Losing weight can prove to be one of the toughest things to do.
Many have tried and tested different methods in an effort to lose weight.
However, what remains consistent is the fact that more than anything, your diet plays an important role in your weight loss journey.
A few changes in your diet will contribute hugely to your weight loss journey.
If you are wondering how you can change your diet to lose weight, here are 8 healthy meal hacks to help you lose weight faster.
1. Drink plenty of water
This can never be emphasized enough.
Incorporating water into your diet will make a huge difference in not only your general health but also your weight loss.
Many nutritionists always recommend that you drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.
When it comes to weight loss, drinking a glass of water before your meals will not only make you fuller but will also stimulate your digestive juices so that your metabolism rate is spiked once you eat your meal.
Instead of having your normal juice or soda or other carbonated drinks, drink water to quench your thirst.
Additionally, you can replace juice or other sweet drinks with water during your meals.
2. Eat vegetables first
When having your meal at home or at a restaurant, it is advisable to have your vegetables first.
Whether it is in a salad or part of the meal, vegetables are rich in fiber and will make you feel fuller hence you will not eat much.
Additionally, vegetables are known to lower insulin levels in the body and this, in turn, makes it harder for your body to store unhealthy fats, which is a win for your weight loss.
Vegetables will also provide your body with the necessary vitamins and nutrients which will help you lose weight faster.
3. Zoodles for Noodles
Ever heard of zoodles?
If you are just getting started on this weight loss thing, you may have never heard of the term zoodles.
Zoodles are simply noodles made out of spiralizing zucchini.
They will not taste the same but they are surely a good alternative to wheat filled noodles.
Pasta is very high in carbohydrates and consuming it in large amounts will only make you add more weight and can be counterproductive if you add it in your weight loss diet.
So it is better if you ditch the noodles and start making some zoodles.
They are also very fun to make and taste delicious.
4. Chew your food more
Sometimes when you are really hungry, all you want to do is gauge on your food like it’s the last thing you do on earth, but it is only your digestive system that will suffer.
Digestion begins in your mouth.
So the harder you make it for your food to be digested the slower your metabolism rate.
And you know a slow metabolism is the first enemy of weight loss.
Therefore, if you chew your food more, digestion will be faster, and consequently, your metabolism will also spike, helping you lose weight faster.
5. Change your snacks
Contrary to popular opinion, snacking is very helpful, even for weight loss.
Snacking in between meals will keep you full so that you don’t eat much during your main meals.
However, a majority of people tend to snack on unhealthy food such as deep-fried potato chips and candy among other unhealthy snacks.
This will be counterproductive to your weight loss.
Instead, change your regular snacks to healthy ones like nuts, crunchy vegetables, and fruits.
Besides nowadays there are many healthy snacks that help boost your weight loss journey like kale chips or apple slices.
You can snack on things like almonds, celery sticks, berries, cottage cheese.
All these are healthy options that you can swap with unhealthy snacks.
6. Smoothies are life
They are raw, full of nutrients, delicious and easy to make.
What more can you want for your weight loss if not easy to prepare smoothies?
Smoothies are a life saver for a lot of people looking to lose weight but don’t have the time or money to make healthy meals.
There are many smoothie recipes out there that you can try to help you fast track your weight loss journey.
Moreover, you can always add healthy supplements and other tidbits of weight loss in your smoothies if taking them is difficult.
Simply throw them in when you are making your smoothie and you will barely notice they are there.
7. Swap unhealthy foods with healthy ones
As someone trying to lose weight, there are some things that prove very difficult to do away with.
Such things as bread, sugar and red meat are always very hard to do away with.
Even if you need to make a healthy sandwich, you will still need bread and you can’t have that green tea without sugar, can you?
Well, you actually can.
Everything is possible if you want to lose weight.
For sandwiches, you can use lettuce instead of bread.
For sugar, honey is an alternative.
And for red meat, you can always have almost the same taste with soya chunks.
There are many other alternatives to other unhealthy food that you can do away with in your diet.
Just research and you will find loads of them.
8. Food portioning
As a part of the many changes you are going to implement in your weight loss journey, your food portioning will also have to change.
Some tips and tricks on how to portion your food are the use of scoops and also reducing the size of your plate.
Nutrition experts believe that if you serve your food in a smaller brighter colored plate, you are likely to eat less than if you served in a bigger plate.
This is because the contrast between your plate and the food will create the perception that your food is more than it actually is.
If using a smaller plate doesn’t work, you can always portion your food using scoops.
Conclusion
All in all, losing weight is not an easy thing to do for most people because it involves a ton of lifestyle changes.
However, if you try to implement these 8 healthy meal hacks to help you lose weight faster, it might take you less time than you thought.
Moreover, these hacks are easy to implement and will almost not cost you a dime.