9 Simple But Overlooked Weight Loss Hacks

For some of us, it may seem like we spend our lives fighting the battle of the bulge. With the mass amount of information out about diet, exercise, and weight loss gimmicks, how do what we know what to believe and what information to trust?

Well to answer this ever-so-common question, you really have to start by remembering the basics.

The Simple Equation for Weight loss

The first thing to keep in mind is that weight gain weight is very much related to a simple math equation. Our bodies have a basic need for energy, known as our resting metabolic rate. This is rate at which our bodies use the fuel from food sources to feed our bodily functions (like breathing, digesting food, moving our muscles, brain function and all of the processes our bodies need to stay alive).

Then comes the surplus. The things we don’t need, like extra calories from food that our bodies don’t need to use immediately, become stored as fat. Once we develop fat deposits, we have to work to mobilize the stored fat and lose weight.

The simple math comes from realizing that we must take in less or work off more in order to tap into our bank of fat and burn up the fats cells, which leads to loss of weight.

Simple Tips for Losing Weight

The real problem is that temptations are everywhere and very hard to resist. So, here are some ideas to help with your willpower on your road to success.

1. Try a multivitamin:
   “It’s possible that some people eat more because they’re seeking out certain nutrients,” says a study published in the International Journal of Obesity, where researchers assigned 96 obese women to take a multivitamin; this according to Dr. Louis J. Aronne, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. Although taking a vitamin alone isn’t a valid weight-loss plan, he says, doing so might reduce the need to consume as much food because you are getting nutrients without having to consume calories.
2. Sit at the end of the table:
   Snag a spot at the end of the table if you can, because “the center seats are where the bread, chips, and other sharing plates usually wind up,” says psychologist Stephen Gullo, author of The Thin Commandments.
3. Time your carbs:
   In the fight against fat, restricting carbohydrates may not be as important as timing the intake of them. In a 2011 Israeli study, 100 obese people went on a diet of roughly 20 percent protein, 30 percent fat, and 50 percent carbohydrates. Group one ate starches throughout the day; group two saved most carbohydrates for dinner. Six months later group two reported feeling more full during the day and had lost more weight, body fat, and abdominal inches. It seems that total daily intake is important, but restricting for the majority of the day helps to keep the daily total intake less.
4. Consider your alcohol intake:
   A 2010 study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, which followed more than 19,000 women for an average of 13 years, found that those who had one to two alcoholic drinks daily put on fewer pounds than non-drinkers and heavy drinkers. Weight gain was lowest among wine drinkers. While the researchers can’t definitively explain this, they say that the subjects who sipped a glass or two ate fewer calories—and that women burn more calories after drinking than those who abstained.
5. Eat spicy foods:
   Spices like cayenne and pepper have been proven to increase calorie burning.
6. See an allergist:
   If you take medicine to control allergies, weight gain may be a common complaint. People on antihistamines are ten pounds heavier on average than their un-medicated counterparts, Joseph Ratliff, a postdoctoral associate in Yale School of Medicine’s psychiatry department, has found. This could be because H1-type antihistamines (such as Claritin or Allegra) block the immune system’s histamines, which play a role in appetite and fat breakdown. Allergy shots or corticosteroids are possible alternatives, but those whose symptoms are best controlled by antihistamines may have to adjust their diet.
7. Keep the lights low:
   Studies have shown that sleeping in a dark room with no lights on decreases the release of cortisol which can lead to weight gain if too much cortisol is needed while you sleep, as happens during times of extreme stress.
8. Keep your sleeping area cold:
   To increase the need for thermogenesis, also known as warming of the body by generation of heat, keep your bedroom cool. Our bodies need to do more when it’s cold, which could lead to more calories lost.
9. Stay active:
   A daily regimen of cardio and toning or weight training is the best way to burn calories. Exercising regularly not only burns calories immediately, but it also keeps your metabolism boosted so that if you do over indulge a time or two, you can get away with a heck of a lot more fun. You can pay it forward and budget your calories then enjoy that chocolate cake—guilt free and with a happy weigh-in the morning after. Of course, if you over do with the treats, just work out more and burn it up after! Where there is a will, there is a way and if you will, then you can play!!

Until next time, here’s to the best of your health!