20 Ways to Lose Weight Faster
Slow and steady may win the race, but when you're trying to lose weight, fast feels a whole lot better. From counting calories to spending what feels like forever at the gym, when weight loss is taking too long, it can make even the most determined losers feel like giving up.
The good news? Getting fit doesn't need to be a time-consuming endeavor and there are real methods when it comes to how to lose weight fast. Making a few small changes to your daily habits, from spending more time outdoors to paying more attention at each meal, can make a major difference in how rapidly you shed those unwanted pounds. These 20 tips will help you lose weight faster than you ever thought possible—and the 42 Ways to Lose 5 Inches of Belly Fat can help bring the body you've always wanted within your reach.
Wake Up Earlier
Early birds have a definite advantage when it comes to how to lose weight fast, especially when compared to their night owl counterparts. Setting your alarm just an hour or two earlier may yield serious results when it comes to your weight; researchers at Roehampton University have found that early risers tend to healthier in general than their night owl counterparts. Even better, the study suggested early birds experience less stress, keeping their cortisol levels low and making it easier for them to shed pounds.
Eat Eggs For Breakfast
Starting your day with an omelet is an eggcellent way to ensure you shed those pounds both quickly and easily. According to research in Obesity, starting your day with eggs improves weight loss when compared to carbohydrate-rich meals. And yes, despite the bad press they've gotten, whole eggs are fine — research suggests most healthy people can eat as many as three a day without adverse effects.
Sip Some Coffee
While calling that sugary latte or blended coffee a health food is definitely a stretch, starting your day with a cup of plain can help you ditch that extra weight in no time. Research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals that overweight and obese individuals who drank coffee had higher metabolic rates and lost more weight than those who abstained. Just make sure you're taking your coffee black for the most benefit; adding sugar and milk to your coffee can sabotage your weight loss.
Hydrate the Healthy Way
Eager to shed those extra pounds in a hurry? Here's how to lose weight fast! Try starting your meal with some H20. Researchers at Humboldt University in Berlin found that study participants who drank two cups of water before meals increased their metabolic rate by 30 percent. Additional research suggests that having a couple glasses of water before meals can also help you feel full, decreasing your overall caloric intake. For more ways to make your health a priority, make the 30 Best Anti-Inflammatory Foods part of your meal plan now!
Make Fiber a Priority
Say so long to that jiggle around your middle by making fiber a priority in your meals. According to a 2015 study published in the American Journal of Physiology, increasing your soluble fiber intake can help your gut bacteria grow in strength and number while reducing the negative effects of high-calorie foods. Luckily, that doesn't mean you have to make your diet boring and bland to get slim down; making black bean brownies, tossing some spinach in a smoothie, or sprinkling a little ground flaxseed on your food are all easy ways to up your fiber intake while enjoying the foods you love.
Get Some Sunlight
A little sunlight can do wonders for your mood, and the same goes for your metabolism and how to lose weight fast. Researchers at Northwestern University found that individuals who were exposed to early morning sunlight lost more weight than those who shunned the sun. Even better, sunlight can help regulate your circadian rhythms, making it easier to get plenty of metabolism-boosting rest.
Split Up Your Workouts
Just because you don't have time to do a long workout doesn't mean you can't get in an effective calorie burn. A study published in PLoS One suggests that doing multiple shorter workouts over the course of the day is just as effective as engaging in longer ones, and researchers in Australia have found that exercisers who did multiple short workouts over a 4-month period gained 1.5 pounds of metabolism-boosting muscle and lost a whopping 12 percent of their belly fat.
Cut Out Dessert
While it may be hard to bid dessert adieu forever, cutting down on the amount of sugar you eat at each meal can yield major results. Researchers at Albertus Magnus University have found that refined sugar has a serious metabolism-slowing effect, and other studies have linked it to increased blood pressure, too. Ditch the sugar in your coffee, swap out your soy milk for an unsweetened version, and be careful with your condiments and you'll lose weight and cut your risk of dangerous hypertension in no time. Make your home a haven for weight loss by making sure you always have the 40 Things Healthy Cooks Always Have in Their Kitchen on hand!
