Effective Weight Loss Tips

1) Eat more to increase your metabolism.

Contrary to what many often think, it is not advisable to make a drastic cut on the intake of calories.  It will only decelerate metabolism and delay weight loss. Diets with a 1000 daily calorie do not provide enough energy to maintain the pace of weight loss. A smarter move would be to eat more frequently but in smaller amounts, say five or six times a day. This practice stabilizes insulin levels and averts incidences of blood sugar crash where you feel so hungry you end up eating more than you should.

2) Pass on the soda, have water instead.

Give up on the soda including diet soda.  Instead, drink water -- lots of it.  When you forego the soda in favor of water, you gain two-fold benefits.  First, you avoid the calorie content of the soda and you increase your hydration necessary to keep metabolism rate up. When you drink enough water, you feel fuller and you feel like eating less. Besides, your body needs water to flush out the toxins and keep the kidneys in good condition. With well functioning kidneys, the liver can focus on its task converting fat into energy. When you don't drink enough water, your liver has to make up for the inefficiency of the kidneys, processing blood and waste instead of working on your body fat. Plain water can be boring; you may want to perk up the taste of your drinking water with some lemon or lime. You can also opt for the recently introduced flavored water but since you will be consuming much of it, make sure that you are not bothered with the flavor enhancers used.

3) Plan ahead for your snacks.
 
Snacks are available anywhere you go and it can be hard to resist their temptations.  The best way is to make a plan before leaving the house.  Prepare for those times when you would be bored or get tired. You can bring along healthy snacks that are as good if not better than those sold at vending machines. Be sure that you plan for small portions so you can eat at an interval of at least four hours to better manage your hunger.
 
5) Add weights to your exercise routine.

Most of the exercise routines performed by many are meant for cardiovascular fitness.  These would include jogging and aerobics.  Weight lifting, on the other hand, actually raises metabolism for a longer period than the cardio phase.  Be sure to expand your exercise program so you can have two sessions per week of about 20 minutes each where you can lift some weights.  You may ask for the assistance of a qualified trainer at first especially if you do not have any experience on weight lifting. One word of caution: you might notice a slight increase in your weight but do not be alarmed. The increase is caused by your developing muscles which weigh more than fat. As you build up your muscle mass, you increase the rate of your resting metabolism which means you will be burning more calories even when you're not exercising.  This is acually a more rapid weight loss training method that the cardio training alone and you will soon see the results both in terms of pounds and inches.

5) Use a pedometer.

According to experts, 10,000 steps a day are enough to lose weight even without extensive changes to one's eating habits. Thus, weight can be lost more quickly if eating is altered while making those 10,000 steps.  Use a pedometer to count your total number of steps.