15 Super Simple Life Changes to Lose Weight for Good

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Most women give up on a diet after only five weeks, according to a 2013 article on The Daily Mail. I used to be one of those women. However, when I realized that the only way to change my life was to change myself, I committed to losing the weight for good. In November 2017, I started the process to get bariatric surgery. My doctor told me I had to lose 50 pounds before surgery, so I set myself on a mission to eat healthier and exercise more. I made a few simple changes to lose weight, like tracking my food, eliminating soda and finding healthy alternatives to the foods I loved. Through these simple life changes to lose weight, I lost 46 pounds in my first 14 weeks. If your doctor recommends you lose weight before your bariatric surgery, consider making some of these 15 easy diet changes to lose weight.

1. How Do I Kick Start My Weight Loss?

Whenever I need to kick start my weight loss, I know the first thing I need to do is track my food intake. We honestly consume way more than we think, and every bite, lick and taste needs to be tracked. Tracking my food is the first of the simple life changes to lose weight I made. I have written posts before about tracking food and how important it is. I do believe that weighing, measuring and tracking all of my food is probably the number one key to my success. If I just pour my food onto a plate, I will never know exactly how much I’m eating. Remember, our goal is to burn more calories than we consume. You can either write it out by hand or track your food on a nutrition app like MyFitnessPal.

MyFitnessPal provides a comprehensive library of food, as well as nutritional information for restaurants. You can also track your water, weight, measurements and exercise. It is an all-in-one app that can motivate you. There are also message boards, support forums and challenges to keep you motivated. Tracking my food consistently has been a major factor in my success. I’ll admit that I may miss a day occasionally. However, any time I feel like I’m starting to get derailed, I always go back to tracking my food intake. Making this change in my life helped me because I can ensure I do not go over my calorie goal for the day, and I hit my protein goals.

2. Educate Yourself

The second of the simple changes to lose weight I made in my life was learning about food, nutrition and exercise by attending my nutrition classes. As part of my pre-surgical requirements, I attended one nutrition class a month for six consecutive months. In my first class, I learned that my pre-surgical diet should be around 1500 calories a day for my age, gender and weight. I have stuck to this calorie restriction for the most part.

MyFitnessPal will also give you a calorie goal per day if you enter how much weight you want to lose and when you want to lose it by. You can also research on the internet for the appropriate amount of calories per day for someone of your age, gender and weight. Sticking to this calorie goal really will go a long way in helping you lose weight.

RELATED CONTENT: Want to learn the 10 changes you need to make in your life to be successful with bariatric surgery? Get our free download here!

If you want to learn more about nutrition, I recommend that you speak with a registered dietician. If you make a one-on-one appointment with them, they will be able to give you personalized direction for losing weight. They can help you choose a calorie plan that will work for you to lose weight at a safe rate. Nutrition education is extremely valuable in your weight loss journey. Attending my nutrition classes helps me stay motivated when I want to give up.

3. Exercising

The third of my simple life changes to lose weight I made was adding exercise to my life. Exercise is a great way to improve your mood, release stress and get your heart pumping. I started by walking for 15 minutes three times a week, and I gradually increased the length of time and number of days I exercised. I worked my way to exercise for 30 to 40 minutes a day for four to five days a week. Eventually, I moved away from walking, as it was getting a little boring, and I tried different workout videos I can get through my cable provider. I enjoy doing dance workouts and kickboxing routines. They help lighten my mood and get rid of stress.

You can get rid of stress too by incorporating exercise into your life. The important aspect here is to be consistent. Build exercise into your routine, and do it at a time that works for you. Make sure you’re doing both cardio and strength training. The more muscle you build before surgery, the easier time you’ll have after surgery when it hurts to use your abdominal muscles to move. Plus, muscle burns fat and keeps your metabolism strong.

Building routines with all of these lifestyle changes is essential, but especially with exercise, as it is going to make one of the biggest differences in your weight loss. It is going to give you more energy and help you sleep better too. The benefits of exercise make it an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. Exercise has also helped replace my emotional eating, as I now let out my anger, sadness, boredom and happiness during my workouts. Exercise has changed my life in more ways than I ever thought possible.

4. Track Your Progress with Measurements and Photos

The fourth change in my simple life changes to lose weight is taking progress photos. Taking these progress photos is so motivating. While it is scary for me to put my photos out there, I want to show you these steps will make a difference. Just look at the difference they made for me! Again, I would never suggest anything to you that I wouldn’t do myself.

RELATED CONTENT: Want to learn the 10 changes you need to make in your life to be successful with bariatric surgery? Get our free download here!

