Best Natural Appetite Suppressants

Today I'm going to talk about the best natural appetite suppressants and how you can use them to lose weight. Trying to lose weight is hard and when cravings hit, it can ruin all your weight loss efforts. Learn how to fight cravings and reduce your appetite so you can finally lose the weight.

Garcinia Cambogia

There's been a lot of hype around fruit. Garcinia cambogia is used in many weight loss pills. Studies show that people tend to eat less when supplementing with garcinia cambogia extract, which makes it a great appetite suppressant.

Garcinia cambogia also has other weight loss benefits, such as burning belly fat. It's good to get a product that is around 2800 mg to reap the benefits. Of course if you are on medications or taking anti-depressants, talk to your doctor about using garcinia cambogia.

Water

Believe it or not, water is a natural appetite suppressant. Have you ever heard anyone say that you can't really tell the difference between thirst and hunger, and that you may be thirsty? If you start to get cravings, make yourself a glass of water, drink it, then wait 20 minutes and see if you are still hungry for whatever you were craving.

As an added benefit, drinking a glass of water boosts your metabolism, so you will actually burn more fat from drinking more water. As a general rule, you'll want to make sure you are drinking half your weight in ounces of water per day. That is, if you weight 120 lbs you would drink 60 ounces of water per day.

Apple Cider Vinegar

You may have heard me talk about apple cider vinegar before. It is one of the top natural appetite suppressants. People will typically mix up an apple cider vinegar drink and have it before each meal in order to reap the weight loss benefits.

I have a recipe of an apple cider vinegar weight loss drink here if you want to check it out. It's made by all natural ingredients and most of the ingredients will probably already be in your kitchen right now. It's easy to make and you can lose a lot of weight just by drinking this and not changing anything else in your routine.

Green Tea

Green tea is talked about a lot in the weight loss community, but did you know it suppresses appetite?

Green tea has many other weight loss benefits, including burning fat and boosting metabolism. You should be drinking 3 to 5 cups of green tea per day in order to really benefit from it.

Exercise

You may think that working hard in the gym would make you even more hungry, but studies show that exercise actually suppresses the appetite. However, not all exercise will curb your appetite. There are a few rules you must follow if you want this benefit from exercise:

• You must do aerobic exercise for 60 minutes, or anaerobic exercise for 90 minutes.
• Using weights (even body weight) will have a greater effect.

This may sound like a lot of work, and it is, but it will have tremendous weight loss benefits.

If you combine these tips, you will surely have success in lowering your appetite and losing weight more easily.

Lemon Water For Weight Loss: What You Need To Know

Lemon water is served with your dinner any time you go to a restaurant, but did you know that consuming lemon water regularly at certain times of the day increase weight loss? I'm going to explain how you can increase weight loss using lemon water.

Lemon Water Benefits

Lemon water is said to aid in digestion. It helps you absorb even more nutrients from foods. On an empty stomach first thing in the morning, lemon water has the ability to cleanse the digestive system. It quickly flushes out toxins and aid in healthy and regular bowel movements.

Lemon water also boosts the metabolism. The antioxidants in the lemon water help with anti-aging. Lemon water contains vitamins and minerals which boost the immune system and helps with cellular processes.

Lemon water first thing in the morning helps with cleansing and detoxing, while lemon water before meals helps you become more full.

It is well documented that increasing water intake will help you lose significantly more weight.

How To Make Lemon Water

It's as simple as taking a lemon, getting all the juice out of the lemon, and pouring it into a glass of water. Stir it up a little bit and it's ready to drink.

If you are consuming the lemon water first thing in the morning, warming the water up a little bit is great. I don't mean make it so hot that it's hard to drink. We are talking more like a lukewarm temperature. This allows your body to assimilate the lemon water much better for the cleansing process.

Fresh squeezed lemon juice is always going to be the best lemon juice to use for your lemon water. The lemon juice in the bottle or powder forms are just not as fresh. Fresh lemon juice contains water from the lemon which is really good for your body. It hydrates you so much more and contains enzymes.

Also do not add any sweeteners to your lemon water, except for maybe stevia extract. Sweeteners add extra calories and may offset some of the weight loss from drinking the lemon water in the first place. We wouldn't want to do that, so get used to drinking your lemon water plain.

If you have troublesome teeth, consider drinking your lemon water with a straw to help prevent tooth damage. Lemon water is acidic and may cause you issues with sensitivity if you are prone to dental problems.

When To Drink Lemon Water

For a detoxing and cleansing effect, drink a glass of warm lemon water as soon as you wake up. Try your best to drink it within 30 minutes of waking up. This is said to be great for the liver and digestive system.

Also, to lose more weight, drink a glass of lemon water before every meal. You need to finish the whole glass before you start eating the meal. Drink it about 20 minutes prior to eating and this will increase the weight loss effects.

If you are looking for more weight loss drink tips, be sure to check out my other posts about it:
Homemade Weight Loss Drink
Weight Loss Tea For Morning

So I hope this post helped inspire you to use lemon water as a part of your weight loss routine.

How To Jumpstart Weight Loss

Today I want to talk about how you can jump-start a weight loss program. When I think about jump-starting weight loss, I think about priming myself to lose as much as I can in the beginning and helping myself be successful throughout the program. So I'm going to give my personal tips of how to jump-start weight loss.

Water Intake

Most people are not drinking enough water. You need eight 8 ounce glasses of pure water per day. If you aren't drinking that much, then it's time to increase your water intake. And please do not put those flavor packs with sucralose and fake sugars into your water. Excuse the side rant, but those need to go.

