During the holiday season, festive parties, work events, and socializing with family fill our calendars. Many of these celebrations are filled with tasty treats and delicious cocktails, causing many of us to overindulge and feel discouraged about our weight loss goals. Instead of feeling frustrated and trying to make monumental lifestyle changes the following day, we recommend incorporating small changes that are manageable and motivating.
Small goals may feel useless, but they can make a big difference. Small wins over a period of time can amount to one giant success. As you consider weight loss, take a look at some manageable goals that you can practice throughout the week from the experts at BMI Surgery.
1. Drink More Water
We all know water is great for our health, but you may not know that it’s excellent for weight loss too. Water can lessen appetite, boost metabolism, and enhance workouts. Your stomach becomes fuller as you drink more water, creating less room for food. The body also expends energy to raise body temperature in reaction to cool water, called thermogenesis, which promotes a faster metabolism.
The recommended amount of water is about 64 ounces per day. We advise drinking water throughout the day, especially before and after exercise. As you sweat, your body’s overall water content is lost and must be replenished. Keep track of how many glasses you’ve drunk throughout the day and mark your overall progress. If you intentionally drink a few more ounces of water than usual, you’ll be on the way to your next weight-loss goal in no time!
2. Take Quick Exercise Breaks
Multiple quick exercise breaks throughout the day can keep you motivated and promote weight loss. To lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume. When this happens, your body is in a caloric deficit and burns stored fat for energy. As you burn stored fat, you lose weight.
Exercise can burn extra calories to help you into a calorie deficit. And exercise doesn’t necessarily have to be long hours in the gym—instead, it can be frequent moments of movement throughout the day. For example, calf raises while washing the dishes, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and taking a quick walk around the block can all be accomplished in 10 minutes or less. As you become more comfortable with the exercise, you can up the amount of time you’re exercising for further weight loss.
3. Fill Half Your Plate with Veggies
Like exercise and water intake, vegetables can aid in your journey to shed some pounds. Most vegetables are low in calories but high in water content, making them the perfect food to include in your meals for weight loss. Vegetables can fill you up, and you can eat lots of vegetables guilt-free.
As you prepare your meal, aim to fill half your plate with vegetables for a healthy, satisfying meal. We recommend broccoli, carrots, spinach, cauliflower, cabbage, and zucchini—but you can’t go wrong with any vegetable. While vegetables can get a bad reputation for lacking flavor, dress up your favorite veggies with seasonings or low-calorie sauces.
4. Eat Meals Slowly
The hormones released by the human body control almost every process—from sleep to emotions. Before you consume a meal, a hormone called ghrelin is released. This hormone is a signal to alert your body of hunger. After we eat, it can take our brains some time to catch up that we’re full as ghrelin levels may not have decreased yet.
If you eat meals more slowly, your brain has time to catch up that you’re eating a filling meal. Slower eating can aid in a calorie deficit since you may feel fuller quicker. We recommend chewing your food about 15 to 20 times to help slow down your eating.
5. Track Your Progress
As you embark on your weight loss journey, tracking your progress is crucial for success. These progress goals can be anything from how many pounds you want to lose to how much exercise you aim for throughout the week or how many vegetables you want to consume. Whatever you choose, write it down and track your progress.
Once you reach your goals, you can celebrate! Planning out small gifts for each goal reached can keep you motivated, excited, and optimistic about your weight loss. Small celebrations can include a little retail therapy, a healthy takeout meal, or anything else that is a treat for you but doesn’t sacrifice your upcoming goals.
Small Goals Lead to Big Changes
This holiday season, say goodbye to juice cleanses, extreme workouts, and other diet fads, and hello to sustainable, healthy weight loss. While it can be tempting to rearrange your lifestyle the morning after too many sweets, you’re more likely to stick with your healthy alternatives if you adjust your habits slowly.
We can help you on your weight loss journey at Birmingham Minimally Invasive Surgery. Our team provides quality care, expert advice, and innovative solutions so that you can achieve your dream physique. Learn more about setting goals and losing weight from the experts at BMI Surgery!
Begin Your Weight Loss Journey at BMI Surgery
Our team at BMI Surgery can help you with quality care and expert advice to help you achieve your results! Dr. Long and his team specialize in all types of bariatric surgery, including gastric sleeve surgery, gastric bypass, and the LAP-BAND. Call (205) 850-1973 or contact us online to transform your body today!
