5 Easiest Things That You Can Start Doing Today To Lose Weight

I want to give you the 5 easiest things that you can start doing today to help you lose weight without any food tracking or meal planning,  and the final one might be a bit controversial.

(If you prefer to watch videos, then check out my YouTube video about it here)

No. 1

Make sure that you get a serving of protein and a serving of fruit or veg with every meal.

Proteins and veg are the most hunger-satiating foods that you can eat. This means that for the amount of calories that they contribute, they keep you fuller for much longer. 

Losing weight is a game of managing your appetite. If we can match your appetite to your nutritional needs, we will be winning!

Each meal should start with protein and veg and only if you are still hungry do you add other foods to top it off. Does this mean keto or low carb? No, most protein and fruit or vege are going to come “packaged” with some fats and carbs unless you are being very particular with your selection.

If you are not sure what qualifies as a good source of protein, then email or message me, and I will send you my protein guide.

No 2.

The next big hitter in matching your appetite to your nutritional needs is to get a moderate level of activity in each day.There is a classic study where they compared 3 groups of factory workers with low, moderate and high activity jobs to see how much they voluntarily chose to eat. The high activity group ate more than the moderate group but the low activity group were eating the SAME as the moderate group. This suggests that at low levels of activity, your appetite and actual nutritional needs become uncoupled.

The easiest way to get an estimate of your activity is via your step count, as almost everyone has access to a phone or watch that can track this. I suggest aiming for at least 7000 steps but the more, the merrier. If you are usually below 7000 steps, try to build in short walks, take the stairs throughout the day, do walking meetings if possible etc. If all else fails, then in the evening go for a quick walk to get you over the line. For each km you get about 1500 steps or for a mile 2000 steps. So even if you are only at 4000 when the end of the day rolls around it will only take 20-30mins to make it up.

No. 3 

Often, thirst can feel a lot like hunger and even if you are not specifically underhydrated, getting some fluid in your stomach can help to make you feel fuller.

The easiest way to test this is if you feel hungry, have a glass of water or zero-calorie drink, wait 15-20mins and if you are still hungry then you are probably ready to eat. Either way you have now already started to get some contents in your stomach which will help you to feel fuller.

And if your pee is anything other than clear or light yellow, then you are probably due for a decent drink.

No. 4

Pay attention when you are eating. Many times, we overeat because we are simply distracted. This means eating without watching TV, YouTube or scrolling - it sounds impossible, but apparently, that's how everyone used to do it.

Think about your food as you are eating it, what does it taste like? What does it look like? Do you like it? How hungry were you when you started, and how full are you feeling now? 

Then try and eat until you are about 80% full because there is a delay between you swallowing the food and your body realising that more food has been added to the system. 

So if you eat until you feel about 80% full, you have probably eaten to 100% and just need to wait until your body registers the last 20%. 

If after 30mins or more after finishing, you find that you are still hungry, then you can always top it up, which is much easier than trying to undo what you have already eaten.

No. 5

Now this might not be on some people's favourites list, but you should start weighing yourself regularly. The things that get measured are the things that get improved because change requires our attention. Even if what you are doing is resulting in weight loss then how will you know if you are not measuring anything?

Changes in body weight, as we measure on the scale, is related to but not exactly 1 to 1 with changes in body fat. Things like the food in your gut, the water in your tissues and other stored nutrients can all affect your body weight and can cause the number on the scale to bounce around day to day.

The best and easiest way to cut through the noise is to weigh yourself daily, in the morning, before you eat or drink, after you use the toilet and without clothing on, write down the number and don't think too much about it. 

At the end of each week, average the weights from this week and compare that to last week's average and this will give you a pretty good idea of actual changes in body fat.

For some women, their monthly cycle can also push the number on the scale around considerably, and I have another post on that here so feel free to go check that out.

Next week I am starting my own weight cut, so this is your official invite to join me for a FREE 5 day Weight loss Kickstarter. In this, I will go into more detail on these and other topics and help you to implement everything that you need to kickstart your next weight-loss phase.

You will get:

✅ Direct access to me through a private community

✅ Free workouts for at home or at the gym

✅ Training modules through my online portal on each habit as we add them

✅ Other trackers and tools that you need along the way

This starts Monday 3rd of June so if you want to sign up for that, then follow this button to do so.