Before I lost 100 pounds, I was constantly looking for the best ways to lose weight.  And if I’m honest, I was hoping for a magic pill that would change my life.  While I’m not at my goal weight yet, I have lost over 100 pounds, I’m the smallest I’ve been since Junior High and I’ve learned a lot along the way.  Want to know what I think are the best ways to lose weight?  Small daily lifestyle changes.  Yep…while big changes are great and completely overhauling your diet can work for some people, it’s the small changes to your daily routine that can make the biggest difference.  It’s these positive changes that make the biggest difference in the way you look, the way you feel, and the way you live your life. Here are a few healthy changes you can make right now to help improve your weight and life.

Best Ways to Lose Weight

Eat Breakfast Every Day

Breakfast isn’t called the most important meal of the day for no reason. It’s the meal that gets you going strong. If you skip breakfast, you’re more inclined to overeat the rest of the day to make up for the missing calories and the hunger you’re feeling. Even if you aren’t hungry, grab a hard-boiled egg, a cup of oatmeal, or a piece of string cheese.  The only caveat to this is if you are doing intermittent fasting.  If you are being intentional about intermittent fasting, it’s totally ok to skip breakfast. {I know… it sounds like I’m totally contradicting myself (and I am in a way), but intermittent fasting is the exception to this rule.

Drink Water

I’m sure this isn’t the first time you’ve heard this and you probably already know how important it is to drink water throughout the day, but do you do it? Do you find yourself reaching for yet another cup of coffee or something that’s not good for you? Skip those things and add water to your day. It helps you stay fuller longer, and it prevents you from becoming dehydrated. The glowing skin that comes from drinking plenty of water is just an added benefit.

Get Moving

You need to walk more during the day. Skip the elevator and take the stairs. Stop driving your car a few blocks to get lunch walk to your intended destination instead. The more movement you get throughout the day the better you feel. Need a reminder? Set a timer to go off on your phone or watch every hour and get up and do a lap around the office or house. My timer goes off multiple times throughout the day to remind me to get off my butt and do something. 🙂  Sometimes I do a few pushups, sometimes it’s jumping jacks, sometimes it’s a plank and sometimes it’s a quick walk.  Even if you only spent 1 minute every hour doing some sort of exercise, you could probably end up with 10-15 minutes of additional movement.

Minimize Stress

Did you know your stress level is directly related to how you feel overall? It’s related to how you respond to situations in your life, how you feel about your life, and what you eat. If you’re stressed, you’re more likely to make food choices based on emotions rather than health…hello Oreos and Ben & Jerry’s.  When your body is under too much stress, you also feel more exhausted, you don’t sleep well, and you might even find you don’t have the stamina or desire to work out.  And all of those things can contribute to weight gain.  So do your best to minimize stress!

Weigh Every Day… or Skip the Scale

Here’s another one of those things where I’m going to be a little contradictory.  While I believe the scale is a helpful indicator of what’s going on in your body, it’s not nearly as accurate as the way you feel and the way your clothes fit.  While I was on my weight loss journey, it was helpful for me to weigh daily.  I didn’t obsess over the number, I just used it as a barometer to see how different things (food, exercise, sleep) affected my weight.  I have other friends who obsess over the number on the scale.  If you’re one of those people, ditch the scale. There is no magic number. You could weigh less than someone else and still not be as fit or thin as that person. While I’m not at my lowest weight as an adult, I’m smaller than I’ve been since junior high. Here’s my encouragement…whether you weigh daily or skip the scale completely, put the emphasis on how your body feels, looks, and fits into your clothes.

You have to make your health a priority. Life is so much more fun when you’re living it the right way and taking care of your body. Eat well, move your body, and focus on how good you feel instead of what your scale tells you.

Do you have suggestions on the best ways to lose weight? What did I miss? Leave me a comment!