Unknown to many people, their struggle for weight loss often requires the simplest solutions. Some of the most straight forward weight loss tips, those that are often underrated, offer the greatest results – particularly for losing weight quickly.
It, therefore, goes without saying that if you want to approach your weight-loss goals as a scientist would, make sure that simple steps guide your efforts.
Of course, it’s always easy to bad into bad advice when your weight-loss efforts seem to bear no fruit. From fad diets to intense workouts to starving yourself, misconceptions are a lot – and it can become quite a daunting task figuring out what works and what doesn’t.
Well, why not start with simple steps that actually work? And what could be more satisfying than leveraging your existing daily habits and incorporating a few tweaks to lose weight?
The best part about this is that it is easier to create habits and change than most people think. All you need to do is slightly change the parts of your daily routine that don’t require much thought or effort. This way, you won’t have to make huge changes that are primed for failure.
Easy Weight Loss Tips
Before you commit to an expensive diet or sign up for various workouts, try these simple but effective steps first. They are the most underrated ways to shed some pounds.
1. Adjust Your AC to a Cool Setting
That’s right. Surprisingly, keeping it cool helps you burn fat faster than in a balmy setting. This was proven by a study published in the journal Diabetes.
It suggested that simply adjusting the air conditioner to a colder temperature may help people fight belly fat as they sleep.
The working principle is that colder temperatures improve the effectiveness of your body’s stores of brown fat. The fat helps you remain warm by burning the fats stored in your belly.
According to the study, the participants were exposed to the temperature for at least 10 hours each night for 4 months. The groups engaged in daily activities and each night, they spent it in bedrooms with different temperatures.
The temperature of the room was set to 24 °C (75 °F) during the first month, 19 °C (66 °F) the second month, 24 °C again for the third month, and 27 °C (81 °F) the remaining month.
After one month of spending their nights in a 66-degree bedroom, the participants had almost doubled their volumes of brown fat and increased their fat metabolic activity. That means they lost fat!
2. Have Your Cup of Coffee
Your morning cup of Joe could just be the key to unlocking your weight loss goals. It helps you lose some pounds and body fat, by an estimated 4 percent.
All you have to do is ensure that you don’t go overboard with the daily recommendation. Of course, caffeine will help you lose weight and prevent weight gain, but not significantly. It can’t keep it off permanently for that matter.
However, if you took it mindfully while combining it with exercise and a balanced diet, you can achieve your weight-loss goals.
3. Try Full Fat for Weight Loss
If you haven’t been having enough of this, try going full fat on your plate. Lots of nutritional guidelines, including the American Heart Association have often advised people to cut down on fat as it predisposes them to the risks of heart disease among others.
New truths have emerged, however, and it turns out, that choosing whole-fat foods over skim, lite, fat-free, or other types of modern foods may help you lose weight.
A recent report from the Credit Suisse Research Institute supports this fact, and it puts to rest those decades-old credos.
In scrutiny, going full-fat on your foods goes in line with the recommendations of the Mediterranean Diet. It advocates for full-fat dairy among other meals as a great way of remaining healthy and ensuring sustainable weight loss.
4. Have Red Fruit
Red fruits make the best fruits for weight loss. There’s a ton of these fruits at the farmers’ market and your nearest grocery. Some of the easiest and most delicious ones include Pink Lady apples, watermelon, red grapes, and raspberries.
These fruits contain high levels of nutrients known as flavonoids which give the fruit its red color. Anthocyanins, a type of flavonoid, in particular, calm the action of fat-storage genes.
A study done by the University of Western Australia to determine the effects of these nutrients from various red fruits in the human body found that the Pink Lady apples had the highest levels of flavonoids. These antioxidants are thought to keep the body in tip-top condition.
5. Chinese Tea
The Chinese steep pu-erh tea is a type of fermented tea that can shrink the size of your fat cells! This claim was researched by Chinese experts as they sought to determine the brew’s fat-crusading powers.
The Chinese researchers divided rats into five groups. Each group was then fed different diets over a period of two months.
Alongside a control group, one of the groups received a high-fat diet without tea supplementation. Three additional groups were fed a high-fat diet with different doses of fermented Chinese tea.
Findings showed that the pu-erh tea extracts substantially lowered the concentrations of the potentially harmful fat found in the blood (triglyceride), and belly fat in the high-fat diet groups.
Although these effects might not be exactly the same in humans, the findings of the research present promising results that are still well worth your cup of steaming Chinese tea.
