7 Best Healthy Weight Loss Tips (Part 1 of 2)

Getting in shape and losing weight is an ongoing battle for many people. Whether your reason for wanting to lose weight is to manage health conditions, boost confidence, have more energy or look better in your clothes, everyone who wants to lose weight definitely wants to keep it off. I have yet to meet someone who says they just want to lose weight for this month, then regain it later.

The number one reason people, particularly women, come to see me is for weight loss. They have hit a point where they are frustrated and tired of trying multiple diets and weight loss programs that just aren’t working for them. Maybe a style of eating worked for them in the past, but not anymore and they just want to get results and need a little direction and support.

So, to help give you a little direction with your healthy weight loss goals, here are 7 of my best tips I share with my clients, for healthy weight loss. Oh, and if your goal isn’t to lose weight, don`t worry, these tips are also essential for overall health and wellness.

Tip No. 1: focus on ADDING foods to your diet

Yep, I said ADDING foods. Often when we think of the word diet, we automatically think of what we can’t eat, and that we’ll be eating nothing but salads and boiled chicken.

I had a client tell me that when she was following one of the popular diets out there, chicken and salad (no dressing) was all she ate because this was all she felt she was allowed to have. Even vegetables were limited on her plan so she ran out of ideas of what to eat, and ended up eating the same foods over and over. I think it was during our first session that she said, “I never wanted to look at another chicken breast again. Ever.”

Focus on adding quality, whole foods

By focusing on adding quality foods to your diet, you will lose weight because, fresh, whole, unprocessed foods tend to be naturally lower in calories, so you won`t have to think about whether you are eating too much or too little. You just get to eat them.

As an added bonus, these foods will help fight cancer, reduce your risk of heart disease (which is the number 1 killer of women in case you didn’t know), and fill your body with all the nutrients that make your skin glow.

Three of my favorite foods to add today:

Three of my favorite foods you should add today if you aren’t already eating regularly – cauliflower, kale and spinach. Why you ask?

Veggie #1 – Cauliflower

With cauliflower you can add to just about anything to increase the volume of a dish without greatly changing the flavor or the look. It’s what I call a ‘sneaky` vegetable. You can sneak it in dishes without people knowing. Grate it up and mix it with rice or blend it with mashed potato. It will easily cut the calories of a dish by 50%.

Veggie #2 – Kale

Kale is king when it comes to super foods. As soon as you chop or chew it, it releases cancer fighting antioxidants (sulforaphanes to be exact) and when you steam it, it actually kicks butt for lowering cholesterol compared to many other veggies. If you haven’t yet tried kale chips, click here to try an easy kale chips recipe

Veggie #3 – Spinach

Spinach is a versatile veggie that is easy to use and packed with nutrition. Research has even found that a specific flavanoid in spinach, kaempferol, has been associated with a 40% less risk of ovarian cancer. Spinach is my go-to vegetable for just about anything. My favorite places to add it you ask? Pasta sauce and curry. Just add it at the end to wilt it.

Tip No. 2: Think like an athlete and focus on the end result.

One of the worst things you could do when trying to change your eating habits for healthy weight loss, is to start focusing your energy on what you feel like you won`t be able to eat. When you do this, you are basically telling yourself that making these changes will be painful! Why would anyone want to do something that causes pain?

Athletes are told to focus on visualizing themselves practicing their sport and winning the race or the game. This is because research has shown that it actually improves their physical performance, enhances motivation, increases self confidence and helps manage stress.

So, think like an athlete. Just like they are focusing on what it is they need to do to be successful and actually visualizing themselves achieving their goals, you can do this too. Picture yourself at your target weight and all of the positive outcomes you’ll get once you achieve your goal. Picture yourself with lots of energy, better health and looking and feeling the way you want.

Focus on you being successful. Visualize that.

Tip No. 3 – Forget about trying to do everything perfectly. Just be committed.

There’s nothing wrong with striving to do and be our best, but for some reason with weight loss, from my experience, clients always try to get it ‘perfect’ from the get-go. Whether it is following a meal plan, or working out 7 days a week. Then, as soon as they fall off track, they beat themselves up. Don’t be so hard on yourself! If losing weight was really that simple, then nearly 40% of people wouldn’t struggle with weight. The key is just to get started and keep going.

You don’t have to be perfect to get results.You just have to be committed.

So I hope you found that helpful and I’ll be posting my other 4 tips next week. This week, when you go grocery shopping, pick up some cauliflower, kale and spinach and focus on adding it to your dinners this week. Remember, focus on foods you can ADD to your diet to help you with your healthy weight loss goals.

I’ve posted a kale chips recipe I shared a while back, but if you didn’t get a chance to try it out then, now is the time!

If you have a kale chips recipe you love, let me know and I’ll share it!

See you next week!