Now that a new year is officially here, more and more people are about to start working on their weight, trying to shed some excess pounds.
Many health and wellness experts would agree that losing weight is a complex process, and there are a lot of different things that can go into a sustainable weight loss. In today’s day and age, people get really hung up on eating in a calorie deficit and consistently tracking calories to shed pounds, and while that is very effective, there are easy lifestyle habits you can pick up to help you along the way. We spoke with health experts about four of those habits. Read more about them below.
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1. Stop Eating Late At Night
For those who struggle to sleep or people who work late into the night, it can be super hard to resist a snack or even an extra meal. However, many health experts would agree that eating before bedtime is a habit worth letting go of if you want sustainable weight loss.
"Banking and consuming the majority of your daily calories for later in the day may make it more challenging to lose and maintain weight loss," explains dietitian and nutrition professor Dr. Joan Salge Blake, EdD, RDN, LDN, FAND. "Researchers speculate that the body's circadian rhythms, which are the 24-hour rhythms in your body, may be playing a role in managing your weight. Since these circadian clocks can influence the activity of enzymes and hormones that regulate your metabolism, eating the majority of your calories later in the day fouls up the circadian rhythms in your body and promotes more fat storage."
2. Manage Your Stress
Although there's a lot you can do with food and exercise regarding successful weight loss, your emotional well-being and mental health also come into play, and it's just as important to take care of them.
"Chronic stress elevates cortisol, which is linked to increased abdominal fat and disrupted insulin signaling," explains Dr. Bronwyn Holmes, MD. "Mindfulness, breath work, or even light walking can help downregulate the nervous system and reduce 'stress eating' behaviors that sabotage goals."
3. Be 'Strategic' With Your Protein Intake
One of the most buzzing topics in the health and wellness community over the last five years has been protein, as more and more people realized just how big of an impact it can make on their energy levels and ability to lose weight. However, you shouldn't just strive to eat more protein, but you should be strategic about when you eat it.
"Protein has extremely important roles when trying to lose weight," explains Dr. Blake. "Protein-rich foods are satiating, so they will help reduce hunger throughout the day. That is why you should consume protein at every meal. Also, you should be consuming 20 to 30 grams of protein at each meal to help maintain muscle synthesis throughout the day. This would equate to about 2 to 3 ounces of lean meat, fish, or poultry. This important amino acid helps trigger the synthesis of muscle mass in the body."
4. Make Time For Strength Training
Some health and wellness influencers will try to convince you that cardio is the best and only exercise you should be doing if you want to lose weight and improve your health. Although cardio is a great exercise and should be fit into your routine, health experts note that strength training is just as crucial for successful fat loss.
"Engaging in resistance training at least 2–3 times per week helps preserve and build lean muscle mass, which increases resting metabolic rate, a key to keeping weight off long-term," notes Dr. Holmes. "It's especially important for women 35+ as muscle mass declines with age, often accelerating after menopause."