Even low levels of dehydration can impair weight loss and detox. So you need this water in order to prime yourself to lose weight. It won't make you gain weight, trust me. Your body will thank you for this.

Detox Tea

I believe detoxing before a weight loss program is so important. There are toxins everywhere and in everything, but we can lower our amount of toxins by eating organic produce and taking detox tea.

Detox tea is often made of several herbs that work together to help your body expel unnecessary toxins. We are not just talking about a tea that sends you to the bathroom to go #2. A true detox tea will aid in toxin elimination all over the body, not just make you poo.

I personally like Yogi brand detox teas, but you are free to choose the one you want. Just make sure you pick an herbal tea that is specifically for detox. It will probably have dandelion root, ginger, and various other herbs that help with detox listed in the ingredients.

Lower Calories

In order to jump-start weight loss, you want to lower your caloric intake drastically early on. You can add back in some calories after the initial phase is over, but we are trying to dump a lot of weight, especially water weight, rather quickly. That's why it's called a "jump-start."

The standard lowest amount of calories for a woman is 1,200 and for a man it's 1,500. This may vary due to your height. Some very short women maintain at 1,200 calories, so that's why it's good to check for yourself.

Lowering your calories to jump-start weight loss will help your body burn lots of fat quickly. Within a few days, you could lose 5-10 lbs just by doing all the things mentioned here, because your body is getting rid of water, toxins, and fat.

So, these are my tips for how to jump-start a weight loss program. I hope you found it helpful.

Bonus Tip

My bonus tip for jump-starting weight loss is to drink warm lemon water first thing in the morning. I mean DO NOT let 30 minutes go by before you drink a glass of warm lemon water. It's super important that you do this first thing in the morning and make sure it's lukewarm, not hot or cold.

This is a great way to detox and increase weight loss.

How To Make Water Taste Better

Increasing your water intake is important when it comes to weight loss. Today I want to give you some tips on how you can make your water taste better without adding calories or fake sugars to your water. So let's begin.

Infused water

Infused water is when you add fruit or herbs (or both) to your water. This gives the water flavor. You could add some frozen berries to the water instead of ice cubes. It will make the water cold while also giving it a slight berry flavor. You could put some cucumber slices in the water and add mint leaves. It really just depends on what flavors you want in the water.

This is a great way to add flavor while not adding calories. I personally have tried water with mixed frozen berries and it tastes pretty good. You can definitely taste the berries in there. There are many different infused water recipes out there that you can try until you find one that you like.

True Lemon

Okay, this isn't sponsored, but I'm going to mention a product called True Lemon because it's an easy and convenient way of getting lemon juice in your water. It also has no calories. This could be perfect for those who need to take it on the go and just want a small packet to empty into a water bottle.

If you don't want lemon, you can also choose lime or orange flavors. I've tried the lemon and lime and can vouch for those. You just empty it into a water bottle and shake.

Lemon Juice

You can also just use actual lemon juice. I'm not against that at all. Lemon juice is great for detox, so there are extra benefits to adding it to your water. If you add stevia to the lemon water it pretty much tastes like a lemonade, but without the calories. This is a great way to stave off hunger when you are cutting calories.

Flavor Packs

There are of course already made flavor packs that you can buy. There are tons of flavors-almost any flavor you could imagine and they taste great. I've found cherry, watermelon, blackberry, limeade, strawberry lemonade, and tons of other flavors.

I do want to add that most of these low calorie flavor packs have fake sugars, so if you are against consuming those then try to find the ones that use stevia instead.

You may have to do some hunting to find them, depending on what your store carries. I have found a few flavors that only use stevia and I really like them.

These flavor packs are made so that you just open the pack, pour it into a water bottle and shake it up. Alternatively, you can just pour it into a glass of water and stir. It works just fine both ways. Most people like these because they are very convenient to use.

So these are my tips for how to make water taste better. I hope some of these tips help you. This is a good replacement for soda and other drinks.

Top 5 Weight Loss Tips

I give many tips and tricks for weight loss on this blog, but I wanted to make a post of my top 5 weight loss tips. This is just to give you an idea of what I've found works best. Out of everything I've recommended on this blog, I have narrowed it down to the 5 most important tips. So here are my top 5 weight loss tips for you.

IF

IF stands for intermittent fasting. If you aren't doing it, then what are you doing? But seriously, I rave about this weight loss method for a reason. It is the only way in my adult life that I've ever been able to achieve what I would consider a nice body and good weight.

Calorie counting alone can get me down to a healthy weight, but it's IF that takes me that next step further to my goal weight, my dream body, the I-wouldn't-mind-wearing-a-bikini body. It's worth a try, and since there are so many different IF schedules, it's easy to pick one that suits you and isn't too hard.

Certain people may not be able to do intermittent fasting because of health conditions and medications, so check with your doctor to make sure IF is safe for you before beginning a program.

ACV

ACV is apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is probably more effective than any weight loss pill as far as I'm concerned. I've talked before about how you can make a weight loss drink with apple cider vinegar that helps you shed fat without really doing much else besides drinking it before meals. If you follow that link, it will give you a recipe for how to make it.

It's definitely in my top 5 weight loss tips because you literally just have to drink it and you will lose weight. But also there are so many other amazing health benefits that come with drinking apple cider vinegar that everyone should be consuming it daily.

It naturally boosts metabolism, burns fat, and suppresses appetite.

Oolong Tea

Oolong tea is another drink that I recommend. It's in my top 5 because it's been proven in studies to boost your metabolism even more than green tea. I've drank it myself and honestly it works. I've seen other people online talk about it as well.

