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Source: [PDPics on Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/photos/diet-measure-measuring-tape-orange-390790/) I don't know about you, but I was... oh, a little more indulgent in my consumption over the year of lock-down. It wasn't that I ate donuts and fast food and threw caution to the wind. No, it was just that I didn't monitor my intake much and the pounds crept on. Ten of them! So it's time for them to come back off, and I'll tell you how I plan to do it. Here are my best tips! *Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, nutritionist or licensed healthcare provider. Please consult with your personal care physician before starting any intensive health regimen. I've written these tips as ideas and suggestions from my personal experience.* ## Don't "Go on a Diet"
Source: [Lisa870 on Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/photos/salad-parsley-leaf-food-money-3488699/) Diets suck! I personally hate them. I don't think they work. I think they encourage short-term thinking and weird habits that aren't sustainable. So I don't diet. I don't count calories. But I do find that if I make some specific changes to my habits and do several things consistently I lose the weight. Instead of dieting, I recommend focusing on some pretty simple habit changes. Sustainable ones! These are lifestyle habits that can not only help you get to a healthy weight, but will give you energy and make you feel *awesome*. ## Load up with Veggies and Lean Protein
Source: [Katia Grasinger on Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/4tPjtttythY) Vegetables are much more satisfying than you might think, if you generally tend to shy away from them. The trick is to start working them into your diet in a way that is satisfying. Add a big healthy side salad next to a lean steak or filet of chicken. Add a handful of chopped kale or spinach to your soup. Look up great recipes for vegetables on Pinterest. I find that seeing a picture of really healthy vegetables prepared in a delicious way makes me crave them more! Vegetables are also nutritionally satisfying, which means you may experience fewer cravings when you up-tick your veggie intake. You may also find that when you add more vegetables, they tend to elbow out other less healthy foods. Which brings me to the next tip. ## Cut Back on Carbs
Source: [wuzefe on Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/photos/bread-health-carbohydrates-cake-587597/) This is a tough one for a lot of people. Carb cravings are real, my friends. But again, when you are switching over to healthier choices, it will help with those cravings. The main thing is to not try to be a saint. If you have a whole bagel for breakfast, try going with a half instead and instead of cream cheese try some avocado and tomato. If you tend to have several slices of warm French bread with dinner, just try to skip it several nights a week. Or don't buy the French bread in the first place so you're not tempted. ## Practice Portion Control
Source: [Free-Photos on Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/photos/food-meal-salmon-fish-lime-bread-1245685/) One of the biggest mistakes many of us make is thinking that we need a large amount of food to be satisfied. We might even feel a little bit panicky about the notion of less food. This is a common eating disorder. Acknowledge it, if you feel this way, and see if you can just cut back a little, bit by bit. Nurture yourself in other ways and compliment yourself for every positive step you take toward better health. A lot of eating issues come from simply needing emotional support. Once you start cutting back on your portion sizes, rewarding yourself for doing so, and realizing that you're still getting enough to eat, you can build on that. And you'll feel so great when you shed some pounds. That's a *great* way to nurture yourself. ## Cut Back on Alcohol
Source: [congerdesign on Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/photos/wine-red-wine-glass-drink-alcohol-541922/) I love a glass of wine. In fact, I love two glasses of wine. But that little habit that seemed to take on a life of its own during COVID did *not* help my waistline one bit. If you're like me and that occasional beer or glass of wine turned into a few nightly, a fairly simple step to take is to scale it back again. Cut back to one a night. Simple as that. You don't have to give it up entirely. I now pour only one glass, and it's a smaller one. I also drink a big glass of water first, so my body doesn't get confused by the notion that the point of the glass of wine is to quench thirst! That brings me to the next tip. ## Increase Water Intake
Source: [pasja1000 on Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/photos/water-cold-glass-frozen-3583685/) I can't believe how many people tell me they really don't like drinking water. This is something to try very hard to conquer. Water rids our bodies of toxins. It also improves metabolism. You can find tons of information about this online. For example, an article from an organization called [Physician Weight Loss Centers](http://pwlclincoln.com/the-link-between-dehydration-and-metabolism) says: > Water is involved with almost every biological function in the body, so therefore your body’s metabolism slows down in a dehydrated state. My recommendation is to find a way to make water available and appealing. Some people like it more with ice, whereas others prefer it at room temperature. Some like it flavored. For example, you can add berries, lemon slices, lime slices, kiwi, watermelon, or mint to give it some nice flavor. One of my strategies is to double the amount of water I'm drinking. ## Increase Exercise
Source: [Fotorech on Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/photos/walk-path-walking-feet-trail-2635038/) Notice that I'm not showing a picture of people sweating in a gym and pushing themselves to their limits. If that's how you love to exercise, that's wonderful. But for many of us, it's just not what we love to do. And if you don't love it, it probably isn't sustainable. So think about the best way to add exercise to your day. I'm a big #Actifit fan, and I blog via the @actifit app almost every single day. This one thing gets me motivated to try to get a lot of steps daily, because I know I'm going to be reporting on them. I also use my Actifit posts as a kind of daily journal, and I talk about life and walking and nature and whatever I feel like. Whatever you're doing right now, you're probably going to have to increase it to lose some weight. Here's what I do: air punches to the count of 8. Think about this. You can punch the air 8 times from anywhere. You can do that when you're making coffee, walking through your home, standing in front of the TV or sitting on the john. No kidding. #### Try This See if you can punch the air (right, left, right, left...) counting "1, 2. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8!" Then do it again. Do that 8 times if you can. Congratulations! You just engaged some muscles and increased your heart rate! Now see if you can do it while walking in place for half an hour. Maybe watch your favorite show on Netflix. Punch the air in front of you to the count of 8, then punch toward the ceiling to the count of 8. Now make fists, tense your arm muscles, and pull both arms backward to the count of 8. Repeat the set. ## Take Supplements
Source: My own photo I love supplements. They can give your weight loss goals that extra boost they need to get there. I like green tea extract and CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid), for starters. Both of these can help improve metabolism. Depending on how much weight you need to lose, and how sedentary you have been, these can really support an increase in your body's thermogenesis, or fat burning. I also believe in doing a regular digestive cleanse. They come in all different types. My plan during this three-month period is to do a four or five-day cleanse once every month. ## Set a Goal
Source: [adonyig on Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/photos/fresh-healthy-vegetables-vitamins-3541957/) Where do you want to be two months from now, three months from now and six months from now? Set a reasonable and measurable goal. Mine is to lose approximately 4 pounds per month for the next three months and see how I feel then. That's only one pound per week. And it's quite do-able! Setting yourself up for success requires a good dose of self love, some motivation, some strategies, some consistent habits and a desire to feel fantastic. We tend to make it too hard to achieve, and choose habits that aren't sustainable. So, be realistic, make it work with your life, and you can do it. You've got this! Thanks for visiting. Please share your own weight loss strategies and what you've found to work well in the comments so we can all benefit. https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/zord189/Njx6CoFS-jayna.gif
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Originally posted here: https://hive.blog/hive-114105/@jayna/life-hacks-losing-the-covid-weight-without-dieting
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