Approaching weight loss can come with its own set of challenges and misconceptions. A large number of diets provide instant solutions promising quick weight loss. Diet pills, slimming shakes, sauna belts, herbal teas –the list is endless. But what is the best way to approach healthy weight loss, especially as a working woman? Giving your 100% at work and at home can often leave you with less time and energy to invest in yourself.
Here we have compiled some nifty ways to keep you focussed on your health goals. These tips are simple and can be easily incorporated into your daily routine, which will help you accelerate your weight loss efforts!
1. Exercise innovatively
Very often due to the time crunch that working women face, exercise takes a back seat. However, you need exercise to help in effective weight loss. Don’t wait to attend an exercise session or to sweat it out in the gym for an hour. Instead, try to incorporate exercise into your workday. Take the stairs at the office rather than the elevator. After lunch, go for a short walk (preferably in the sunshine, so you can get vitamin D too). At the office, avoid sitting for hours at a stretch. It affects your joints and your posture as well. Stretch often, walk over to the cooler a couple of times a day and drink a glass of water. You can also try to do some lunges and squats if you can find some empty space in your office to do so.
2. Include strength training
Strength training is an often-neglected part of exercise, but its benefits are far-reaching. These exercises help build and tone muscle mass. A higher muscle mass means your body is burning calories effectively and helps raise your basal metabolic rate. This means you are burning calories even while at rest. Aim for strength training at least 2-3 days a week.
3. Carry a home-cooked balanced lunch
It does not need to be a fancy affair. Home-cooked meals can help you save on a lot of calories. Often when eating foods from outside, both portion sizes and caloric intake tends to be large. Also, foods from outside are made with lots of oil and salt, both of which are not helpful when you are trying to lose weight. A simple one dish meal like khichadi, peas pulao, brown rice or quinoa bowls with sautéed vegetables comprise a healthy and wholesome meal. You can even pack chapathis (made with multigrain flour) along with vegetables and a daal or any protein source. Use leftover ingredients and turn them into innovative dishes to save time and eat healthy!
4. Healthy hydration
Water is an often-neglected nutrient, but staying hydrated can be a great way to lose weight effectively. But what can this colourless and tasteless beverage do? Very often when we feel dehydrated, instead of drinking water, we reach out for something to eat. This adds to our caloric intake. Instead, drinking water boosts hydration and keeps you from feeling fatigued. Water keeps you full, so you tend to consume lesser amounts of food and avoid snacking. Being well hydrated prevents you from feeling tired and lethargic which can help you focus on tasks better. All this from a simple beverage!
5. Sleep on time
We often tend to compromise on sleep in a bid to get more work done. By staying up late at night and waking up early each day, we are burning the candle at both ends. This can be counterproductive. Often, we tend to unwind each night with screen time, but this affects our sleep (since blue light emitted from screens affects the sleep hormone- melatonin). Lack of rest also changes the timing and release of your hunger hormone- Ghrelin. This makes you feel hungry and you tend to crave unhealthy foods throughout the day. A loss of just an hour of sleep can affect Ghrelin negatively.
6. Include protein
Avoid skewing your meals in favour of carbs. Protein is a key nutrient for weight loss and should not be neglected. Protein works in two ways. Firstly, it has a high thermic effect, this means the body burns more calories to break it down and digest it. Secondly, protein makes you feel full for longer. The peptides (breakdown products of protein) help signal the brain that it is full. This mechanism can help you eat less and stay satisfied.
7. Fill up on fiber
Fiber-rich foods like fruits with the skin, whole grains, legumes and vegetables should be a part of your diet. The fiber in them helps you feel full and also causes a slow and sustained release of blood sugars into your body. This can help you stay satisfied for longer and prevent cravings. Fiber also prevents constipation. Increase your intake gradually and drink lots of water along with fiber-rich foods.
8. Savvy snacks
Healthy snacking can keep hunger pangs at bay. Avoid munching on chips, namkeens, biscuits, chaats, etc. these foods give your body little in the way of healthy nutrients. Infact, they can make you feel more drained and tired since they use healthy nutrients from the body for their digestion. Instead, choose snacks like- dry roasted makhanas, dry oats mixture, fruits, nuts, etc. which will keep you full for longer while also nourishing your body.
9. Break the fast with breakfast
No Time! No Breakfast! How often do we say this before rushing out to work? Then we wonder why we feel so hungry by 11 am and then fatigued by the end of the day. Breakfast should be eaten as your first main meal of the day. This regulates your metabolism, energy levels and hunger hormones and sets the pace for a healthy metabolism during the day. You will not tend to binge at lunch time and cravings for unhealthy foods will reduce.
10. Watch the second half
Go low on your food intake in the second half of the day (after 5 pm). If your commute is long, eat something healthy before leaving the office so you don’t reach home feeling famished. This is important since you should not eat a heavy dinner and sleep soon after. What’s more is that activity levels and metabolism is lowered in the evening and you do not need those excess calories. They can get stored as fat. Aim for a higher protein and vegetable intake and try and avoid carb heavy meals after 6 pm.
References
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2. Healthline. (2019). Top 23 Weight Loss Tips for Women. [online] Available at: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/weight-loss-for-women
3. healthy, W. and Now, T. (2019). Weight loss: Nine quick diet tips for busy women entrepreneurs to stay fit and healthy | Health Tips and News. [online] Timesnownews.com. Available at: Weight loss: Nine quick diet tips for busy women entrepreneurs to stay fit and healthy | Health Tips and News (timesnownews.com)
4. Idiva.com. (2019). Women's Beauty, Style, Fitness, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Relationships, Careers | iDiva.com. [online] Available at: Weight Loss Tips for Working Women | Health (idiva.com)
5. LIVESTRONG.COM. (2019). How to Lose Weight Fast for Women | Livestrong.com. [online] Available at: How to Lose Weight Fast for Women | Livestrong.com