Ten Free and Simple Steps to Weight Loss

By: Brad Taylor

The nation is currently experiencing an obesity pandemic, with millions of people considerably overweight. This is due to a misunderstanding of what makes food healthful, how to construct an effective workout, and how to put it all into practice.

Most people think that they are losing weight the healthy way, while the majority of the time they are actually damaging their bodies. That’s why I have created these simple steps to lose weight the right way, without damaging your health.

1. Eliminate Harmful Food Additives

Food additives like high-fructose corn syrup, MSG, and aspartame have been linked to not only obesity, but a number of crippling health conditions. From ruining kidney function to promoting the growth of cancer, there is absolutely no reason to include these toxic additives in your diet. Removing them will help your body function optimally, which in turn will allow for rapid weight loss.

2. Start Using HIIT Cardio

High intensity interval training is based around the theory that less is more. Studies have proven its effectiveness, and it is being promoted by experts worldwide. After performing HIIT, your body continues to burn calories for around 24 hours after it is completion. The basis of HIIT is simple: intervals of high and low intensity training.

An example of HIIT training:

• Walk for one minute at 3 mph (slow).
• Run for one minute at 9 mph (fast).

You would repeat this process about 8 times. Of course you will have to adjust the rate of speed to a level that you are comfortable with.

3. Drink more Water

Most people simply do not drink enough water. It is a simple measure to aid in the fight against fat, and is readily available to all of us. Not drinking enough water can result in dehydration, which is detrimental to your health. Dehydration can wreak immense havoc on your body, resulting in weight gain and muscle loss.

Besides not drinking enough water, a lot of people also drink contaminated water. Cocaine, hormones, pharmaceuticals, and heavy metals have all been found in our water supply. Drinking water straight from the faucet is not a healthy decision. The best option is purchasing a quality water filter, or finding an alternative fresh water source.

To achieve the greatest benefit from water, drink one half of your body weight in ounces daily. If you weigh 128 pounds, you need 64 ounces of charged distilled water daily. That is eight, eight ounce glasses per day. Water intake will depend, for the most part, on your physical activity level, body type and weather conditions. The more exercise you engage in under hot weather conditions, the more fluid intake you’ll need.

4. Take a Quality Multivitamin

Most food does not contain a sufficient amount of nutrients due to the nutritional-depletion of the soil that is is grown in. It would be extremely hard to get enough of every essential nutrient in your daily diet. Luckily, there are multivitamins to help you out. Vitamins like Centrum will do you absolutely no good, and may not even dissolve before it is excreted by your body. In fact, you should be thankful that it doesn’t dissolve, because some of the vitamins it contains are in synthetic forms that have been found to be harmful to your body.

Check to make sure that the multivitamin contains the natural forms of the vitamins it contains. For example, it should contain the natural form of vitamin E: d-alpha tocopheryl, or gamma mixed tocopherols. Without the right amount of nutrients, your body simply will not function at optimum levels, and you will not be seeing the results you would like.

5. Get Enough Vitamin D

Vitamin D has been found to play an important role in weight loss. Astonishingly, some studies suggest that without proper amounts of vitamin D, your ability to lose weight may be severely diminished. Getting an adequate amount of vitamin D can be quite simple, as long as you take the steps necessary to do it the correct way. Here are simple steps to boost your vitamin D intake.

6. Begin a Weightlifting Routine, Even if You’re a Female

Even if you don’t want to increase your lean muscle mass, lifting weights is a great way to shed fat. The more muscle you have (it doesn’t have to be bulky, or even noticeable), the more calories your body burns. By just sitting in a chair all day, you will be burning a higher amount of calories if you have some muscle. It’s very hard for women to develop large amounts of muscle mass without hormones anyway, so don’t be afraid to lift weights if you’re a female!

7. Get Enough Sleep

Sleep is something that we all need. The body needs adequate time to recover and rejuvenate from all that it is put through. How do you expect your body to recover from exercise without sleeping? The effects of all your hard work can only truly be realized after rest. The real change comes when resting, not during the working out itself.

8. Relax

Stress plays a huge role in weight loss. It might sound impossible given your crazy schedule, but try and relax. Schedule a deep tissue massage, or pick up a new therapeutic habit such as painting or drawing. Relaxing isn’t just good for you physically, it’s also important mentally. Take some time off.

9. Tell your friends you are going to lose weight

It might sound somewhat elementary, or even ridiculous, but this method actually works. When you tell your friends and family that you are going to do something, it tends to push you a little more to actually follow through with it. Try telling your friends, family, significant other, etc. that soon you will be lighter and healthier, and see how much further it pushes you.

10. Forget the scale

Your weight changes on a daily basis. You aren’t aiming to simply lose weight, you’re aiming to lose body fat. The scale doesn’t measure body fat, it measures weight. During the process of weight loss your weight will fluctuate, but ultimately the amount of body fat you are carrying will be significantly less. Forget the scale. Use a body fat reader instead to calculate your progress.