And it's not one of those weight loss teas that you see all over instagram that some celeb got paid millions to advertise to you. It's a real weight loss tea from China and it's cheap. I got a box of 100 tea bags for just $5 at a local shop, but it can be purchased online as well if you don't have a store near you that sells it.

Limit Sugar

A lot of people hate this one. I'm sorry, but sugar is the devil. You don't have to eliminate sugar in order to lose weight, but it would help out a lot if you did limit it. I'm not trying to upset anyone here lol. I'm sorry, but this is in my top 5 for a reason. People drop weight so fast when they eliminate added sugars from the diet.

Added sugars are sugars that are not found naturally in a food. So the sugar in a banana is not added sugar, because bananas just naturally have sugar. But the sugar in a Snicker's bar is definitely added sugar.

Stay Active

I focus a lot on diet and supplements but staying active is definitely important. It's even more important if you want a very defined body. My philosophy is find something you love and do it most days of the week. Simple right?

So if you love salsa dancing, then make sure you are doing it 3-5 times per week. If you love tennis, find a tennis buddy and play a few times per week. I just believe in enjoying yourself while being active. It's the best way to go, because people tend to lose more weight in the long run by doing something they love instead of something they hate.

So there goes my top 5. I know most of these tips I've said before at some point on this blog, but I just wanted to organize the top 5 into one post, so that people are aware of what I personally think is most important in a weight loss journey. I hope this helps you in yours.

How To Lose Belly Fat Without Exercise

I see this question asked all the time: Can you lose belly fat without exercise?

The short answer is yes, but in today's post I'm also going to explain how you can lose belly fat without exercise. So let's begin.

Green Tea

Green tea has been proven in studies to burn fat, but it specifically targets unhealthy belly fat. Adding 3-5 cups of green tea per day would help you a lot in your goal to reduce belly fat. You don't have to exercise, just drink the tea. I would recommend not adding sugar to your green tea as it adds calories.

While we are talking about drinks, the only things you should be drinking are water and herbal teas or green tea. No sugary drinks if you want to get rid of belly fat. Also, stay away from fake sugars like sucralose. Just because a soda is diet does not make it healthy.

Sugar Reduction

I'm not telling you to completely change your diet, but cutting down on sugar would help a lot with getting rid of the belly fat. Excess sugar contributes to belly fat, so it would make sense that you could lose belly fat by cutting it out.

Try to aim for a healthy whole foods diet. Whole foods are foods that are in their most natural form. So if we are thinking about the example of potatoes, potato chips are a processed version and whole potatoes are the whole food version. The less ingredients a food has, the better. And even better if that food doesn't have a package at all is just one ingredient. For example, the ingredients in a banana you buy at the store are just 'banana'. There are no ingredients. It's just a whole food.

Having more fruits and vegetables in your diet will definitely improve your gut health, which will help you have a flatter stomach.

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is one of the best ways to cut down on belly fat. I know this from personal experience. It also helps to reduce bloating and puffiness. Intermittent fasting doesn't have to be hard. You can pick a schedule that works for you. Sometimes you have to experiment to see what will be easiest for you to stick to.

I personally have done OMAD (one meal a day), 18/6, and 19/5 for extended periods of time. There are several other methods though.

For example, there is the 5/2 diet. This is where you fast for 2 non-consecutive days of the week and eat regularly for the other 5 days. From what I've read, people typically lose an average of 4 lbs per month on that diet. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it really is when you consider the fact that all you are doing is changing what time you eat. How quickly you lose weight depends on what intermittent fasting schedule you choose.

So these are my tips for how to lose belly fat without exercise. It's not easy, but losing weight isn't ever easy. It is definitely worth the work though.

The Most Difficult Part of Losing 50+ Pounds

Today I want to talk about my journey of losing over 50 lbs (63 lbs to be exact) and what made it so difficult. Maybe this can give you an idea of what it's like to go on that journey. It took me 2 years to lose all that weight, when some people out there lose the same amount of weight in a very short time. So I wanted to talk about my personal experience of why it was so hard for me.

Hunger

I cut my calories a lot, so I experienced a lot of hunger. There would be days where someone wanted to go eat at a certain restaurant for lunch and I'd end up eat 1150 calories in that one meal. Mostly because there weren't many low calorie options. And then I'd have to manage the rest of the day with only 150 calories left to eat. If I was lucky, I could burn a couple hundred calories in a workout so that I could eat more.

Toward the end of my weight loss journey, I was doing intermittent fasting so I got used to the hunger. I learned to embrace it as a sign that my body was detoxing and burning fat and becoming healthier. The hunger was easier to deal with because I knew at a certain set time that I would allow myself to eat again. So food was going to happen again at a definite time, and I could just push through until then.

Hunger really is mostly a mental game. To effectively deal with hunger, you just have to trick your mind a little bit. If you keep yourself busy, that will help a lot. Drinking lemon water with stevia helps as well. Stevia has no calories and when mixed with lemon water it tastes kind of like lemonade.

Lack of Knowledge

Another thing that made my weight loss journey so difficult was my lack of knowledge. I knew literally nothing in the beginning. I didn't know what made the body burn fat. I didn't know how to read nutrition labels, or what a calorie really was, or what burning calories meant. I really knew nothing about weight loss. There was a lot of learning to do. Couple that with the fact that I didn't know where to go to find the information. Of course I had the internet, but the internet is full of a lot of confusing stuff and misinformation, especially when it comes to information about weight loss.

Luckily, anyone who is reading this now has my blog and my journey to look to for help, support, and advice.

