Simple Weight Loss Tips for Women (That Actually Work!)
Losing weight can be hard!
There’s so much information out there that it can be difficult to decide what to try or how you’re ever going to stick to your new weight-loss plan.
That’s why we’ve put together this powerful list of simple weight-loss tips for women just like you.
We’re not going to tell you to spend half your day in the gym or start eating kale salads for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
We’re going to give you a list of weight-loss tips that you can use to start living a healthier lifestyle without ever feeling deprived or overworked. One that will help you naturally slim down and keep it off, effortlessly!
Rather than keeping you in suspense, let’s jump right into the list…
20 Simple Weight Loss Tips for Women (That Actually Work!)
1. Hydrate All Day Long
The first tip on our list of weight-loss tips for women is super simple, but very few women actually follow it. Thirst is easily mistaken for hunger, especially in the morning. If you start your day trying to quench your thirst with food, you’re likely to keep that process up throughout the rest of the day.
Instead, start your day with two big glasses of water. That means before you have your coffee or tea, well before you eat breakfast, and as close to the beginning of your day as possible. The actual amount will vary from person to person, but try to consume at least a liter of water upon waking.
This will kickstart your day in the right way, helping you feel hydrated and avoiding any misinterpretation of thirst for hunger.
Healthy Tip: Pump up your water with flavor using what you have on hand. It takes the bland taste of water and elevates it without adding calories. Try a few slices of lemon or cucumber, chunks of watermelon or pineapple, or a couple of strawberries or blueberries. (You can also freeze pieces of fruit in your ice cubes.)
But don’t stop there!
Be sure to grab a refillable water bottle and take it with you everywhere you go. The closer you can get to a gallon in a day, the better your weight loss results will be. Water will help you feel full all day long and keep you from overeating in most situations.
It will also help to balance your sodium and potassium levels, which keeps your body from storing any unwanted water transdermally (beneath the skin), and will help you look your best every day of the week. While we’re at it, more water helps your body flush out a wide variety of toxins and free radicals that cause damage at a cellular level.
Healthy bodies are better equipped to burn fat and less prone to fat storage, plus more water typically translates to clearer, more radiant skin!
2. Eat More, Not Less
So many women's weight-loss tips focus on counting calories and limiting the intake of unhealthy foods. While reducing your intake can certainly help you lose weight in the short term, it’s not going to be very fun when it comes to keeping it off.
Living a low-calorie lifestyle that focuses exclusively on eating less doesn’t work! Instead, focus on eating more.
Fruits and veggies are full of fiber, water, and micronutrients that will help your body feel satiated. If you make an effort to eat more of them, you’ll automatically end up eating less of the unhealthy foods.
Don’t let people tell you that fruit has too much sugar either!
With all of that fiber and water, fruits are still far lower in calories than most foods, and the fiber means that the sugars are released more slowly and evenly, preventing crashes.
Even while you’re eating out, focus on eating all of the veggies or salad that comes with your meal first, and saving the best for last. This way you’ll be able to tell if you really need the other half of that loaded baked potato!
3. Keep Healthy Choices Visible
If you’re planning on eating more healthy foods, the best way to do so is to keep them out and readily available. That way, even if you find yourself in the kitchen looking for a snack to curb your boredom, you’ll find the fruit bowl or your favorite healthy snacks jumping out at you instead of a bag of chips or worse!
Work to keep as few of your unhealthy foods in the house while you’re at it. If you don’t buy them, you’ll be less tempted to eat them. Then you can have a dessert on the nights you go out to eat to satisfy your sweet tooth.
If you have to keep unhealthy foods in the house for other members of your family, do your best to hide them away or at least keep them out of plain site. That way you won’t be as tempted to indulge.
4. Explore Healthier Versions
As we told you above, you don’t have to cut out your favorite foods.These are weight-loss tips for women that still want to enjoy the way they eat!
What you should consider doing though, is trying to find healthier versions of your favorite treats. For example, rather than buying your regular bag of white cheddar popcorn from the supermarket that’s cooked in oil and made with plenty of strange ingredients, why not air pop your own?
You can airpop the equivalent to a bag of popcorn in less than 5 minutes, sprinkle on some parmesan, sea salt, and garlic powder and have a super tasty treat that’s much healthier and contains far fewer calories. It satisfies the same craving for crunchy, salty goodness while keeping you on your weight-loss plan.
The same can be done with nearly every dish you eat. Swap stevia for sugar in your drinks and baking, sweet potatoes for bread with dinner, or dress your salads with citrus and vinegar instead of oil.
It’s all about finding healthier alternatives that you actually enjoy, so don't force something that doesn’t fit into your lifestyle. If you’re someone who has to have half and half with their coffee, don’t mess with what makes you happy. Look for other places to make healthier choices that don’t leave you feeling deprived.
