- Drink Up
First and foremost, start drinking water. Water helps to flush out the toxins, supports digestion, prevents constipation, reduces bloating, maintains internal pH and homeostasis, and boosts metabolism. So, drink 3-4 liters of water every day.
Make sure you drink two glasses of room temperature water as soon as you get up. You can also add two teaspoons of fenugreek seeds to a glass of water to help speed up your metabolism. Or make detox water by adding cucumber, ginger, cumin, and mint leaves. This will promote hydration and proper functioning of the body.
- Ban Sugar, Junk Food, And Processed Foods
Forget about all the sugary guilt trips and junk food munching late at night while binge watching Netflix or hanging out with friends. It’s just a matter of three weeks, and you’ve got to kill with your killer avatar.
Toss all the high-sodium, sugary, preservative laden, greasy, and unhealthy foods out and restock your kitchen with whole foods, low-cal snacks like popcorn, fruits, and veggies. If you crave for sweets, have low-cal yogurt with figs or peaches. You can also have one piece of dark chocolate (80% or more cocoa content) after dinner.
- Have Five Types Of Veggies And Three Types Of Fruits
Consume five types of veggies and three types of fruits per day. Fruits and veggies are rich in dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that help increase satiety and prevent the absorption of fat molecules. They are also low in calories, improve bowel movement, and help build immunity. Your body cells will start to function optimally, which, in turn, will help you use the stored fat as energy and aid weight loss.
- Avoid White Carbs
White carbs or bad carbs are foods like flour, sugar, pasta, white rice, crackers, and cereals. These are processed and refined, have minimal nutritional value, and are high in calories. Bad carbs tend to increase the blood glucose levels and are easily digested. This is the reason you quickly feel hungry and munch on other processed and high-calorie foods, leading to weight gain. White whole foods like cauliflower, beans, white potato, and turnip do not fall into this category.
- Eat On Time And Control Your Portion Size
Not eating on time, starving for a long duration, and not controlling the portion size contribute more to weight gain than the food itself. You may eat healthily, but if your body cannot digest, absorb, and flush the toxins out on time, the whole system becomes dysfunctional. This leads to slow metabolism, increases blood pressure and blood glucose, and raises stress and inflammation levels. As a result, you gain weight.
So, it is important that you eat every 3-4 hours, never skip breakfast, have dinner by 7:30 p.m., avoid late night snacking, and take adequate amount of food on your plate. Not too less, not too much. Also, starving yourself can lead to weight gain as the body goes into the famine mode, meaning the cells tend to store everything you eat in the form of fat. So, do not starve. If you feel hungry at odd times, have a fruit or baby carrots with hummus. Drink water.
- Watch How You Eat
Yes, literally. Sit in front of a mirror when you eat. As I said before, these are tips for short-term weight loss and are drastic (perhaps dramatic). Looking at yourself while you eat will prevent you from overeating.
Close your mouth and chew your food well to avoid gulping down air and help your digestive system function properly. Use a smaller spoon and a smaller plate so that you do not consume too much food. Also, eat slowly without any distractions like checking mobile notifications, watching TV, working on the laptop, or playing on the Xbox.
- Work It Out
The problem with quick weight loss is that you not only regain the weight quickly but also have loose skin. To look toned (not necessarily slim), you have got to work out. If you are not a fan of the treadmill, you can do yoga, dance, swim, ride a bike, etc. Do a little HIIT and bodyweight training to flaunt a “working to get a chiseled body” look.
Working out will help you mobilize the fat, improve your metabolic rate, and help you sleep better at night. So, the bottom line is, working out will boost your confidence by making you look ravishing inside and out.
- Get Your Beauty Sleep
Did you know that not getting enough sleep or rest can also lead to weight gain? And it has been scientifically proven. When you don’t sleep for at least seven hours, the cells in your body cannot process the food and do not flush the toxins out. This slows down metabolism, prevents healing, and induces a state of constant stress. As a result, you will start gaining weight and feel tired even if you have not moved from your seat the entire day.
- Keep Moving
Have you ever made an effort to know how many hours you sit in a day and how many steps you take? Ideally, you should take at least 5000 steps a day. But since most of us have desk jobs and spend time sitting or lying down, the food that we consume does not get used up as energy. Since you’ve got less time in hand, you must change this too and be a little more active.
Take a walk every one hour, walk to and from office or ride a bicycle to the supermarket, take the stairs instead of the elevator, or walk your dog twice a day. This will keep your metabolism firing throughout the day and help you shed the pounds quickly. Make sure you take 10,000 steps a day.
- Take No Stress
You’ve got less time, but you’ve got time! Do not go into the panic mode. It will only make the situation worse. Stress, panic, and anxiety are all negative emotions that raise the levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. This hormone shuts down the brain’s good decision-making process and can make you become an emotional eater. This, in turn, can lead you to more weight gain.
The best ways to keep away from stress and negative emotions are to avoid criticizing other people, take a walk when you are feeling stressed out or worried, talk to a trusted friend, do something creative like painting or playing a musical instrument, dance, write a journal, and laugh
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