5 pounds in 1 week

I’m not a fan of dieting or counting calories because these methods make you crave certain foods, regain the weight once you eat “normal” again and are simply stressful which raises your blood sugar level. Then when you don’t see any results for torturing yourself, it just becomes frustrating. If you are really trying to lose weight permanently you have to change your lifestyle. I have always eaten relatively healthy and exercised on a regular basis but for some reason I couldn’t lose these extra few pounds. I made a few changes in my diet which I can easily incorporate into my busy lifestyle.

1. Less Sugar

I’m one of those human beings that used to drink their sugar with coffee. Baristas always looked at me crazy when they saw how much sugar I put in my coffee. Instead of putting 10-12 packs of sugar in my coffee and tea now I use a little bit of sweetener or honey. I also started making my own oatmeal instead of buying the flavored packs that have a lot of sugar. I simply added cinnamon and a little bit of honey and/or lightly caramelized apples. I pay more attention to the ingredients label when I go grocery shopping and avoid products that contain loads of sugar.

2. Less Salt

I significantly reduced my salt intake. Salt made me retain water so cutting salt also helped me lose weight.

3. Meal Prep

I invested one day to cook all my meals for the week. In such way you don’t grab anything unhealthy when you’re too lazy to cook or throw a processed meal in the microwave. I also brought my lunch to work which helped save money and eat healthy throughout the day

4. Vegetables high in fiber and protein

Lentils are a great source for protein and fiber. They speed up your metabolism and clean you out from the inside. I made delicious lentil burgers and lentil risotto. I started eating Quinoa which is also rich in fiber, protein and other essential nutrients.

5. Exercise

Exercising is part of a healthy lifestyle I worked out 4 times a week before work. Due to health issues I can’t do any high impact workouts anymore such as running, basketball or P90X. Instead I started swimming, doing yoga, and a more intense ab, butt and leg workout I can easily do in my room (30-45 minutes).

6. Green Tea

Green tea is known to be an excellent source of powerful antioxidants and could reduce your risk of cancer. It also increases your brain power, fat burning function and metabolism. Why do you think that green tea is included in so many weight loss products?

7. Less carbs for dinner

I consciously avoided carbs loaded meals for dinner. I chose a protein and veggies. Instead of using a bun for the lentil burger I used a lettuce leaf for example. Little changes like that go a long way.

7. Water

Make sure you drink lots of water especially in this Texas heat. I started buying big bottles so I can keep better track of how much water I drink. Moreover I started making my own detox water with limes, frozen berries, mint leaves and pressed ginger. So refreshing and it helped me with drinking more water throughout the day!

The combination of all these 7 elements helped me loose weight while boosting my energy levels. I didn’t have to starve or kill myself in the gym either. The meals I prepared were healthy, delicious and made me full. This worked for me, it might work for you too. Let me know if this helped with your diet and eating habits! Find great lentil recipes here!

XOXO Dynamically Branded