As we lose weight, we tend to start getting what I call “Fat Brain.” Fat Brain is the side of your brain that says you can’t do it, you are still fat, and you aren’t worthy of good things. Fat Brain is the voice inside your head that tells you nothing has changed when you look at yourself in the mirror. Don’t listen to Fat Brain. Seeing the comparison of how I looked at my heaviest to how I look now is one of the only ways I can see my weight loss. Doing these progress photos keeps me motivated to keep going and not go back to how I was before I lose weight.

I continue to do these comparison photos and publish them every Friday. Here are some recent examples:

5. Getting Enough Sleep

The next habit in my simple life changes to lose weight is getting more sleep. Sleep is so important in a healthy lifestyle. I know that if I don’t get enough sleep, I lose motivation. I get irritable, and it’s an all-around bad day. For me to get the best sleep I can, I have a nighttime ritual that I start between 8:30 PM and 9 PM. I should start earlier, but before I started making these changes, I was only going to bed around 10 PM. Just getting in bed that extra hour makes a huge difference in my life and weight loss.

If I get to bed on time, it helps me have the energy to come home and exercise. I do think I could benefit from going to bed even earlier, so I must work on it.

6. Support Groups

The sixth habit I developed as part of my simple life changes to lose weight is reaching out for help. Having a strong support group has helped me lose weight. I attend support groups as part of my pre-operative requirements once a month. I am also on support groups on Facebook that are extremely motivating. Hearing other people’s stories, and knowing someone else went through the same things I have is comforting. I know that if they can get through the same issues I am facing, that I can do it too. They are a great sounding board when I need advice, or when I am down about something. If you decide not to pursue weight loss surgery, there are also a ton of support groups just for general weight loss and fitness. I’m sure you will be able to find one that gives you the support you need.

Getting your family and friends to support your efforts to be healthier should be easy, as they should want the best for you. If you are met with resistance, you could always explain why you feel you need to lose the weight, and let them explain their side. If they love you, they will also want the best for you. A strong support system is so vital as you go through this surgery. It’s helped me when I was weak during this process. Reaching out for help when I need it is a big reason I’ve been able to lose weight.

7. Saying No to Sugary Drinks

The seventh habit in my simple life changes to lose weight is eliminating sugary drinks. Cherry coke and sweet iced tea, oh how I miss thee. Just kidding! I gave up soda and iced tea since I can’t have either after surgery. I didn’t realize how many calories I was drinking until I started tracking my food and drink on MyFitnessPal. Now, I have slowly transitioned to just lemon water all day, which is a huge accomplishment for me. Before, I drank soda a few times a day at work and iced tea for the rest of the day. Cutting out those sugary, calorie-laden drinks has made a huge difference in my weight loss. I am no longer consuming calories through drinks, which means I can eat more food since I didn’t waste any of my 1500 calories on drinks.

If you feel like you can’t cut it out completely, I suggest at least lowering your intake. Try slowly reducing the amount of soda you drink by one can or iced tea by one cup a day for a week. Once you are used to that reduction, reduce it again until you’re drinking about half what you normally drink. Even just doing that little bit can make a huge difference in your calories and weight loss efforts. Reducing the number of calories I consume from drinks has helped my weight loss because I’m consuming fewer calories than I am burning.

8. Eat Slowly and Savor

Another one of the simple life changes to lose weight is to simply slow down and savor your food. When you eat a little slower, it gives your brain a chance to register the food you’re ingesting. Once your stomach realizes that it’s full, it sends a hormone signal to your brain to tell you to stop eating. This transmittal takes a few minutes, so if you eat a little slower, it gives your brain a chance to catch up to your stomach.

You can slow down and savor your food by putting your fork down between bites. Chew each bite 20 to 30 times. It should take you approximately 20 to 30 minutes to eat a meal, so set a timer to make sure you’re not eating too fast. Slowing down how fast you eat can help you savor your food more too. Notice the texture, flavors and temperature of the food. Put down your electronics and eat mindfully. These are the practices that will help you in your post-op life too.

RELATED CONTENT: Want to learn the 10 changes you need to make in your life to be successful with bariatric surgery? Get our free download here!

9. Drink More Water

There are so many health benefits to drinking more water. From flushing out toxins to helping to curb hunger, drinking more water is in your best interest. Additionally, many cases of re-hospitalization after bariatric surgery is due to dehydration. It’s in your best interest to learn how to drink more water now, so you’re in the habit of it after surgery and can avoid another possible hospitalization.

For tips on drinking more water each day, check out this article I wrote. My favorite tip from this article is buying a fun water bottle that has markings on it. I like this one that you can buy on Amazon: Motivational Water Bottle.