Weight Loss Plateaus

I experienced 2 weight loss plateaus in that weight loss journey which made it hard to continue. The first time I hit a wall, I was extremely confused. Like I'm doing everything right. Why won't the scale move?? It took some learning for me to figure out what was going on there. I could have very easily given up and fell off the wagon at that first weight loss plateau, and then I would have never reached my goal.

But reaching my goal was not an optional. I HAD to get the weight off, because that was the first time I had ever been big. I was used to being skinny all my life. I'm glad I didn't give up, because I learned a lot along the way-much of that I can share with others now to help them become healthier. And that is really my goal: To share what I know in an attempt to help others.

I just want to say whoever is out there, don't give up on your weight loss goals. If you have to take a break, do so, but make sure you at least maintain your weight during that break before starting back. Don't gain it all back and lose all the work you did. Just keep trying.

Walking For Weight Loss

Today I want to talk about walking for weight loss. Many people think you have to kill it in the gym to lose weight, but that's just not true. You can lose weight and gain beautiful lean muscle simply by walking. Here's how:

Get Prepared

Okay, before you begin a walking regimen, you will need to make sure you are prepared. You won't actually need to have many items to get started. You probably already have most of what you need in your home already. The things you will need are:

• Running shoes
• Workout clothes
• Water bottle
• Place to walk

Make sure you have shoes that are made for running/working out. You don't want to go in flip flops or something else. You need shoes that are supportive for your body. This can prevent injury and ensure that you are keeping yourself safe while walking. Also, you will wish you had water so bring it with you. A reusable water bottle is fine.

As far as clothes go, as long as they aren't too restrictive they are fine to use. A T-shirt and shorts is just perfect. You don't have to go out and spend a lot on workout clothes. That is unless you want to. It's not required, but sometimes buying workout clothes can get you more motivated to actually go out and walk.

You will also need to have a good place to walk. A treadmill is fine. You could go down a sidewalk or a trail in the park. It depends on what is most convenient, safe, and doable, since you will be doing this often. So if driving to the park on the other side of town isn't something you could see yourself doing often, maybe pick a different place. You could even do this in the backyard.

Time Your Walks

You will want to know how long you've been out there, so having a device to time yourself is pretty important. You can use a phone or a watch. A watch may be more convenient for those who don't have pockets. If you are walking out in a neighborhood or park, I would urge you to always have your phone on you for safety reasons.

Type of Clothes To Wear

Try not to wear anything too tight or uncomfortable. You will want loose and breathable material to walk in. You want to choose comfort over style or looks. More comfortable clothing will help you be more flexible which will improve your fitness. Try not to wear restrictive clothing that limits your movement. Some materials may make you feel uncomfortable and you don't want that while you're walking.

Pick a Schedule

If you are walking for just 30 minutes, I suggest walking 6-7 days per week. If you want to walk 45 minutes to an hour, you may be able to get by with just 5-6 days per week. This will keep you burning fat and keep you on a consistent schedule.

I think if you walk any less than that, you may not lose much weight. This is because walking is so low impact and doesn't burn as many calories as some other forms of exercise. You have to be dedicated and consistent if you want to lose weight with walking.

How Long To Walk For Weight Loss?

When you are walking for weight loss, I suggest you walk 30 minutes to 1 hour daily for weight loss. Anywhere between that is fine too. If you want to do a 45 minute walk, by all means go for it. But just as long as you are walking at least 30 minutes, you are just fine.

If you start out at 30 minutes each time, you can slowly increase the amount you walk over time. You will feel like naturally doing this as your fitness level increases.

Before You Walk

Take at least 5 minutes to stretch before you go walk. This will give you some flexibility and reduce muscle soreness the next day. It will wake your muscles up and get them ready to complete the workout.

When you stretch, focus on the calves and quads, but make sure you get all the leg muscles fired up and ready to go. Lightly stretch your abdomen and other areas of the body as well.

When you are done with your walking workout, you can stretch again for 5 minutes. This will ensure that you don't wake up feeling too sore. Don't be surprised if you are still sore in the beginning though, especially if your body isn't used to working out. It's perfectly normal to feel sore, but the stretching will reduce the soreness.

What Pace Should You Walk At?

Walk at the pace you are comfortable at. You may notice that you start out walking pretty fast because you are full of energy at the start of your workout. If you have to slow it down after 20 minutes, go ahead and do that.You can finish the rest of the walk at a slower pace. In fact, it's healthy for your heart to have a cool down period anyway.

You don't have to force yourself to power walk the entire time, especially if that is hard for you in the beginning. We are all at different levels of fitness, so start where you are at and slowly build up your fitness level. You will be able to do more and more as time goes on.

When To Walk

It doesn't matter what time of day you choose to walk. Most people choose to walk in the morning or evening. I always walked in the evening, just because it fit with my schedule. You can choose whatever is best for your schedule, according to what responsibilities you have for the day.

The most important thing is to get out there and do it, and be consistent with your schedule. Never miss a day on your schedule unless you absolutely have to.

Yes you can lose a significant amount of weight walking, just so long as you are faithful to your routine. Do it when you're busy. Do it when you're tired and don't want to do it. As long as you aren't sick or injured, I see no reason not to walk. You can walk for weight loss and be successful. I hope these tips help you.

How To Take It Up A Notch

If you've been walking for a while and you feel that it isn't challenging anymore, you can take your walking workout up a notch. Walking for weight loss doesn't have to be boring and it doesn't have to be easy either. We can take it up a notch as soon as you feel ready.

Bring some hand weights with you on your walk. This is a great way to increase the toughness of the workout. You can choose small weights to begin with, and sit them down if they become too hard. If you are walking on a trail, keep in mind that you don't really have the option to leave the weights just anywhere, so make sure you pick small weights that you can handle or reduce the amount of time you are walking.

