50 Weight Loss Tips

I have so many (apparently, exactly 50) random, small suggestions and tips on how to lose weight.  Most of these weight loss tips are pretty basic, but some may give you something new to consider on your journey.

The Basics (20 tips)

1. Read everything you can about nutrition/exercising. You need to appreciate and understand what you’re doing, you’ll have a better chance of continuing your weight loss journey.
2. Be skeptical of everything you read. While it’s great to read different points of views and opinions, you have to take a stand and pick a path for yourself.  You’ll read people telling you eat more calories, eat less calories, avoid carbs, eat carbs, count calories, count points, workout less, workout more, etc.  You need to just get started and find out what works for you.
3. Weigh yourself at most once a week.  You do NOT want to live and die by the scale.  Personally, I weigh myself every day now, just because it’s a habit more than anything.  But, I’ve been losing weight for over a year now and won’t be discouraged if I gain 2-3 pounds overnight (which is possible with eating a big meal the night before, storing a lot of fluids, etc.).  If you’re just starting out on your weight loss journey, you need to step off the scale and just concentrate on losing weight.
4. Get 7+ hours of sleep every night. Do as I say and not as I do, but you really should try to get at least 7 hours of sleep a night.  Your body needs rest to function properly and recuperate after those tough workouts.
5. Have healthy friends. I’m not saying to ditch all your friends that are overweight, but what I am saying is make new friends with people that are healthy — this should come naturally if you’re at the gym or performing some sort of group physical activity.  Hanging around people that have the same habits that you’re trying to achieve is a good way to pick them up.
6. Buy smaller clothes. You obviously need to buy clothes that are smaller as you lose weight, but you should also buy clothes that are smaller than you need when you buy them.  The next time you buy some new clothes, buy them a size too small (works especially well with pants).  You want to be able to fit into them, but they should be tight — force yourself to lose another 5 or 10 pounds to fit into them how’d prefer.  It’s cruel, but it really works.
7. Shop at Goodwill for new clothes.  They’re new to you, after all.  As you’re losing weight, it can be expensive to go buy new clothes every time you lose 10 pounds.  I have numerous quality t-shirts I’ve bought over the last year from Goodwill, ranging from $2-$4 in price.  Only now am I starting to buy things like suits and dress shirts again as I get near my goal weight.
8. Book a vacation in advance. If you can afford it, book a hotel (at least a night, if money is tight) months in advance in anticipation of a vacation.  This vacation should provide you with constant motivation leading up to the big day, especially if it’s a beach vacation.
9. Set realistic goals. You won’t lose 150 pounds in a year.  You might.  I know people that have with ease.  I know people that have tried for years.  More than likely, you won’t and you shouldn’t let that stop you.  You’ll lose weight at your own pace, ignore the pace of those around you.
10. Set smaller goals. While I had a larger goal in the back of my mind (originally to lose 100 pounds), my smaller goals keep me going.  My first goal was to reach 339 pounds, then 334, then 329, etc.  My first goal was to lose 5 pounds, then 5 pounds again, then I wanted to reach 325, then 300, etc.  Keep that carrot dangling right in front of you, don’t put it on the other side of a football field.
11. Weigh yourself at the same time. If you must weigh yourself every day or every week, do it at the same time.  Your weight will fluctuate several pounds during the course of a day.  Typically, you’ll weight the less before breakfast every morning.
12. Consider your priorities in life. Is this Chinese buffet or, more correctly, these series of unhealthy choices worth a life of diabetes, high blood pressure, angina, obesity, etc?  Is fried chicken more important than seeing your (future) kids growing up?
13. Gun ho is good, going crazy is not. You don’t need to be in the gym 3 hours a day 7 days a week.  Just like eating, exercise moderately.  4-5 days a week in the gym with hour long sessions is perfectly fine and healthy.
14. Buy a digital scale. I know times might be tough, but digital scales are usually more accurate and they can more closely monitor your weight than an old analog scale.  Get with the times, grandpa.
15. Be careful listening to friends and family. I love them, God bless them I do, but I can’t tell you how many times I was told at 244 pounds that I should stop losing weight.  Whether intentionally or inadvertently, those that care about you may try to stop you for losing weight.  I won’t spectate as to why, but it could be for reasons both good (they honestly think you look great!) or bad.
16. Consider the source of advice. I heard a saying before that you don’t talk to people who have less money than you about your finances.  You can certainly have plenty of exceptions to this (choosing a career over passion instead of money, lottery winners, etc), but there is some truth to this.  Don’t take advice on maintaining your weight loss from someone who has regained 100 pounds.
17. Donate your “fat clothes.” They shouldn’t take up your valuable dresser drawer or closet space, nor should they allow you to feel like you have an option of regaining your weight you’ve lost.  Once they know longer fit, toss them.  Give them to a friend or donate them (tax deduction!) to Goodwill.
18. Find an accountability partner. You don’t have to find thousands like I did (creating the blog), you just need to find one.  You need to find someone you can call and encourage you when you’re feeling discouraged and someone to update your weight loss progress with to keep you motivated and accountable.  If you start sliding back into your old unhealthy ways, this person should help stop you.
19. Take a multi-vitamin. This is particularly important when you restrict calories, as your body is naturally getting less nutrients (even though you still might be eating healthy).
20. Take before and after pictures. Sometimes the scale is misleading and even if it does show a large loss it still may be hard to notice any difference in the mirror as change occurs so gradually over time.  Take a before shot, even if you don’t publish it anywhere.  You can refer back to it as you progress on your journey for any changes.