5. Walk, Walk, Walk
We told you we these weight loss tips weren’t going to be recommending that you spend half of your day in the gym, but that doesn't mean you should try to be a little more active.
Walking is one of the most effective exercises for weight loss. Why?
Well, for starters, it’s not a high-intensity exercise, so it’s not going to ramp up your appetite like a session in the gym might. That’s not to say that the gym should be avoided (on the contrary), but if you’re not ready to make that sort of commitment to exercise, walking is a great alternative.
The best part is that walking can be done while doing other things, making the best use of your time. Try listening to audiobooks while you walk and the time will fly by (seriously!). You can listen to self-improvement books or your favorite stories while you enjoy some fresh air and sunshine.
Plus, you don’t have to commit to walking for hours each day. Try to get out for a 20-minute walk in the morning and another in the afternoon or evening and you’ll be burning hundred of extra calories, improving your overall fitness, and getting some very important time outdoors.
6. Eat Slowly
The next item on our list of weight-loss tips for women is also pretty simple, but rarely followed. Most of us who lead busy lives (or simply love food) end up eating our meals quite quickly.
Believe it or not, your body takes a few minutes to recognize just how full it really is. That means that when you eat too fast, you may have reached the point where you can feel full before your stomach is able to fully communicate that to your brain.
Instead, try to:
- Appreciate each and every bite you take
- Chew thoroughly rather than swallowing right way
- Don’t fill your fork until you’ve swallowed so you’re not just waiting to put the next bite into your mouth
- Try keeping a conversation going if you’re dining with others
- Avoid watching TV so you can focus on your food
This may be the simplest weight-loss tip in the list, but it can also be the most challenging. Put in a conscious effort and you’ll find yourself feeling fuller from less food.
7. Prioritize Your Sleep
Sleep is crucial to your health. It supports nearly every bodily function and can help keep stress hormones that lead to fat storage at bay so that your body doesn’t stash away as much of the food you’re eating as adipose tissue.
Sleep also affects the hormones that regulate hunger and satiety. The hunger hormone, ghrelin, has been shown to remain much higher in individuals who don’t get enough sleep. That means that regularly sleeping 8-9 hours could be a major contributor to your weight loss and an all-natural appetite suppressant.
8. Find Fun Ways to Be Active
When we started creating a list of weight-loss tips for women we wanted to avoid telling you specifically which types of exercise to do. The important thing is that you get active, and how you do that is completely up to you.
Many women aren’t motivated to hit the gym or even go for a jog, but have tons of fun in a group yoga, Zumba, or Pilates class. Even running around the backyard with the kids or strolling the neighborhood with your husband can burn extra calories, reduce stress, and improve your cardiovascular health.
9. Be Held Accountable
As we mentioned in the last tip, fitness can be more fun when you’re doing it with others. That said, it’s also far easier to stick to when you have someone or a group holding you accountable.
That could be as easy as your kids or husband agreeing to go for an afternoon bike ride through the neighborhood regularly. You could get together with some of the other women in your neighborhood and start a walking group and get your heart pumping on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
The activity is up to you, just find someone to hold you accountable and you’ll be far more likely to stick to your weight loss plan.
10. Don’t Fall for “Healthy” Labeling
So called “health foods” are nearly everywhere you look on supermarket shelves today. The problem is that many of these that claim to be healthy are no better for you than their traditional counterparts.
That leaves it up to you to scope out what’s really going on behind the packaging and read the labels on the foods you buy. Just because something says it’s healthy doesn't mean that it is. If your health food has tons of ingredients, lots of sugar or fat, or is high in calories, look for a better option.
11. Eat Your Calories
You’ve probably been told not to consume your calories in the form of beverages. Well, it’s actually quite good advice.
Drinks are far less satiating than solid foods. If you can focus on having your coffee black, tea straight, and using stevia as a sweetener, you’ll be far more likely to stick to your weight loss plan. Better yet, stick to straight water for the majority of your drinks and your body will be far healthier for it!
12. Explore Healthy Supplements
We couldn’t create a list of weight-loss tips for women without talking about supplements. It’s a controversial topic, and rightly so, but there are supplements that can help you lose weight more easily.
Here’s a rule of thumb: avoid supplements that are full of chemicals, stimulants, and generally sound like they were created from leftovers at the science supply warehouse. Instead, look for those with natural ingredients that work with your body to support your weight-loss goals.
Plus, be sure to look for those that have plenty of reviews and testimonials from happy customers that have successfully lost weight with their product. You’ll find that there are plenty of products that make big promises but can’t back them up with customer testimonials that prove how well they work.
13. Get Your Protein
The next weight loss tip on the list is another simple one. Eating more protein can help you lose weight. We’re not talking about waiting until dinner and having a massive steak with your already heavy meal.