Another way to increase the difficulty of a walking workout is to add lunges into your walk. You can take some time from walking and just lunge walk on the trail. This won't work if you are on a treadmill, but it would be fine if you are free walking outside. Lunges make your booty more firm, so they are an excellent way to increase the intensity of your workout.

Another great way to take it up a notch is to add jogging into the mix. You can time yourself to job for 30 seconds and then go back to regular walking. Only do what you can handle though.

Make sure that you are ready to increase the intensity of your workouts before you do so. You don't want to run into any injuries or problems. You will know when it's time to start increasing the intensity of your walking workout, because your body will let you know. You will start to feel bored with walking and feel like it's "not enough". At that point, I would urge you to try these new things.

How To Break A Weight Loss Plateau

In this post, I'm going to give you all the help you ever needed to break a weight loss plateau. You won't be in one anymore once you try my tips. I have personally gotten myself out of them, so here are my top tips to get through a weight loss plateau.

What Is A Weight Loss Plateau?

First of all, I want to explain what a weight loss plateau is to make sure you are actually in one. A weight loss plateau is when you've been on a weight loss program and successfully losing weight each week, but then suddenly the weight stops coming off. You are still following your weight loss program to a T, but nothing is happening.

I would say if you've been at the same weight for 2 weeks in a row, you are definitely stuck in a weight loss plateau. Don't give up losing weight though. It's frustrating to do all the right things and not get any progress. I know, I've been there. But you can lose the rest of the weight. You need to understand what your body is doing during a weight loss plateau in order to fix it.

What's Happening During A Weight Loss Plateau?

During a weight loss plateau, your metabolism has dropped to the point where whatever you were doing before is just causing weight maintenance. Our bodies have this amazing ability to adapt, and if your body senses that you aren't eating enough or are doing something extremely different, it will eventually adapt.

Also, over time as your weight drops, your metabolism naturally drops to match it. People that weigh less have a lower basal metabolic rate, so this makes sense. So with those two properties combining, it's no wonder you've ended up in a place where your weight will not budge.

Increasing Metabolism

So since your metabolism has dropped, we gotta figure out how to increase your metabolism. There are a few things you can do to get your body into fat burning mode again.

Increase Calories

If you've been on a restrictive diet, you may want to consider increasing your calories for 2 or 3 weeks, and then dropping it back down. I have personally tested this plan and it does work to break a weight loss plateau.

It works because during those 2-3 weeks of increased calories, your body's metabolism re-calibrates and gets going again. You won't lose anything during the 2-3 weeks of increased intake. The weight loss will come again after dropping your calories back down.

You need to be very careful with this method if you don't have good will power, because there is a slippery slope here. You may go on a binge, gain all the weight back, and then never lose it. This method needs to be approached very carefully and very responsibly. Do not make the mistake of going overboard with it.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Sometimes we need help from supplements. A natural way to lose more weight is to add apple cider vinegar to your daily routine. Continue doing everything you are doing right now, just add an apple cider vinegar drink.

I have an article that explains how to make an apple cider weight loss drink. Drink this every day and you will notice a difference. It can get you out of a weight loss plateau.

Intermittent Fasting

I'm always suggesting intermittent fasting, but for me it's the best way to move the scale again after a weight loss plateau. Intermittent fasting forces your body to burn fat stores, and studies show you burn more fat with intermittent fasting than you do with caloric restriction.

To get started with intermittent fasting, you'll need to know how to do it. I have an article about how to intermittent fast that you can read to get you started with it.

Do not lose hope on your weight loss journey. On my big 63 lb weight loss journey, I ran into 2 weight loss plateaus. I decided not to let it give me a reason to give up, and because of that determination I lost 63 lbs.

Apple Cider Vinegar Weight Loss Results

Today I'm going to talk about apple cider vinegar weight loss results. We are going to discuss the weight loss benefits of apple cider vinegar and what results you can expect from using apple cider vinegar for weight loss. So let's get started.

Weight Loss Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar

There are many health benefits of apple cider vinegar. In this post we are mainly focusing on how apple cider vinegar helps with weight loss. Apple cider vinegar is a major appetite suppressant. This means that you will have less food cravings. Studies show that people tend to eat less calories when taking apple cider vinegar daily, so it's proven to curb your appetite.

Also, apple cider vinegar increases your metabolism. This helps you burn more fat throughout the day. You will also store less fat while you're regularly drinking it. The great news is that you don't have to do anything extra, just use apple cider vinegar.

Apple Cider Vinegar Drink Recipe

Some people take apple cider vinegar by itself, not diluted. I do not recommend this for a few reasons. For one, it can make your teeth more sensitive. It's best to dilute apple cider vinegar. Plus, the other ingredients you add to it make it taste better and add more weight loss benefits to the drink as well.

I'm going to share a pretty popular apple cider vinegar drink recipe with you:

• Apple Cider Vinegar 2 tablespoons
• Lemon juice 1 tablespoon
• Raw honey 1 tablespoon
• Fill the rest of the glass with water

Many people that I know personally tell me this recipe tastes good. It prevents you from tasting the apple cider vinegar as much, and it gives you added benefits with the lemon and honey. It's a good recipe to use for weight loss. You should take this drink once or twice per day when trying to lose weight with apple cider vinegar. Drinking it before meals is best.

Apple Cider Vinegar Weight Loss Results

So what type of results should you expect with apple cider vinegar?

I did some research online. It looks like you could expect anywhere from 4-8 lbs per month weight loss while using apple cider vinegar. Some people have lost even more than that, but it just depends on your individual situation. Now that is pretty consistent weight loss.