Food & Eating (20 tips)

1. Count calories. Calories are simply units of energy, nothing more.  You need to burn more units of energy (calories) on a daily basis then you consume (eat).  If you do this, you’ll lose weight, period.
2. Eat smaller, yet more frequent meals. I eat around 7 AM, 10 AM, 1 PM, 4 PM, and 6 PM.  It’s not perfect, but eating all throughout the day keeps my metabolism high and keeps me from getting hungry.
3. Drink water. I drink 100+ ounces a day.  You’ll hate water at first, especially if you’re coming from an old unhealthy lifestyle where you drank nothing but sugar drinks, but trust me, you’ll learn to love h20.
4. Dip your fork into salad dressing. If you just can’t stand from switching away from ranch salad dressing, consider having it brought to you on the side of your salad.  Dip your fork into the ranch, getting some of the ranch on the fork tines, then get a forkful of salad.  It’s a great way to shave off calories while still enjoying ranch.
5. Keep eating foods you like (“cheat meals”). I don’t necessarily like the term cheat meals, as that implies a diet, but that’s the best way to describe them.  You don’t want to feel like you’re depriving yourself all the time because if you do, you’ll hate your new healthy lifestyle and feel the urge to binge.  Put it this way.  Even if you only eat 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, that’s 21 meals — even if you had 4 cheat meals a week, that’s still 17 meals a week that are healthy.  That’s more than fine.
6. Eat junk food in smaller portions. Not every meal you eat has to contain the perfect mix of protein/carbs/fats.  It’d be ideal, sure, but if you want to have a heaping bowl of sugar cereal for breakfast, a few donuts for lunch, and a Big Mac for dinner, you’ll lose weight that day because you’re talking about only about 1,600 calories.  Of course, I don’t recommend this diet as it’s incredibly unhealthy, but you’d lose weight on it and don’t let any of the haters tell you differently.
7. Bake instead of fry. Instead of ordering fried fish at restaurants, I now ordered grilled.  Instead of frying french fries at home, I bake.  Baked food has a considerable lower amount of calories and actually maintains its nutritional value after cooking.
8. Don’t eat within 3 hours of bed. With the exception of a protein shake, I typically eat dinner and stop snacking after 7 PM.  You need to burn off calories you consume, something you typically can’t do if you eat close to bedtime.
9. Shop for groceries after eating a big meal. If you’re hungry when you go grocery shopping you’ll tend to buy a lot more junk food (and spend more money).  Trust me on this one.
10. Eat more fiber. It makes you feel full and keeps you regular in the restroom.
11. Learn to deal with binges. You will binge.  You will eat 10 cookies in one serving on some random Tuesday night.  That’s fine.  Wake up the next morning and start eating and living healthy again.  No big deal.
12. Avoid eating too few calories. Anything under 1,200 calories a day (or somewhere close to it) is extremely low and dangerous.  Your body needs energy to live and if you eat too few, you’ll feel lethargic.  Don’t try to lose weight at the expensive of being miserable.
13. Use spices when cooking. If you think grilled doesn’t taste nearly as good as fried, you’re not alone.  But, instead of frying that grilled chicken, cover it with some cajun or lemon pepper or hot sauce.
14. Eat carbs. Please, don’t follow a no-carb or low-carb diet.  It’s a terrible craze.  Carbohydrates are energy.  Eat less, you’ll have less energy.  It’s not a personal opinion, it’s science.
15. Prepare meals ahead of time. You need to know in the morning what you’re going to have that night for dinner.  If not, you’ll get home, panic, and decide that it’s just a lot easier to go out to eat or eat something from a box/bag (generally not as healthy).  Prepare every meal in advance, even if you’re just planning to have a turkey sandwich for lunch, just so you don’t feel the urge to eat something bad.
16. Add 10 percent to your daily calorie count. Between snacking and just underestimating your calories, you’re probably eating at least 10% more than you think you are consuming.  You had 2,000 calories today?  More like 2,200.
17. Buy smaller portions of everything when dining out. If you do feel like splurging for some fast food (or food product, as some say), order the kid’s meal.  I’ve purchased the kids meal from Chic-fil-a plenty of times.  It’s about 600 calories and is about the same size you’d find as the  regular-sized meal in other countries — it’s more than filling.
18. Start with the biggest meal, end with the smallest. Your breakfast should be massive, falled by a medium sized lunch and a small dinner.  I know as society we have it the other way around, but it really should be the opposite.  Remember, calories are energy, and you need the most in the morning and during the day, not at night.
19. Brush your teeth/have a mint after every meal. Once you’re done at a meal, go brush your teeth.  If you’re out at a restaurant, pop a mint.  The sooner you get the taste of food out of your mouth, the sooner you’ll signal to all of your senses that the meal is done with.  It’s time to move on.
20. Only eat bad at restaurants. If you keep junk food around the house, you’re more likely to eat like crap.  That’s not rocket science, I know, but it’s seriously how I fight cravings.  Mmm, I want some chips — oh wait, I’m not driving to the store.  Make it an effort to eat unhealthy and you’ll be less inclined to do so.

