If you are obese or overweight, getting down to your ideal weight is not going to be easy. It will not happen overnight, and the journey will be full of challenges and obstacles that will make you cry, leave you in so much pain, and force you to give up.

What can you do to lose weight effectively? How can you make your voyage to a healthy and fit body less stressful, frustrating, and painful?

To successfully shed off those excess pounds and get rid of those bulges, you should stick to tips and strategies that medical experts have tested and proven to work. You should be prepared to do a complete overhaul of your lifestyle, and eliminate habits that are not conducive to losing weight.

Below are weight loss dos and don’ts that you should strive hard to make a part of your day-to-day routine:

DOs:

Drink lots of water

Medical experts advise that everyone should drink at least 8 glasses of water a day to allow proper functioning of our bodily organs and systems. They have also found, based on various research studies, that water can increase metabolism rate by about 24% to 30%, which helps in burning off more calories. So, before eating, you should drink a glass of water to avail of that metabolism boost. Throughout the day, you should also make sure to keep yourself hydrated to not suffer from dizziness, headaches, and other signs and symptoms caused by dehydration.

Eat more fruits and vegetables

Fruits and vegetables contain a lot of essential vitamins and minerals that can protect your body against diseases. In addition, they are low in calories and high in fiber, making them very helpful in losing weight fast and efficiently. They can also help make you feel full faster, preventing you from eating more than you should. Every meal, you should try to have a serving of veggies or fruits for the sake of your body.

Eat more fiber

Increasing your fiber intake makes your body more capable of digesting your food and absorbing the essential nutrients from them. Furthermore, with more fiber, you can lower your body’s cholesterol levels and prevent heart disease, reduce your glucose levels and stay away from diabetes, and enhance your digestive health and avoid suffering from constipation and other stomach problems. Foods with high fiber content also contain fewer calories, so they are great for weight loss.

Eat more protein

Many studies have found that protein-rich foods, like lean meat, fish, poultry, and nuts, can improve a person’s metabolism by burning 80 to 100 calories more per day. In addition to that, these foods can curb your cravings for more food every meal, and even weaken your desire for midnight snacks. With sufficient protein intake, you can strengthen your muscles, and have reduced odds of injuries, infections, and other health issues.

Try intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting is type of eating pattern where you cycle between fasting and non-fasting over a defined time period. A popular way to do it is by the 16/8 method, in which you spend 16 consecutive hours of your day fasting and use the remaining 8 hours as your eating window. For it to be effective, you should still stick to a healthy and balanced diet and under your daily caloric requirement during your 8-hour eating allowance. If you want to do this, you can maybe have your breakfast at around 8 in the morning, have lunch at noon, and eat your last meal for the day by 4 in the afternoon. The next day, you can have your breakfast after your 16-hour fasting period, which is again at 8 am, and follow basically the same schedule.

Use smaller-size plates

If you have large-size dishes at home, you should change them into smaller-size ones to help limit your food intake. The less room there is for you to place your food on, the less food you will eat. Just do not try to do multiple servings and still consume a lot of calories. Practice self-control and discipline to only eat the moderate amount of food on your plate, and do not give in easily to temptations.

Count your calories

Nowadays, there are many mobile apps that you can use to track your calorie consumption per day. To help you lose weight, you should not hesitate or wait any longer to download one on your phone and make use of it as soon as possible. Depending on your sex, age, build, height, and other factors, you can find the caloric allowance appropriate for you to facilitate weight loss. You should make sure to stay under the limit everyday to start losing extra pounds.

Be more physically active

Working out and exercising can help prevent muscle loss when losing weight. Along with a healthy and balanced diet, you should establish a regular exercise routine that can strengthen your bones and muscles, boost your metabolism, promote better blood flow, and improve your immune functions.

DON’Ts:

Don’t eat junk foods and fast foods

Your favorite burger and fries meal, chips, and soda have loads of sugars and fats that are not good for your body. To lose weight, you should stop your habit of finishing a large bag of chips while watching TV every night and buying lunch from the fast food place just across your office.

Don’t eat processed foods

Are you always too tired to cook at home after a long and busy day at work? Are you likely going to just open canned food, have cup noodles, or order takeout for dinner? Processed foods have high levels of sugar, fat, sodium, and other artificial substances that can be harmful to the body. They are also high in calories. To avoid weight and health problems, you should look up simple recipes that make use of fresh and natural ingredients that are beneficial to your health.

Don’t smoke and drink

Smoking and drinking increase your risk of diseases. There are elements contained in cigarettes and alcohol that can endanger your lungs, heart, brain, kidneys, and other vital organs. For the good of your health, you should quit them as soon as possible and start looking for activities that can better your health.