Health professionals say it's safe to lose around .5 to 2 lbs per week, so this is a pretty safe and average amount of weight loss to expect.

I found a nice lady on youtube who lost over 30 lbs with apple cider vinegar. It looks like she probably exercised a bit too, but those results are amazing.

The most important thing to remember to be successful is to drink it every day. Don't skip a day. Always have your drink. If you are not consistent with drinking the apple cider vinegar, you can't expect to have these results. The results compound over days and weeks of taking the apple cider vinegar.

How To Make Weight Loss Suck Less

So you're on a weight loss journey and it sucks. Yeah, I've been there too. I have some tips that can help anyone who is trying to lose weight. It doesn't have to suck as bad as it does. Here are my best tips for making weight loss suck less.

Realistic Goals

Weight loss may suck for you because you want to lose weight too quickly, so you are going to the extremes. Being more relaxed with your weight loss goals can take some pressure off, and make things a bit easier.

Maybe settle on losing 4-5 lbs per month and make small changes here and there to reach your goal. This is much easier on you than trying to lose 20 lbs in a month. Remember it's not how fast you get to the finish line, it's the process that's important.

Ease back on some of those high expectations, give yourself a cheat day every once in a while, and stick to a small goal. It's much more sustainable.

Fun Activity

Studies show that people that choose an activity they love end up losing more weight in the long run. Why is that? Because if you pick an exercise that you hate, you aren't going to stick to it long term.

Any activity, no matter how small, can be considered exercise as long as you are being physically active. So if you enjoy walking your dog, then walk your dog every day for your workout. If you like tennis, then play some tennis. Some more fun things you could do are swimming, gardening, riding your bike, and dancing.

Choose something you already love doing, and just be consistent about doing it every day. This is much less torturous than forcing yourself to run 5 miles a day or forcing yourself to go on an exercise machine.

Your Diet Is Too Strict

You may be hating your weight loss plan because you aren't eating enough food, or you're restricting yourself way too much. Make sure that your dietary habits are sustainable. For example, a 900 calorie a day diet is not sustainable for most women. Some women who are very short would have to eat that much, but if you are average height, you will be very unhappy with that type of diet.

If you cut out too many food groups, you may also experience unhappiness. Just remember that you don't have to be that strict in order to lose weight. Making smarter and better choices is enough for most people to lose 1 lb a week.

Intermittent Fasting

Of course I'm going to suggest intermittent fasting because it's an easy way to lose weight. But really it is. If you haven't tried it, you should. You can start off with an easy schedule such as 16/8. That is where you fast 16 hours and have an 8 hour eating window. Intermittent fasting is an easy way to cut back on late night snacking and overeating. I suggest it because it works great.

The weight will come off if you scale back and stop being so strict. You just have to trust the process. You don't want to be miserable while losing weight. You want lifestyle changes that are sustainable in the long run so that you don't gain the weight back eventually.

How To Get a Slimmer Face

In this post, I'm going to teach you how to get a slimmer face.

In a world of face-slimming photo filters, we may start to feel bad about how our faces look in real life. Maybe you think your cheeks are too chubby, or maybe you have a double chin. Here are some tips to change your face and make it more sculpted and slim.

Face Yoga

Face yoga is a series of exercises you can do with your face. Just like you workout the rest of your body, your face can actually be worked out too. There are muscles in your face and if they are worked out in the right way, it can lift and sculpt you a better looking face.

Face yoga can make your face look more youthful, slim, and beautiful. These exercises must be done often, just like other exercises for your body. If you want a bubble butt, you aren't going to just do squats once. And if you want a sculpted face, you can't just do face yoga once and expect to have it.

In order to learn face yoga, it's best to learn from a professional and follow their lead. Here is a good face yoga workout video for you to try.

Reduce Bloating

Consider the fact that some of your face fat is actually water weight. You may be bloated. I do have an article on how to reduce water weight gain. A few tips are to go to a sauna or steam room, or reduce carbs and drink dandelion tea. This could dramatically cut down on the facial bloating. You would be surprised at how small your face would be after doing these things.

Remember to drink plenty of water, get plenty of good vitamins and minerals, and have an all around healthy diet. This can cut back on bloating as well.

Mewing

Mewing is also a type of facial exercise, but very different from face yoga. Mewing can actually change the bone structure over time and give you a chiseled jaw line and more attractive features. This is achieved through correct tongue posture.

The idea is that most people are not holding their tongue in the right position, and therefore their face has grown in an unsightly way. It changes the entire look of the face. Have you ever seen a model with an amazing jawline and very attractive face? You can achieve a similar look through mewing.

Just like face yoga, this is a long term method, meaning it won't happen overnight. I know that is frustrating for some, because we just want instant results, but to change your face to a more attractive face takes time, effort, and work.

If you want to find out more about mewing and orthotropics, here is a really good introductory article and video showing everything you need to know as a beginner.

I've seen videos online of people who have practiced mewing for a year or so and it really does seem to give you a nicer jawline. This goes for both males and females. It can be a challenge to do at first, and you certainly have to get used to it.

So those are my tips for how to get a slimmer face. I hope you learned something new and useful today.

How To Count Calories To Lose Weight

In this post, I want to explain to you how you can count calories to lose weight. It's pretty simple math, and a lot of weight can be lost using this method. I personally lost 25 lbs in the past from this method.

What Is a Pound?

The first thing you need to understand is how the math works. One pound of fat on your body is equal to 3,500 calories. What this means is that you will need a deficit of 3,500 calories in order to burn 1 pound. The deficit can be created by eating less food, by increasing your activity/exercise, or a combination of both.

