There are endless benefits of maintaining a healthy body weight. While the idea of making lifestyle changes and cutting back on things you enjoy may feel overwhelming or even a little daunting at first, it’s a worthwhile feat. Luckily for you, Vionic has you covered with the perfect walking shoes for women and walking shoes for men.
Are you thinking about starting a weight loss journey? You’ve come to the right place. The team at Vionic is all about living healthfully, and we rounded up our best tips for setting out on a weight loss journey. Let’s dive in.
Benefits of Maintaining a Healthy Weight
Before we get into tips and hacks for losing weight, let’s first touch on why weight management is important and how to improve your health.
The benefits of maintaining a healthy body weight include:
- Lowered risk of heart disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, gallstones, and high blood pressure
- Decreased risk of stroke and heart attack
- Reduced risk of certain types of cancer
- Better sleep
- Reduced snoring and risk of sleep apnea
- Better mobility
- Improved fertility
According to Harvard School of Public Health, a majority of adults gain between 1 and 2 pounds each year. No matter what your current weight is or how quickly you got there, weight maintenance is crucial for preventing various health conditions and living to old age.
So, what is a healthy weight, exactly? Calculate your BMI (body mass index) to see if you’re within the healthy range or how many pounds you need to lose to get there.
15 Tips for Your Weight Loss Journey
What does a weight loss plan entail? When it comes to dropping pounds and optimizing your physical health, there are several key components. It’s all about finding motivation, setting a clear weight loss goal, committing to the process, keeping yourself accountable, and making small changes that yield big results.
Below, find weight loss tips and healthy lifestyle changes for setting your weight loss journey in motion.
Find Motivation
First, hone in on what motivates you to lose weight. Do you want to live longer, reduce your risk of chronic illness, feel confident on an upcoming vacation, or fit into a pair of skinny jeans? Or maybe you’re inspired by someone else’s successful weight loss journey.
There are no right or wrong answers here—everyone is driven by their own personal reasons. The point is to identify what motivates you and write it down so you remember why you want to make a change.
Set Clear Goals
Once you’ve identified your motivation for losing weight, you should set clear goals. Instead of simply telling yourself you want to lose weight, be specific.
It might help to break up your goals into short- and long-term objectives. For instance, your short-term goals could be to exercise for 20 minutes five days a week and lose 1 pound per week the first month. Your long-term goals could be to lose 15 pounds in six months, reach a specific goal weight, lower your blood pressure, or fit into a smaller clothing size.
Have Realistic Expectations
Your weight loss goals should be clear but also realistic. Adults can typically lose between 0.5 to 2 pounds a week without crash dieting, so it’s best to keep your goals within this range.
Additionally, you can expect a weight loss plateau every so often, especially if your journey spans over several months. Try to go easy on yourself and remember it’s a jog, not a sprint.
Commit to Yourself
You want to lose weight, you know what motivates you, and your goals are set. Now it’s time to really commit to the journey. Setbacks are part of the process, progress may be slow, it might get uncomfortable, and sticking to the weight loss plan will be hard at times. But committing to yourself and this lifestyle change will help get you through the ups and downs.
Check in With Your Healthcare Provider
Before embarking on any weight loss journey, we recommend checking in with your healthcare provider. They can tell you how much weight you can realistically and healthily lose each week and whether certain diets or exercises should be avoided.
Think in Terms of Lifestyle Changes
You might be surprised how big of a difference seemingly small daily habits can make. Lifestyle changes for losing weight can be anything from eating something green and walking 8,000 steps every day to having dessert only once a week and cutting back on alcohol consumption. If you’re considering a walking for weight loss plan, visit our website today!
Move Every Day
To maintain a healthy body weight, 150 minutes of weekly physical activity is recommended, which comes out to about 21 minutes a day. Those looking to lose weight should consider first working up to this amount of exercise if they’ve been sedentary, then potentially increasing their daily movement to avoid a plateau.
You could join a gym, work out with a personal trainer, or take group fitness classes. With that said, physical activity doesn’t always have to involve an actual workout. Things like biking to work, walking your dog, and taking the stairs count too. For more tips on how to work out, visit Vionic today for advice from our experts!
