Everyone has attempted to lose weight at least once in their lives. If you are like most people, you’ve likely tried a variety of strategies and different approaches to help you accomplish this goal. Doing so can be mentally exhausting, especially when it is either unsustainable or feels like a waste of time.
Weight loss is very simple, yet complex. Unfortunately, there is no magic formula for how to lose body fat. Instead, it requires a combination of exercise and proper nutrition.
How to Lose Body Fat as a Woman
What makes weight loss complex is the individuality of the process. Each individual has their own set of unique circumstances, metabolism, and lifestyle that can impact how their body responds to weight loss.
If you’re a woman wanting to lose 15 to 30 pounds of body fat, consider the follow weight loss tips.
1. Avoid Fads and Crash Dieting
Fad diets are popular diets that typically only stay trendy for a small period of time. These diets can be very appealing, as many are claimed as a “quick fix” to obesity. Oftentimes, fad diets are backed by claims that are unscientific and not factual, though people attempting these types of diets for weight loss may not even realize it.
Crash dieting, sometimes known as a semi-starvation diet, involves very low food consumption. Sometimes, entire food groups must be avoided to stick to this type of diet.
Both fad diets and crash dieting are not sustainable. This is because they can have a large, negative effect on the body. Instead, it’s better to focus on small goals and creating good dieting habits, such as:
- Paying attention to the food in front of you
- Avoiding mindless eating
- Increasing total water consumption
- Avoiding the over consumption of sugar
- Eating more fruits and vegetables
2. Increase Physical Activity
It has been proven time and time again that physical activity is a necessity when it comes to weight loss. When trying to lose body fat as a woman, you’ll need to increase your overall physical activity.
It’s important to be realistic with yourself and focus on what you can sustainably do. Physical activity doesn’t have to be an immediate sprint. Start off by walking and building up your physical and mental adherence to exercise.
Make physical activity fun; find methods of exercise you enjoy that will be sustainable over time. This can make it easier to build the habit of exercise, especially when starting a weight loss journey. Working closely with a certified personal trainer can also help in motivating you and keeping you on track with your physical activity.
3. Get Adequate Sleep
Part of learning how to lose body fat is knowing when to rest. It is very important that you allow your body to properly recover. This may seem counterintuitive, especially when physical activity is necessary for weight loss. However, one of the things people tend to do is focus on nutrition and exercise at such an extreme level and end up neglecting the smaller things, such as getting adequate sleep.
Sleep helps you recover physically and mentally, allowing you to avoid exhausting yourself and experiencing symptoms of overtraining. In fact, not getting enough rest can actually create a setback in your weight loss journey.
4. Consume the Right Carbs to Body Weight Ratio
Eating more complex carbs and supplying your body with enough energy is crucial to weight loss. You may notice that the internet and social media tend to make carbs into “the bad guy” whenever in the context of dieting and weight loss. The truth is that carbs are crucial in speeding up digestion so your body doesn’t retain all the calories you consume.
So, how many carbs should you consume when trying to lose weight? There is a simply formula you can follow to determine the right amount for you: multiple 1.3 times your body weight. For example, if you weigh 170 pounds, 1.3 times 170 equals 221, so you would need to eat 221 grams of carbs a day.
Carbs can also reduce bloating and constipation, both of which can become obstacles when trying to lose weight.
5. Keep Healthy Snack Alternatives Available
When following a diet to lose body fat, it’s very important to have healthy snack alternatives available. Early on in weight loss journeys, many people make the mistake of depriving themselves of anything that would be considered “outside” of dietary restrictions, inevitably leading to binge eating and weight loss setbacks. Having the ability to implement mini diet breaks allows you to stay on course with your diet.
Having healthier snack alternatives on hand can ensure that you’re reaching for something that will nourish your body, rather than an unhealthy option that can interrupt your weight loss efforts.
6. Track Your Progress
If you are not tracking your progress, you are wasting your time. It is very important to know where you are in comparison to where you were before, as well as where you’d like to be in the future. Additionally, tracking what you’ve lost over time can be a motivating force in itself, as it shows you how far you’ve come.
Tracking exercise and nutrition during weight loss may seem like a task, but it is very essential to seeing the difference between losing five pounds versus losing seven to ten pounds in a month.
If you are looking to lose 15 to 30 pounds of body fat, consult with a fitness professional who knows the science behind weight loss and can guide you through the right program for you. The coaches at Fitness Factory KC specialize in providing assistance to women 25 years and older who want to tone, tighten, and lose body fat.
Contact us today to learn more and start your weight loss journey.