Millions of Americans are overweight. If you’re among the population there are ways to lose weight and maintain a healthier and lean body mass at any age.
Take the word ‘diet’ out of your vocabulary
There are many weight loss tips for men, however, the first one is your diet. Too many people start diets and end them. The problem is that the word diet suggests that you have to give up the foods you enjoy, that you’re missing out. Whereas changing your eating habits actually helps you adopt a healthier way of life.
Eating foods high in protein, such as lean meats, and two to three servings of fresh fruits and vegetables are essential. You also need omega-3s found in fish, nuts and whole grains.
Eliminate false hunger
Your body can play tricks on you and give you a false sense of hunger. This can happen when you consume a meal too quickly and it’s not digested completely or when you lack nutrients like magnesium. Learning to eat slower will help you to feel full faster and eat less. Eating a well-balanced diet will also eliminate the constant feeling of hunger that causes you to overeat.
Clear, cool, refreshing
Most people simply don’t drink enough water. Your body is made of mostly water and needs a constant supply to keep you healthy. When you don’t consume enough water, you can get headaches, become dehydrated, feel un-energetic and lose focus. Water can also help you to thwart hunger, acting as an appetite suppressant.
Additionally, water will provide energy and aid in the burning of fat in the body. The amounts may vary depending on your level of activity and exposure to the elements.
A fit body
Your body needs exercise in order to stay fit. Otherwise, you’ll lose solid muscle mass and develop areas of fat on the body. The good news is that working out will restore lean muscles in a relatively short amount of time. Many men work out and don’t achieve the results they want so they give up.
The problem is that performing the same routine no longer excites you, so subconsciously you’re not putting in the same effort as you did. You need to switch things up so that you remain engaged in your workout. Lift weights for two days (for 30–40 minutes at a time) and add a boot camp or spin class for a few days a week. As you get older, exercise is critical to sustaining flexibility and body movement, and a low-impact workout can keep you mobile and burn extra calories.
Decrease stress
Stress is something that is unavoidable and everyone deals with small amounts of it on occasion. However, if it often dominates your life, you may have a few extra pounds as a result.
Cortisol levels in the body increase when you feel stressed, causing you to feel hungry. Eating more and more often will cause you to have difficulty removing those few extra pounds. Find out why you’re stressed and address the problem head-on.
Have a good night’s rest
Sleep is important for many reasons. However, when it comes to your weight, not getting the proper amount of rest can cause you to remain overweight. Here’s why: You remain tired throughout the day so you drink a cup of coffee with cream and sugar to get you moving. It provides a temporary fix, so you have more.
Those calories may seem like small potatoes, however, over the course of a few years of poor sleep habits it can translate into 10 to 15 extra pounds. Another scenario is that you can’t fall asleep so you get up, turn on the TV and have yourself a quick snack. Shortly after you try to sleep again and now have a full belly. Those calories enter your body in a relaxed state, making you burn less and retain more.
Maintaining a healthy weight can depend on many factors in your life. If you eat foods low in fat and high in protein, exercise regularly, drink plenty of water and get 7 hours of sound sleep, you’ll start to see the weight drop off.
***
Image credit: Freepik
Peter Wallace has been an advocate for mental health awareness for years. He holds a master’s degree in counselling from the University of Edinburgh.