Treat Your Feet
If you’re uncomfortable during a workout, it should be because you’re breathing hard and engaging muscles you don’t normally use—not because you’re wearing improper shoes.
Active sneakers and walking shoes should have sufficient arch support, breathable uppers, deep heel cups, and durable yet flexible outsoles that absorb shock. Not sure where to look? Vionic’s athletic styles check all the boxes and then some.
Learn the Basics of Calories
Calories measure how much energy a particular food or drink contains. When you consume more calories than you burn, the excess is stored as fat. Generally speaking, eating fewer calories and burning more through physical activity will lead to weight loss.
Prioritize Nutritious Foods
When reducing the number of calories you eat, you’ll want to prioritize nutritious foods over junk food so you feel full and have plenty of energy to power through your day. Instead of sweets, simple carbs, and greasy fast food, try to eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, healthy fats, and fiber-rich legumes.
Plan [Most] Meals
Meal planning is one of the best ways to stick to a weight loss plan. Whether you prepare your lunches and dinners five days in advance or jot down what you plan to eat the next day, it’ll take the guesswork out of each meal and help you avoid mindless, emotional eating.
As life gets busy, you won’t be able to plan out every single thing you eat, and the occasional “cheat” meal is OK. But outlining most of your meals with a meal plan will help you stay on track to healthy eating.
Explore Different Nutrition Plans
There are numerous eating plans out there for losing weight, such as the keto diet, the Mediterranean diet, and intermittent fasting. Plenty of people have been successful with these diets, though they’re not for everyone.
There’s nothing wrong with exploring your options and trying a different meal plan to see what works for you. If you’d rather avoid a fad diet, though, you might want to chat with a registered dietitian about cleaning up your eating habits.
Track Your Progress
Be sure to weigh yourself before starting your weight loss journey, and continue checking in every week or two to track your progress. Some folks may want to weigh in more often, but since body weight can fluctuate by a few pounds throughout the day, it may be best to space it out by at least a week.
But Expect Slow Progress
Further, don’t expect to lose weight rapidly. You’ll likely drop the most pounds in the first week or two as your body sheds water weight. After that, you should expect your progress to slow down with the occasional plateau.
Go Easy on Yourself
Try to view your weight loss journey as a positive experience. You’re prioritizing your health, focusing on self-care, and making lifestyle changes to benefit your long-term wellbeing. This is something to be celebrated, so try to enjoy the process and don’t be too hard on yourself about your previous weight gain or any setbacks along the way.
The Best Active Footwear for Women and Men
Are you ready to put these healthy habits into action and become a weight loss success story? Vionic believes in you! To make your exercise plan all the more comfortable and stylish, slip into a pair of our active sneakers or walking shoes.
Each podiatrist-designed pair has built-in orthotics with ample arch support, heel stability, and traction to keep you light on your feet while encouraging natural alignment. Shop our styles today!
External sources:
- “Healthy Weight”. Harvard School. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-weight/
- “Adult BMI Calculator”.CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/english_bmi_calculator/bmi_calculator.html
- “How much physical activity do adults need?”. CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/index.htm
- “Understanding calories”. NHS UK. https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/understanding-calories/
- “Exercise: 7 benefits of regular physical activity”. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/exercise/art-20048389
- “Start losing weight”. NHS UK. https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/start-losing-weight/
- Hallie Levine. “Tips for Week One of Your Weight-Loss Plan”. AARP. July 28, 2021, https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-2021/first-week-weight-loss-plan.html
- “The Best (and Only) Weight Loss Tips You Need to Know”. Cleveleand Clinic. Aug 3, 2021, https://health.clevelandclinic.org/the-7-best-weight-loss-tips/
- “Losing Weight: Getting Started”. CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/getting_started.html
- Keri Glassman. “How to start a weight loss journey — and stick with it”. Today. Jan 7, 2020, https://www.today.com/health/how-start-weight-loss-journey-when-you-ve-tried-t171210
- Amy Marturana Winderl. “32 Weight Loss Tips From Women Who’ve Lost 100 Pounds”. Cosmopolitan. April 23, 2021, https://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/advice/a41863/tips-for-losing-weight/
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