Losing weight is an important part of many people’s lives, and equally, many people find this difficult. It is true that unfortunately, nothing that is enjoyable or interesting is good for you – fast food, takeaways and lazing around in front of the TV is much better than exercise, but will not help with weight loss.
Weight loss involves effort, making lasting habit changes with a sensible and healthy diet and plenty of exercise. This can be hard to maintain, especially for those who are new to attempting weight loss. However, there are many different things that you can do to make the workouts and healthy eating much more enjoyable.
1 – Mix It Up
As with anything else in life, doing the same thing over and over again gets boring. Exercise and healthy eating are no different to anything else. One way to avoid boredom is to vary your diet, including meals and snacks.
There are many different healthy eating options and success involves eating a variety. Equally, mix up your workouts and try different exercises. Not only will this keep it interesting, but also it will help to tone up different parts of your body and challenge the body to avoid plateaus.
2 – Add More Seasoning and Herbs to Your Diet
Herbs and seasonings can make a huge difference to your diet – a simple piece of chicken can be transformed into pesto chicken, curry chicken or jerk chicken, just with some herbs and spices. By the time you add some vegetables in different quantities and variations, you soon have a whole range of different meals. Even simple vegetables like spinach can be spiced up and transformed, for example by adding garlic, a little butter, and lemon juice.
3 – Change Your Meals Around
Change your meals around! Who says you need to eat breakfast in the morning, why not have it for dinner? In addition, healthy eating does not mean that you have to eat chicken breasts and broccoli 7 days a week, there is a huge variety of delicious healthy meats, vegetables and fruits, more than enough to create unique meals every day of the week. As long as your daily totals do not exceed your target for weight loss, it will make little difference how you arrange it throughout the day.
4 – Go Out to Restaurants
It might sound completely against the way to lose weight, but going out to restaurants can actually help you stay motivated and avoid the boredom. The key to this is to find a restaurant that can cater to your dietary needs. In recent years restaurants have become very good at catering to all needs; many dishes can be served without the calorific dressings or sides. This way, you can enjoy a night out and still stick to the healthy eating.
5 – Save Some Calories During the Week to Be Used On the Weekends
Being sociable often includes going out on the weekends and this can be hard when you are trying to lose weight. One option to address this is to eat super healthy in the week and save those additional calories for the weekend. That way, you can still enjoy a glass of wine with friends, knowing that you will not have exceeded your calorie total for the week.
6 – Review Your Goals
Every now and again, it is worth reviewing your goals and your reasons for wanting to lose weight. It can serve as a helpful reminder to keep you on track and provide some extra motivation for when you are struggling. Sometimes it might not be enough, just to remind yourself, but when used in conjunction with another option, it can give you the boost you really need.
7 – Prepare Meals in Advance
We all have those days when we really can’t be bothered and are bored with eating sensibly. It is helpful to have a range of meals in the freezer that you have made in advance. It is possible to make healthy versions of your favorite takeaways so when you are having a bad day or are bored with eating sensibly, you can enjoy some comfort food and not feel bad.
Equally, there are days when we are working long hours, busy with families and many other reasons why we don’t have time to cook. Having meals in the freezer saves time and means you eat sensibly even when you are short on time.