6. Make Every Day Casual Friday
This may come as a surprise, but wearing your jeans to work wears away your belly. The University of Wisconsin researchers found that people who wore denim to work took almost 500 more steps (about a quarter-mile) throughout the day than they did on days when they wore more formal attire.
Of course, you might feel a little weird in them if you are not used to them, but shedding off those pounds of fat in your belly will make you see jeans in a different light.
7. Smell Some Scents
Take a whiff of some green apples and bananas, and you will curb your appetite for sugary foods such as desserts.
This fact is supported by some studies. Scientists believe that the produce (green apples and bananas) drives one to subconsciously think about making healthier choices.
If a fruit basket doesn’t seem like a brilliant idea, smelling shea butter-based scented lotions will achieve the same effect.
8. Cereals Aren’t for Kids Alone
Are you an early bird who gets plenty of time to read a paper in the morning before rushing to work? Well, why don’t you sit down and kill a bowl of cereal while at it?
According to research, eating oatmeal is more satiating than cold cereals and can help you lose some weight. The instant varieties of cereal aren’t always as nutritious as you would think. It is, therefore, better to use the slow-cooking variety.
9. Envision Eating More to Eat Less
If you are used to eating candy, there is a trick you can use to curb that appetite – imagine eating more! That’s right, to eat less, imagine eating more.
According to a study published by Science.org involving participants eating M&Ms, those who imagined eating more ate less after they were allowed to eat their fill. On average, this group ate about three M&Ms (or about 2.2 grams), whereas the others ate about five M&Ms (or about 4.2 grams).
10. A Date at the Gym
With busy schedules and arriving home late from work, grading papers over the weekends, and whatnot, it is increasingly difficult to find time to hit the gym. Here is a solution to that, go on a date at the gym, or have your friend meet you there.
You can socialize as you exercise and get fit. You can work out with your spouse too! A JAMA Internal Medicine study involving close to 4,000 showed that people are more likely to follow healthy eating habits when they work together with their partners.
11. Enjoy Some Watermelon
Fruits are no doubt very healthy but only a handful can eliminate or get rid of bloating like watermelons. Eating watermelon can lower the accumulation of fat in your belly, researchers from the University of Kentucky found.
Another group of experts also noted that honeydew can expel water retention and bloating. This is one great way of slimming effortlessly, it seems far-fetched but it is effective in the long run. You can enjoy the melons solo or as a salad mixed with yogurt.
12. Eat Before Dinner
This may sound surprising, but eating before heading out for that dinner may limit the amount of food you end up consuming. Studies published in the Appetite journal found that eating an apple or having broth-based soup before sitting down to eat at a restaurant can reduce the total calorie intake by up to 20 percent.
The average restaurant meal weighs an average of 1,128 calories. If you save 20 percent of that number, you can lose up to 23 pounds a year.
13. Have Some Fish Oil
Fish oil is not only best for babies but one of the healthiest nutrients for adults as well. You may not like it, but research has shown that fish oil, which is obtained from the consumption of fatty fish containing high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, lowers triglycerides in those with diabetes and heart problems by between 20 and 50 percent.
Fish, not only helps prevent the prevalence of some diseases but can also boost your weight loss by keeping you satiated for long, says a study. So, next time your cravings push you to the sea, sail with it and enjoy some fish.
14. Ever Tried a Sandwich Without Bread?
It is one of the simplest things to do, and one that can help you lose weight if you keep it up. Simply lay your Swiss cheese on your board and top it with a piece of deli turkey. Add a spoonful of guacamole, or hummus, wrap it like your jelly roll and enjoy. This simple breakfast or mid-morning snack can save you up to 200 calories compared to your everyday lunch.
15. Tried Kamut Yet?
Also known as Khorsan wheat, the native to the Middle East Kamut has significant amounts of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids and proteins, and is incredibly low in calories.
Only half a cup of Kamut serving comes with 30 percent more protein than your typical wheat (6 grams), and it only amounts to 140 calories. Kamut consumption is a great way to reduce cholesterol, blood sugar, and cytokines in the body note a study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
It is a great source of zinc, B vitamins, and iron, which cumulatively aids in keeping your energy levels high. This way, you can burn more calories throughout the day and shed some pounds while at it.
Bottom Line:
You often don’t need to look far and wide as your strive for weight loss. Some of the most effective and easiest ways involve the little things you do every day but ignore. Try some of those steps, and you’ll be well on your way to losing weight.
But remember, weight loss is dependent on the person as well as their underlying or existing health conditions. Before doing anything, ensure that it is worth your health and take all the necessary precautions.