Ditch the Diet Soda
Your diet soda habit may be the very thing holding you back from learning how to lose weight fast. According to a study published in the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, artificial sweeteners can make you crave real sugar. Even scarier, researchers found that regular diet soda drinkers are more likely to be overweight or obese than those who don't touch the stuff. If you want to slim down fast, skip the diet soda in favor of water and those pounds will melt right off.
Swap Ketchup For Mustard
A little ketchup on your burger may not seem like a big deal, but that sugary condiment could be keeping you from the body you want. To slim down faster, try switching to mustard instead; researchers at the Oxford Polytechnic Institute found that eating just a teaspoon of spicy brown mustard can boost your metabolism by as much as 25 percent for hours after you eat it. Speed up your slimdown by kicking the 75 Health Foods That Aren't off your menu!
Flavor Your Food With Garlic
While not the friendliest food for your breath, adding some garlic to your meals is a great way to speed up your weight loss help your body learn how to lose weight fast. Garlic is a good source of inulin, a prebiotic material that Italian researchers have found effective at reducing hunger, lowering cholesterol, improving gut health, and boosting metabolism.
Make Mindful Eating a Priority
Make mindful eating a priority and watch those pounds melt away faster than you ever thought possible. According to a study conducted at Brown University, individuals who scored higher on mindfulness exercises carried less disease-promoting abdominal fat, making a clear case for nixing distractions like TV during mealtime.
Keep it Cool
While it may seem like keeping your home hot would help you sweat off the pounds, research suggests that setting your thermostat lower is actually more effective when you're trying to lose weight fast. A study published in Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism reveals that keeping your home's temperature at 64 degrees can trigger non-shivering thermogenesis, increasing your potential fat burn in a hurry.
Bring Your Own Food
Save money and slim down faster by brown bagging it at work. It's the first step in learning how to lose weight fast. According to research published in Public Health Nutrition, people who pack their own lunch eat healthier in general and are less reliant on fattening processed foods and soda, making it easier for them to shed unwanted weight.
Heat Up Your Cooking
Bringing the heat in the kitchen can help you ditch those extra pounds in a hurry. Research from Maastricht University and the Paris Institute of Technology For Life, Food and Environmental Sciences reveals that capsaicin, the compound that lends spicy peppers their trademark heat, boosts metabolism and increases your fat burn. For more ways to shed those extra pounds, discover the 40 Tips That Double Weight Loss!
Visualize Your Indulgences
While eating unhealthy food won't do any favors for your health, thinking about eating it might. In one study, half of participants were told to imagine eating a small portion of candy and the other half to imagine eating a large amount. Those who imagined eating a larger portion ate less at a later meal than those who fantasized about a paltry serving, suggesting that the dream of a junk food binge may be as satisfying as the reality.
Dress Your Salad With Vinegar
Your salad dressing choices may be the reason your weight loss has hit a roadblock. Trade in that sugary low-fat salad dressing for some satisfying oil and apple cider vinegar and you can plow through a plateau and enjoy a svelter silhouette ASAP. A 12-week Japanese study reveals that participants who consumed apple cider vinegar over the course of the study enjoyed a reduction in weight, waist circumference, and belly fat. Talk about how to lose weight fast!
Snack on Grapefruit
Start your morning with some refreshing grapefruit and speed up your weight loss in the process. Researchers at the Scripps Clinic reveals that, over a 12-week period, study participants who ate grapefruit lost more weight and reduced their insulin resistance, while the placebo group had no such luck. Just make sure you're eating the fresh stuff instead of drinking sugary grapefruit juice or you could slow down your progress.
Think Back to a Cheat Meal
Cheat meals — even ones you ate hours ago — may help you lose weight faster and keep it off. According to research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, individuals who remembered the last thing they ate as being satisfying and filling consumed fewer calories at subsequent meals. Sounds like all those daydreams of donuts aren't a waste of time, after all.
Cut Down on Grazing
Instead of eating little meals all day long, stick to three squares and you might just find the pounds melting off faster than you expected. Researchers conducted at the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam reveals that over a 6-week period, study subjects who ate three meals a day lost more weight and more belly fat than those who noshed between meals. For more ways to ditch those unwanted pounds, discover the 25 Food Swaps That Cut 2,500 Calories a Week!