Instead, try having smaller amounts of protein with every meal. Eat some Greek yogurt or a few eggs in the morning for breakfast. Both are good options for lunch as well (if you hardboil the eggs!). You can also add fish, chicken, or other lean protein to a salad for lunch for a more filling meal. You’ll also want to have protein for dinner as well, along with lots of vegetables or salad (see Tip #2).
By regularly eating smaller portions of protein, you’ll stay fuller longer and be less apt to snack outside of mealtimes.
14. Brush Your Teeth After Eating
This may sound like a silly weight-loss tip, but its really works!
By brushing your teeth after each meal, especially dinner, you’ll be far less likely to continue grazing and snacking afterward. The freshness of the toothpaste can reset your palate and reduce the desire to eat any additional food. Also, after dinner most people won’t eat after they brush their teeth because they know that it means they’ll have to go and brush them again before bed if they do.
15. Get in the Smoothie Habit
Smoothies are a great way to get in a bunch of yummy fruits and veggies at any time of day, especially during busy morning hours when time is limited and you may need to run out the door.
The fruits and veggies will provide you with a tons of fiber, water, and micronutrients that will leave you feeling highly satisfied and fuller longer. Add in some of that Greek yogurt or protein powder for a boost of protein as well. Plus, smoothies are very transportable, so you can take them with you and eat them anywhere!
16. Eat on Your Own Schedule
Of all of the weight-loss tips for women on this list, this is one of the most important. Don't let anyone else tell you when you need to eat!
If you’re not hungry, don’t feel like you need to eat breakfast just because everyone else does. The same goes for lunch or dinner. If you miss a meal, you’re not going to wither away. Instead, your insulin levels will drop and your body will begin running off of your fat stores.
On the other hand, if you need to eat a big breakfast to feel your best throughout the day, then make sure you do so. Don’t give in to the neighbor who wants you to do a fasting challenge every morning.
17. Find New Cures for Boredom
Let’s face it, more of us snack as a way to fight off boredom. If you’re the kind of person who finds themselves cruising through the kitchen on a lazy Sunday afternoon just to see if there’s anything new to munch on, you’re not alone!
Of all of the weight-loss tips in this list, this one may be the most difficult to overcome. That said, it might also have the greatest impact on your weight loss. If snacking out of boredom accounts for 500 additional calories consumed each and every day, you could drop a pound per week by simply finding something better to do.
At first, start with a single alternative to random snacking. Try something as simple as going outside and walking around the block or weeding the garden to reset your craving. Then move on to cleaning the house, reading a book, or playing with your kids. Make the choice not to snack and find something enjoyable to fill your time instead!
17. Eat Your Fats!
Too many women avoid fat as a way to lose weight, but did you know that fats are vital to our health?
Healthy, unprocessed fats are the essential building blocks of our hormones (which is why it’s so important to avoid processed fats) and can help stave off hunger. A meal that embraces the addition of smaller portions of healthy fats will ultimately be more satisfying while your eat it and leave you feeling fuller longer.
18. Weight Loss Is More Than Exercise
This list of weight-loss tips for women focuses largely on diet and nutrition tips. Why? Mostly because it’s far easier to eat fewer calories than it is to burn them off.
You probably know people who spend an hour or more in the gym everyday and still have trouble losing weight. That’s because you can't out-exercise a bad diet.
If you work out everyday but still end up binging on unhealthy foods, your body composition isn't going to change. That's why it’s crucial that you make an effort to do both. Be more active while making healthier dietary choices and you’ll watch the pounds drop off.
19. Take Time to Relax (Avoid Stress)
This is another weight-loss tip that many women simply don’t understand. Stress plays a major role in weight loss. If you’re stressed out, your cortisol levels are high, and excess cortisol makes it far more difficult to burn fat.
Plus, stress is a major contributor to overeating. We’ve all heard the term “stress eating,” and it’s a very real phenomenon. When we’re stressed, many of us seek out food as a way of comforting ourselves.
That’s why it’s so important to take time every day to unwind properly. That could be a hot bath, a walk with the dog while listening to music, meditation, or simply sitting in the backyard and staring off into space.
Whatever helps you relax, do your best to make time for it every day, or twice a day if you can!
20. Follow the 80/20 Rule
The final item on our list of weight-loss tips for women is one that should make you very happy. If you haven’t already heard of the 80/20 rule, it basically calls for eating healthy 80 percent of the time and eating less healthy the other 20 percent.
That way you still get to indulge in some of your favorite foods and you avoid feeling deprived. Deprivation is the enemy of longevity. If you don't like your new healthy diet you probably won't stick to it very long, and weight loss is a long-term game.
We’re sorry to say, but there are no magic bullets. Losing weight is going to take several weeks or months depending on how much you want to lose. That’s why it’s so important that you modify your lifestyle in a way that you can live healthier while enjoying your new diet and activities.
