. They contain calories you definitely don’t need or want.
Most people don’t need supplements if they stick to a well-balanced diet like this. Say bye bye to pills!
3. Stay Away From White Sugar
This point could have been placed under #2 Eat Smarter, but I think it’s so important that I gave it its own spot on the list.
White sugar is a powerful drug that’s very bad for your body. It causes diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure. Scientist around the world agree on that. To replace white sugar, choose another sweetener. Even better though, is to stop your body’s addiction to it. By cutting down on sugar and other sweeteners, your blood glucose levels will become much more stable, and you won’t have to deal with the mood swings and hunger cravings that a lot of people experience.
Less hunger, better health, and more body fat burnt, not bad!
4. Get a Bicycle (if you don’t already own one)
A bike is perfect for shorter trips. I mean, if the weather is nice and you’re only going to the pharmacy (or whatever your errand is) one or two miles away, why the hell would you take the car? It costs money, you pollute the air, AND it’s bad for your health. Using a 2,000 pound piece of machine to move your 150-200 pounds around is just silly (and very lazy).
And just to be clear, sitting still in a comfortable seat, pressing a little pedal with your foot, doesn’t even remotely qualify as exercise. 🙂
So, taking the bike isn’t a double whammy, it’s a triple whammy! It’s better for your bank account, for the environment, and your health (weight, blood pressure etcetera). Bicycles are one of the best weight-loss products you can get, and getting one (and using it!) is a pretty easy decision when you really think things through…
5. Strength Training
I recommend that you do some basic strength training once a week to stop your body from breaking down muscle mass (this might cause some mild sweating though… oh horrible thought!). If you only do cardio training, and/or don’t eat enough proteins, you run the risk of losing a large portion of your muscles, which would be a bad thing.
And why exactly is losing muscle mass bad? Isn’t all weight loss good? No, actually it isn’t!
The body needs to burn calories in order to sustain its muscle mass, so the more muscles you have, the more calories will be burnt just to sustain your bodily functions. In other words, if you go to the gym once or twice a week to lift some weights, you will lose more fat, even when you’re asleep. Very nice!
Conclusion
With a few simple changes in your lifestyle, you’re guaranteed to lose weight. By taking long daily walks, and avoiding car silliness, junk food and white sugar, you are destined for a happy healthy life. Many pounds lighter than before!