Burning Calories (9 tips)

1. Use part of your lunch break to exercise. I manage to find time after work (if you consider 8:30 to 9:30 PM “found time”), but I have worked out during lunch before.  Bring a change of clothes and throw a baseball in the parking lot with a colleague, go for a walk/run, or maybe drive to a nearby gym or park for some quick cardio.
2. Sign up for classes. Group classes (like Total Body Training) are extremely fun and you’ll make friends — workout buddies, as we call them on the street.  You’ll keep each other accountable and ensure each other keeps showing up.
3. Lift weights. It’s one thing to do cardio all the live long day and become skin and bones, but muscles really define you and can make you proud of the way you look.  While I’ve been happy with losing the weight and getting skinnier in the mirror, it simply looked like I was deflating so to speak.  It wasn’t until a few months ago when I started lifting weights that I really started becoming pleased with the way my body was transforming.
4. Pay for a couple of training sessions. Trainers are expensive, but only a couple of sessions can give you the motivation and more importantly the knowledge to lose weight and proper exercise techniques.
5. Play a sport. I joined softball and I’m absolutely in love with it, it’s a fun way to burn calories.  No matter how gun ho you are about losing weight, getting on a treadmill every day of your life will get boring eventually.
6. Take time to make a good workout playlist. Fast, upbeat music can really spice up a workout and give you longer, more intense workouts.  It’s been proven that music increases workout effectiveness by 32%*!  *I made that up.
7. Find a workout buddy. Your workout buddy is an accountability partner in some ways, but often times a workout buddy is simply that — someone to workout with and socialize to while you’re on the treadmill for an hour.
8. Become an expert at one exercise. While you’ll definitely want to vary as you continue your weight loss journey, find one exercise you want to become an expert at and dominate it.  Whether it’s running, bike riding, the elliptical, playing a sport, find an exercise you like and make it challenge you.  There are almost unlimited levels of difficulty and intensity, so you can find something to keep you occupied for literally years.
9. Dance, sing, and make love. All of these burn calories and are really fun.  Learn to live and love life by doing activities that burn calories — turn off the television and get moving.

Last, but not least, number 50: know what you’re fighting for. Maybe you know you’re going to die because of your weight or maybe you just want to fit into a smaller bathing suit at the pool.  Regardless how serious the need for you to lose weight may be, you need to make a physical list of reasons why you’re losing weight and keep it in a place where you can reference it when you feel like being unhealthy.

I have my reasons for losing weight.  Exactly a year ago today, March 19, 2009, I became a daddy.  Today is my daughter Natalee’s one year birthday and I’m going to enjoy it with her — minus 95 pounds.

I showed you mine, now show me yours.  Have any tips for losing weight?