5 SIMPLE Lifestyle Changes To Lose Weight This Summer

Everybody wants to lose a little weight, whether it’s for a holiday or even a wedding that’s coming up. This was the case with one of my friends recently. He had this friend’s wedding coming up in 12 weeks and decided he wanted to lose a few pounds before his friend’s big day. He tried on the suit that he had bought a few years ago for a different occasion and found that he could barely do the buttons up on the jacket.

And it got me thinking about habits that helped me to lose weight, and more importantly, the lifestyle changes to lose weight that helped me in my own journey so I can pass them on to you. If there’s one thing I know now for sure it’s that if you want to lose weight, you have to make some lifestyle changes here and there. You can’t just wing it. It takes some proper planning and discipline.

I lost 21 pounds of weight last year and it helped me to become more confident, more outgoing and just feel better about wearing nice clothes. Of course, if you’re happy with your weight that’s great. I think everyone should be happy in their own skin. But if you’re looking to shed a few pounds this year, here are some of the most important lifestyle changes for losing weight that personally helped me get in better shape.

Losing weight can often seem complicated and that’s why I wanted to lay these tips out in as simple a fashion as I possibly could. They aren’t sexy or new but that’s the whole point. The old advice works most of the time, it’s timeless, you just have to trust the process, especially in the beginning.

1. Portion control

This one is a tricky one because I think it depends on many things like your height and your typical weekly physical activity level. However, controlling my portion sizes has been a simple lifestyle change that has helped me with my weight. It makes sense; less food equals fewer calories.

But this is why I think it can get a bit grey – If you’re bigger and you do a lot of sports and exercise, you’re going to need more food to fuel you and that’s when it’s important to eat the right fuel, not just any old thing because even if you’re tall and do a lot of exercise, a poor diet can still keep you overweight.

When I started paying attention to my portion sizes, I was pretty surprised at how little food I actually needed to eat to be full. These days we often eat so much food, way more than we need. This leads to excess bloating and water retention.

Take a note out of the Japanese playbook and stop eating when you’re 80% full. See how you feel after you have stopped eating. How full does your stomach feel? Do you need to eat more or do you simply just want to eat more?

2. Stock up on natural foods

By natural I mean the things you find in nature, and the more the better. Essentially, this is your plants and meats. This doesn’t have to be too expensive either. One way I’ve found to make this less costly is to buy bags of frozen fruit and vegetables and these bags can be used for many different meals.

Fruits and vegetables are great because they fill you up. Sure, they may not be as tasty as Chinese takeout but if you learn how to season them well, they can be very delicious. Half the battle of eating healthy, natural meals is making them interesting. If you do it wrong, they can end up very, very bland and put you off so seasoning is crucial. Stock up on spices and herbs and those tubs you buy in the store usually last a long time.

Eating more plants has been very beneficial for me personally. The extra fibre has helped me to reduce bloating, for example. If you also eat lean meats, you’ll find that you stay fuller for longer.

Snacking is another thing to think about and one of the ways I get around this is with fruits and nuts. Nuts are healthy (but have high-fat content) and fruit is very filling. For example, it’s very hard to overeat bananas.

3. Become a chef

Many people don’t like cooking and I totally get it. But, I think cooking is like exercising – you either exercise or you don’t and you either learn how to prepare fresh food or you don’t. I think that if you learn to cook, you can massively improve your chances of losing weight and it’s such a simple lifestyle change to do. The reason for this is that you’ll know exactly what is in your food.

So many pre-packed meals (and sauces) come with all kinds of preservatives in them these days that you just don’t need. For example, did you know there are over 35 ingredients in a Big Mac bun?

Crazy right? That’s just the bun…

They hinder your weight loss and can be harmful to you. Processed foods are everywhere and sometimes hard to avoid but when you learn to cook simple, healthy meals, you regain control of what you’re putting in your body. No more surprise ingredients, just fresh, one-ingredient foods.

What you eat is (most of the time) within your control so I don’t think it’s a bad thing to become a bit overly focused on what is actually in your food.

Cooking doesn’t have to be complicated or stressful. Just go on YouTube to find some inspiration and some super simple recipes that will leave you feeling good.

4. Treat lunch like dinner 1.0

Who said lunch had to be a sandwich and a bag of chips? One lifestyle change that has helped me to lose weight is treating my lunch like it’s my first dinner. By that I mean I pack foods that I would traditionally leave for dinner time. That means eating lean meats and vegetables at lunchtime.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always packed a sandwich with a bunch of treats and maybe a piece of fruit. And this is generally accepted as a good lunch. But is it healthy? I’m not sure myself. In fact, I think cutting out the bread from sandwiches has been a big positive in my own weight loss and I think it can help you too.

Treating your lunch like your first dinner means you’re eating more real foods whilst sharpening your cooking habits.

And it’s not hard to do.

All you need to think about is when you’ll prepare your lunch. One thing that works for me is cooking a dinner I can split up and take for lunch the next day. For example, if I make a curry with chicken and vegetables for dinner I can save some back to put in my lunch box the next day. That way, you don’t have to cook in the mornings. Your meal is ready to go, just put it in the fridge once it cools down and you’re set to go before you leave for school or work.

Changing your lunch habits can feel a little weird at first, that’s why I love to make life easy by taking the extra dinner portion. It’s also difficult sometimes to part with foods you eat through habit like chips and chocolate at lunchtime but it’s worth it in the long run and that leads me onto the next lifestyle change to lose weight in this list…

5. Get used to making sacrifices (at first)

This is the lifestyle change most people struggle with – making sacrifices. But if you want to lose weight, there ain’t no way around this one! You’re going to have to say “no” when someone offers you cake in the staff room. You’re going to have to choose a lighter dish at the restaurant and you may even have to pay slightly more money for higher quality produce from time to time.

But it’s not just food sacrifices that you’ll have to make to lose weight. You might also have to say “no” to people when they ask you to go out with them to eat or when you drive past a McDonald’s and they ask if you want a burger too.

You might have to stay in more than you’re used to and focus on your home-cooked meals instead.

This is the uncomfortable bit.

But it gets easier. Once you get the hang of cooking easy, fresh meals, you don’t feel like you’re sacrificing as much anymore. You get used to your new lifestyle and every bit of weight loss spurs you on and keeps your motivation burning. Better still, this is when you stop relying on motivation because you’re seeing first-hand that your new lifestyle actually works.

The discomfort and sacrificing are only temporary and when you learn that, everything becomes much easier. You’re no longer so focused on how many calories you’re eating a day because you’re so used to eating a certain way that makes you feel good and feel better in your clothes.

Keep losing weight simple…

Losing weight is as difficult as you make it. Yes, it can be uncomfortable at first. But what is worth doing that isn’t challenging? If you follow these simple lifestyle changes to lose weight, I’m sure they can help you even if they help you pay more attention to your portion sizes, for example.