10. Eat Protein First

One of the biggest lessons you’ll learn as you go through the bariatric surgery process is that protein is king. You’ll eat protein first at every meal because it’s so important to your body.  Healthline describes the biological process protein has on your body. They state that protein increases PYY, which is a hormone that makes you feel full. So the more PYY in your body, the less hungry you’ll be. Protein also decreases ghrelin, which is the hormone that makes you feel hungry. I always think of it as a little Gremlin monster in my stomach demanding food. Protein reduces the ghrelin, making you less hungry. Eating protein will then aid in your weight loss by making you less hungry and is one of the simple life changes to lose weight I made before surgery.

11. Eat at Regularly-Scheduled Times

Your body continually needs to be fueled for your metabolism to function properly. By eating at regularly-scheduled times, you can ensure your metabolism is revved up to burn calories. Eating three meals and two snacks a day is another one of the simple life changes I made to lose weight. By making sure I’m fueling my body every few hours, I know that I am getting the energy I need to get through my workday and have the energy to workout, as well as keeping my metabolism on its toes.

12. Increase Your Steps

Another simple life change to lose weight is to increase your steps. Walking is a great way to burn calories and add extra movement to your day. You can walk more by parking further away from the door when you are at the store, doctor’s office or gas station. You can also try taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Instead of emailing a co-worker, walk to their cubicle and chat instead. Take a long way around to get to where you need to go to increase your steps.

Many people aim for 10,000 steps a day, but when I first started, I found out that was too hard for me to achieve. I use a FitBit Charge 2 to track my steps each day. I love this version of the FitBit because it vibrates and alerts me if I haven’t walked at least 250 steps per hour. If it’s 10 minutes to the next hour, and I haven’t walked at least 250 steps, it vibrates and motivates me to get up and walk. There are also challenge groups and lots of nutrition and fitness resources on the app. It’s a great addition to any healthy lifestyle.

13. Find Healthy Alternatives

Many times when people begin to make healthy lifestyle changes , they oftentimes find themselves cutting out their favorite foods or drinks. One of the simple life changes I made to lose weight before bariatric surgery was to find healthy alternatives to the foods I already loved. While it’s true that I cut out some foods entirely, for the most part, I switched to some healthier alternatives. You can check out more information on these healthy swaps by checking out this article I wrote.

14. Eliminate or Reduce Fried Foods

I don’t know about you, but fried foods make me feel lethargic, bloated and gross. One of the simple life changes to lose weight was to reduce my consumption of fried foods. This change took a little while for me to implement because I love fried foods of all kinds – French fries, mozzarella sticks and wings. One alternative to these foods is to bake them or make them in an air fryer. This eliminates some of the unhealthy fats used to fry the foods. These foods are typically higher in calories as well. so if you can reduce the amount that you’re consuming, you’ll reduce your caloric intake, which will help you lose weight.

15. Review Your Goals Regularly

The last of the simple life changes to lose weight is to write down your goals and review them regularly. Why do you want to lose weight? What makes you want to be healthier? I know that it goes beyond appearance, but liking what you see in the mirror helps motivate you and keep you on track to lose weight.

For me, writing down my goals of being healthier for my family, so that I don’t die young, and so I can see my nieces and nephews achieve all of their big milestones were big motivating factors. Don’t just think about your goals. Magic happens when you write them down. Make a plan of attack to achieve your goals and review them frequently. I make a monthly appointment with myself to review my goals and set new ones, as well as think about my motivation behind those goals. What are you doing today to get you closer to your goals tomorrow?

RELATED CONTENT: Want to learn the 10 changes you need to make in your life to be successful with bariatric surgery? Get our free download here!

Simple Changes to Lose Weight

Tracking your food on a fitness app to make sure you stay within your daily calorie range is going to be the biggest factor in your success. Building exercise into your routine and tracking your progress are going to help you stay motivated. Getting more sleep will help your body function properly. Support groups through social media or local weight loss support groups will encourage you to continue going after your dreams of losing weight. Eliminating sugary drinks from your diet is going to save you a ton of calories. If you can continue to build these habits into your routine and consistently work at them, then you can be more successful than the average woman, who gives up at just five weeks. Making small changes is the key to lasting and big success in weight loss.

If this article gave you some great ideas to incorporate into your life, just imagine what other amazing strategies I have for you! Share this post on social media by clicking one of the sharing buttons, and don’t forget to join my email list! You’ll be the first to get updates, access to my new products and lots of tips, inspiration and motivation to help in your bariatric surgery journey. Just for joining, I’ll send you a free Bariatric Beginner’s Guide to get you started, as well as some other pretty awesome goodies to keep you motivated. Join today!

In Summary

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