Diet and how much you eat plays a big role in losing fat. Cutting back on how much you eat is a big part of losing weight with counting calories.

Daily Caloric Needs

In order to lose weight using this method, you need to know your daily caloric needs. This number is how many calories your body burns every single day. It is determined by your age, weight, height, and activity level.

You can make this easy by using an online calculator. You just plug in the numbers and it will tell you how many calories you need every day. Click on that link to go to the calorie calculator and find out your number.

Once you know that number, you can subtract 500 calories and eat that amount each day. So if your daily caloric needs is 2,000 calories you would eat 1,500 every day. Alternatively, you can follow what they tell you at the bottom of the calculator. They have a number for "fat loss" and "extreme fat loss". That is how many calories you would eat to lose weight.

Fit Bit

Something that is said to be way more accurate is a Fit Bit. It's a watch that you place on your wrist that tells you how many calories you burn every day. Many people that are trying to lose weight with calorie counting will use a fit bit for accuracy. You don't have to get one though in order to be successful with weight loss. I'm just letting people know that it exists in case they would like to get one.

How To Count Calories

Now you need to know how to count calories. Counting calories is pretty easy. You would look at the nutrition label of your food, determine how many servings you are eating, and then see how many calories are in a serving.

So let's say you are eating some chips and 23 chips is a serving. You count out 23 chips. The back says one serving is 250 calories. So 23 chips will be 250 calories that you need to log.

If you want even more accuracy, you can buy a food scale and measure all your food. You would look and see how many grams is one serving and then measure out your food portions. It's not absolutely necessary, but can be helpful if you are having trouble with getting the servings correctly.

Apps

There are apps you can get that actually make this whole process easier. They help you track your calories each day. Just search on your phone for "calorie counting apps" and you will see many options. Try a few out until you find one you like.

There are some apps that let you track your water intake. There are some that let you scan the barcode on your food so that they calculate your calories for you. It just makes it easier to track your progress. You can even put in your starting weight and watch as you lose weight.

So I hope this article has been informative in how to count calories to lose weight. Thank you for reading.

Lose Weight By Sweating: 5 Simple Tips

I want to share with you today how you can lose weight by sweating. Now, I will say most of the weight you lose from sweating is water, bloating, and puffiness but that can make a huge difference. Most people are very bloated and carry around a lot of water weight.

The face can become puffy and make you look like you weigh much more than you actually do. Your pants can become tight and stomach can look puffy from water weight. So losing that water weight can actually make a big difference, especially for a short term event.

Also, you can't deny the detox effect of sweating. Detoxing helps tremendously with weight loss. It helps encourage our body to let go of fat.

So let's get into it.

Sauna

First, I want to talk about using a sauna. Saunas help you sweat out toxins and reduce water weight gain. They can get rid of your bloating. Saunas provide dry heat that causes you to sweat. You can find a sauna to use at a local gym or spa.

A lot of gym memberships provide you the limitless ability to use their saunas as long as you are a member. That may be a better value because you don't have to pay for each use and you can also use their exercise equipment and exercise classes. A gym membership is a really great idea for anyone that is interested in losing weight because of all the features you receive along with your monthly membership.

Saunas can be used to reduce bloating in the body, which will help you slim down. It also causes your body to burn more calories during and after your session, which means your metabolism will be raised just from using the sauna.

Affordable, portable saunas are also available for at home use. They're like small tents for your body and can be used in the privacy of your own home.

Steam bath

A steam bath is very similar to a sauna. The difference is the steam room uses steam to heat the room and so it ends up being very humid. It's about wet heat vs dry heat. The sauna provides dry heat and the steam room provides wet heat.

Both will heat you up and help you sweat out the water weight and bloating.

Body wrap

If you specifically have lots of bloating in your stomach area, you may want to consider a body wrap. A body wrap is a wrap you can put on and help yourself lose water weight around the tummy. There are companies that sell expensive wraps with premium ingredients, but you can also just make one at home if you want to.

Some people even use these on their thighs as well to help lose extra water weight there. It does work in slimming the belly and thighs. This is more of a quick fix for an event you may have, as the weight loss comes back pretty quickly. But in the short term, you can lose inches off your waist with a body wrap.

Exercise

This is probably everyone's least favorite way to lose weight by sweating. Exercise can help you in this regard. It does something extra as well though. It creates muscle which raises your resting metabolism. It also tones up the body so that you are more shapely.

If you want to sweat while you exercise, you'll need to ramp up the intensity of whatever workout you are doing. Some people use cardio, or high intensity interval training. I always sweat the most when doing cardio workouts. Whatever you are doing, make sure you aren't torturing yourself too much or you won't want to keep it up long term.

Oolong tea

Now, I've talked about oolong tea on this blog before. It's a great weight loss tool. It boosts your metabolism more than green tea. But did you know it can make you sweat?

I don't actually know if this is a common experience that others have, but I know that when I was drinking a few cups of oolong tea per day, I would actually get hot and start sweating. And all I was doing was sitting there!

So you may want to try it for this purpose. Either way, oolong tea is a great tool to have in your weight loss toolbox.

How I lost 63 lbs: My Past Weight Loss Story

This story starts in 2010 when I stepped on a scale and was shocked to see 178 lbs. I hadn't weighed myself in about half a year, but it was a dramatic difference and what's worse is I didn't feel like I had gained that much. I felt like maybe 5 lbs had crept on, but to see I gained 30 lbs was crazy. I had worn a lot of stretchy pants, so that had something to do with me not realizing I gained so much. Beware of leggings and yoga pants.

