15 Tips to Lose Weight and Become Slimmer!

Here are some of the best tested and proven tips for fat-loss:

1. Never starve yourself. Eat three small meals and two to three healthy snacks a day. Taking small meals regularly will keep your metabolism high and help you to burn more fat.

2. Eat your breakfast. A nutritious breakfast is especially important as it not only kickstarts your metabolism and keeps you energized but also prevents hunger pangs later in the day.

3. Do regular resistance training. This builds muscle tissue that gives you a higher metabolic rate. Concentrate on exercises that work out the larger body parts like legs, back and chest for faster results. Training twice a week is all you need to get good results. Resistance training has been proven to help you maintain your weight better than any other forms of exercise.

4. Do short, high intensity cardio. Alternating between exercises of different intensities like jogging (easy cardio) and sprinting (hard cardio) is an effective way of losing fat. Higher intensity cardio exercises focus on increasing metabolic rate while slower cardio exercises focus on burning fat

5. Don't believe in magic. Genuine weight loss requires consistent effort on your part. If you learn about a weight loss solution that is fast, easy and effortless, it is too good to be true.

6. Get adequate rest. Lack of sleep can contribute to weight gain. Get at least seven to eight hours of sleep daily. If that is not possible, try taking short naps whenever you can.

7. Prepare for setbacks. Losing weight is not an easy ride. You must always be mentally prepared for obstacles and lapses if you want long-term success. Instead of reproaching or sabotaging yourself by giving up when you face a setback, encourage yourself to get back on track. Remember two wrongs don't make a right.

8. Get social support. Let your family members, friends and colleagues know that you are on a weight loss mission so that they will encourage and help you by not tempting you with unhealthy snacks or invite you to buffets.

9. Have a good coach. Make your weight-loss program easier with a good coach. He/she can design a customised program to guide and motivate you. Even Tiger Woods has a personal coach!

10. Find a good role model to inspire yourself. An ideal model should be someone who has a background, body-shape and lifestyle similar to yours. Observe their diet and the obstacles they have to overcome to achieve their goal in shedding the flab.

11. Set your weight loss goal as one of your priorities and stay focused. Every other less important matters such as socialising, spa and watching TV programs MUST take a back seat. Without a laser sharp focus, it is easy to get sidetracked and eventually fail to achieve your goal of losing weight.

12. Start slowly. Trying to do too much too soon will backfire on you. Allowing yourself ample time to experiment and try out the new lifestyle will pave the way to a successful long-term weight loss program.

13. Don't waste time in abdominal exercises for a slimmer waistline. Many people think that spot-reduction is effective but that is just a myth. Fat from other parts of your body will be lost regardless of which part of the body you work out more. To lose abdominal fat, you need to create a calories deficit where the calories input is less than the calories output.

14. Find ways to burn extra calories. Parking your car or alighting from public transport further away from your destination; using the stairs instead of the elevator/escalator; carrying groceries in a basket instead of using trolley; these are some practical ways to generate additional calories output which can be substantial when added up.

15. Manage your stress and emotions. Many people resort to binge eating when they are in stressful or emotional situations. Learn to relax. Try deep breathing, stretching, meditation or go for a jog rather than resorting to binge eating. You can also minimise stress with good time management and proper work planning.

Credit goes to -
Paul Kuck is the only Advanced Health and Fitness Specialist in Singapore who is "Gold Certified" by the American Council on Exercise (ACE). He holds a Msc in Exercise and Nutrition Science and is also the founder of Fitness Tutor (http://www.fitness-tutor.com/), a personal fitness consulting firm that helps busy professionals to keep in shape through customised programs with his 'Natural Kinetic Exercises' and 'Eat-On-Demand' strategies.