Weight loss can be a tough process to navigate by yourself. While most people think about losing weight at one point or another in their lives, a lot of people have difficulty following through with their weight loss goals due to the inability to weed through all of the different diets and exercise programs that are available today. If you need help either beginning or continuing your weight loss journey, the primary care providers in Washington DC at Medics USA can help you with our wellness counseling. If you’re interested in learning more about our services, call us today to schedule an appointment. In today’s post, we’d like to go over some of the steps you can take right now to get started on a path towards a healthier life.
Steps Towards Weight Loss You Can Take Now
#1. Increase your water intake.
Water plays an important role in living a healthy life and in weight loss. Sometimes, it’s even possible that what you think is hunger, is actually your body telling you that you’re thirsty. To ensure that you’re getting enough water, take your current weight, divide it by two, and the number that you get is the amount of water, in ounces, that you should be drinking daily. Drinking water helps your body to carry out its normal functions, as well as to transport nutrients and oxygen throughout your body, and it also helps your body to remove waste. We lose water from our bodies every day through perspiration, breathing, bowel movements, and urination. It’s important to replenish the water that our bodies need.
#2. Make sleep a priority.
When you’re not getting enough sleep, it is likely that you’re going to try and compensate for the loss of energy by eating more. When you sleep enough, you’ll be less likely to snack in order to stay awake. You’ll also feel more refreshed each day, which can help to limit your desire for junk food and unhealthy snacks. Sleep not only allows us to get the rest we need for energy, but while we sleep, our bodies also work to repair and restore muscles, tissue, and synthesize hormones. When your body feels good, it’s less appealing to feed it food that doesn’t contribute to feeling well.
#3. Begin exercising.
If you aren’t already incorporating physical activity into your daily routine, now is a good time to start. Not only does working out help with weight loss, but it also aids your body to potentially increase life-span, decrease the risk of disease, and promotes higher bone density. If working out seems impossible for your current weight or lifestyle, take small steps towards being active. Park farther away when you go to the grocery store, take the stairs instead of the elevator, and you can even do small exercise routines between commercial breaks while you’re watching television. The most important thing is to start moving more, and you can slowly increase your physical activity after speaking with your primary care provider.
#4. Make small changes to your diet.
Food seems to be the most challenging aspect to weight loss for most people. As with exercise, if making big changes or doing too much to start seems overwhelming, begin by making small changes. Reduce the amount of processed food you’re eating and incorporate more fresh fruits and vegetables into your diet. While fruit contains natural sugar, it is still sugar nonetheless. Fruits that have low sugar include, green apples, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and cranberries. Vegetables should be eaten more frequently than fruit, and they’ll offer you a whole host of vitamins, nutrients, and minerals that your body needs. A good rule-of-thumb to follow is the more color and variety you can have in your diet, the better.
Losing weight doesn’t have to seem like an uphill battle. Making small changes will have more of an impact than you might think over time. You can begin today by taking some of our suggestions. For a more thorough look at your current lifestyle and weight loss needs, call Medics USA today to schedule an appointment with a primary care provider in Washington DC. We will work with you to determine the exact steps you need to take for your own, personal weight loss journey.