The Beginning

So I knew I had to do something. I didn't know a single thing about weight loss at the time. I didn't know how it worked, I didn't know what calories meant, I really knew nothing at all. So to the internet I went. I saw a lot of misleading information and contradicting information. It was hard to find any legitimate tips to lose weight.

I finally found a page that talked about calories and explained how that worked. They said 1 pound of fat is 3500 calories, and that I needed to burn 3500 calories to lose a pound of fat. I started doing the math and figuring out how many calories I burn each day. Then I decided I would cut my calories to lose weight. I chose to eat 1300 calories every day. If I wanted more food, I would just exercise to allow myself to have something more. I always stayed at that one number though.

Fast forward, and in a few months I had lost 14 lbs. I was already at 164 lbs. I was pretty pleased with how things were going. I knew from doing the math that the weight would come off at a rate of about 2 lbs a week, so I was getting the results I expected to get.

First Weight Loss Plateau

Then something happened. I weighed in one week and I hadn't lost anything. I kept going. I pushed forward with the 1300 calories. And again, another week went by and I was still at 164. I thought, "This isn't right." Somehow the math wasn't working anymore.

So I went back to the internet to figure this out. I found out that I was experiencing a weight loss plateau. I found out it's pretty common, and there were several suggestions of how to fix it. I decided I would just eat whatever I wanted for 2 weeks and then go back to 1300 calories a day.

Losing Weight Again

I did just that. And it broke the weight loss plateau and I was losing again. I got down to 154 lbs. At that point, I had some life changes going on. I stopped counting calories and just decided to do some aerobic exercising every day. In 6 months time I went from 154 to 145 lbs and stayed there maintaining 145.

Weight Loss Stall

The weight wasn't coming off as easily anymore I noticed. In the beginning, weight was falling off, but as time went on it got harder and harder to lose anything. I got down to 140 just by eating a little less (not counting anything) and some light exercises. I was stuck there for a year.

Beginning Intermittent Fasting

I decided maybe this was my "set point" and my body just didn't want to budge. I accepted it for a while. Then one day in 2012 I was online and came across some information about intermittent fasting. I found a lady on youtube that was eating with a 19/5 intermittent fasting schedule.

I read about the benefits and I was really intrigued. This was interesting to me because I had always bought into the "starvation mode" myths that are running around. I began 19/5 intermittent fasting. Within a few months' time, I effortlessly made it to 115 lbs and maintained it for a year and a half.

Goal Reached

It was definitely a journey to make it from 178 lbs to 115 lbs. It took a long time. It took a lot of experimenting along the way. I had to learn as I went. If you're reading this, it's worth it to start now. In 1 year you will wish you had. It may seem like a slow process and in this world we always want everything to come more quickly, but you didn't get fat overnight and you won't lose weight overnight. Just accept yourself wherever you are in your journey, and make it a point to do better every day.

So I hope you enjoyed reading my story of how I lost 63 lbs. My goal is to help and encourage others. Don't give up. Just remember that a big goal is accomplished by doing little things consistently every single day. Those little things add up over time to a big result.

I also want to note that it doesn't have to take this long. For me it did, mostly because I knew nothing about weight loss when I started, so there was a huge learning curve. But there have been many people who dropped the same amount of weight in less than a year. So just keep that in mind.

How To Lose Water Weight Quickly

Water weight can make you look so bloated, as if you weigh much more than you actually do. Most people are carrying around excess water weight. It especially shows up in your face and stomach. There are things you can do to lose water weight quickly. Here are some tips for losing water weight.

Diuretic Supplement

A diuretic supplement is a pill, usually with herbal and natural ingredients, that causes your body to flush out excess water. Now, if you choose to take these pills it is very important that you follow all instructions on the box and take plenty of water throughout the day.

Each day you should be drinking half your weight in ounces of water. So for example if a person weighs 120 lbs, they should be drinking 60 ounces of water daily. This is regardless of whether or not you are bloated. This is the recommended water intake for adults.

Reduce Carbs

If you are looking to only decrease bloating for a few days, reducing carbohydrate consumption will help. Lower the amount of carbs you eat by cutting down on bread, pasta, cereals, and sweets. Eat more vegetables which have lots of water and will help you flush out the water weight.

The reason you should cut carbs is because carbs make your body hold onto water weight. Vegetables still contain carbs, but it is usually much less carbs than fast food and sweets, and vegetables are very hydrating for the body.

Herbal Tea

When you have water weight, you may feel uncomfortable with drinking even more fluids, but there are herbal teas that can actually cause your body to release the excess water. One of those is dandelion tea. This is a better option than the water weight pills I described above, because you are actually drinking a lot of fluids when you drink tea which helps the problem.

To use dandelion tea, steep the tea according to the tea bag, and drink 3 cups of dandelion tea per day. This will reduce bloating and water weight gain.

Body Wrap

If the bloating is mostly in your stomach, consider using a body wrap. There are companies that sell these wraps, but check reviews and make sure it's a good body wrap before purchasing.

This will cause your stomach to sweat out the excess water, and you will see a flatter tummy the next day. The results usually don't last forever, so keep that in mind. Body wraps are great to use the day before an event or special date so that you can look extra slim.

Sauna

A sauna can help you sweat out excess water weight. Many health clubs, spas, and gyms include a sauna in their monthly memberships. You can also invest in a sauna. There are some affordable saunas you can buy. Usually they are smaller and made for one person.

Remember if you use a sauna to re-hydrate after you sweat. Use infused water for proper re-hydration. This is water with fruit and herbs added to it. Placing frozen berries in your water is a great way to re-hydrate. This helps you get more vitamins and minerals back into your body after sweating.

I hope these tips for how to lose water weight quickly are helpful for you.