. Add protein to your diet
When it comes to weight loss, protein is the king of nutrients.
Your body burns calories when digesting and metabolizing the protein you eat, so a high-protein diet can boost metabolism by up to 80–100 calories per day (1Trusted Source, 2Trusted Source)
A high-protein diet can also make you feel more full and reduce your appetite. In fact, some studies show that people eat over 400 fewer calories per day on a high-protein diet (3Trusted Source, 4Trusted Source).
Even something as simple as eating a high-protein breakfast (like eggs) can have a powerful effect (4Trusted Source, 5Trusted Source, 6Trusted Source)
2. Prioritize whole, single-ingredient food.
One of the best things you can do to become healthier is to base your diet on whole, single-ingredient foods.
By doing this, you eliminate the vast majority of added sugar, added fat, and processed food.
Most whole foods are naturally very filling, making it a lot easier to keep within typical calorie limits (7Trusted Source).
Eating whole foods also provides your body with the many essential nutrients that it needs to function properly.
Weight loss often follows as a natural side effect of eating whole food.
3. Limit processed foods
Processed foods are usually high in added sugars, added fats, and calories.
What’s more, processed foods are engineered to make you eat as much as possible. They’re much more likely to cause addictive-like eating than unprocessed foods (8Trusted Source).
Stock up on nutritious foods
and snacks.
Studies have shown that the food you keep at home greatly affects weight and eating behavior (9Trusted Source, 10Trusted Source, 11Trusted Source).
By always having nutrient-dense food available, you reduce the chances of you or other family members eating less nutritious items.
There are also many nutritious snacks that are easy to prepare and take with you on the go. These include yogurt, whole fruit, nuts, carrots, and hard-boiled eggs. ***Master healthy eating
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5. Limit your intake of added sugar
Eating a lot of added sugar is linked with some of the world’s leading diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer (12Trusted Source, 13Trusted Source, 14Trusted Source).
On average, Americans eat about 15 teaspoons of added sugar each day. This amount is usually hidden in various processed foods, so you may be consuming a lot of sugar without even realizing it (15Trusted Source).
Since sugar goes by many names in ingredient lists, it can be very difficult to figure out how much sugar a product actually contains.
Minimizing your intake of added sugar is a great way to improve your diet.
6. Drink water
There’s actually truth to the claim that drinking water can help with weight loss.
Drinking 0.5 liters (17 oz) of water may increase the calories you burn by 24–30% for an hour afterward (16Trusted Source, 17Trusted Source, 18Trusted Source, 19Trusted Source)
Drinking water before meals may also lead to reduced calorie intake, especially for middle-aged and older people (20Trusted Source, 21Trusted Source).
Water is particularly helpful for weight loss when it replaces other beverages that are high in calories and sugar (22Trusted Source, 23Trusted Source).
***7. Drink (unsweetened) coffee.***
Coffee is loaded with antioxidants and other beneficial compounds.
Coffee drinking may support weight loss by increasing energy levels and the amount of calories you burn (24Trusted Source, 25Trusted Source, 26Trusted Source).
Caffeinated coffee may boost your metabolism by 3–11% and reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by a whopping 23–50% (27Trusted Source, 28Trusted Source, 29Trusted Source).
Furthermore, black coffee is very weight loss friendly, since it can make you feel full but contains almost no calories.8. ***Supplement with glucomannan***
Glucomannan is one of several weight loss pills that has been proven to work. This water-soluble, natural dietary fiber comes from the roots of the konjac plant, also known as the elephant yam.
Glucomannan is low in calories, takes up space in the stomach, and delays stomach emptying. It also reduces the absorption of protein and fat, and feeds the beneficial gut bacteria (30Trusted Source, 31Trusted Source, 32Trusted Source).
Its exceptional ability to absorb water is believed to be what makes it so effective for weight loss. One capsule is able to turn an entire glass of water into gel.
*13. Eat more fruits and vegetables*
Fruits and vegetables are extremely nutritious, weight-loss-friendly foods.
In addition to being high in water, nutrients, and fiber, they usually have very low energy density. This makes it possible to eat large servings without consuming excess calories.
Numerous studies have shown that people who eat more fruits and vegetables tend to weigh less (45Trusted Source, 46Trusted Source).
14. Count calories once in a while
Being aware of what you’re eating is very helpful when trying to lose weight.
There are several effective ways to do this, including counting calories, keeping a food diary, or taking pictures of what you eat (47Trusted Source, 48Trusted Source, 49).
Using an app or another electronic tool may be even more beneficial than writing in a food diary (50Trusted Source, 51Trusted Source).
Some studies have shown that using smaller plates helps you eat less,
because it changes how you see portion sizes (52Trusted Source, 53Trusted Source).
People seem to fill their plates the same, regardless of plate size,
so they end up putting more food on larger plates than smaller ones (54Trusted Source).
Using smaller plates reduces how???
15. Use smaller plates
Some studies have shown that using smaller plates helps you eat less, because it changes how you see portion sizes (52Trusted Source, 53Trusted Source).
People seem to fill their plates the same, regardless of plate size, so they end up putting more food on larger plates than smaller ones (54Trusted Source).
Using smaller plates reduces how much food you eat, while giving you the perception of having eaten more (55Trusted Source).
21. Get enough sleep
Getting enough sleep is incredibly important for weight loss,
as well as to prevent future weight gain.
Studies have shown that sleep-deprived people are up to 55% more likely to develop obesity,
compared to those who get enough sleep. This number is even higher for children (84Trusted Source).
This is partly because sleep deprivation disrupts the daily fluctuations in appetite hormones, leading to poor appetite regulation.
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