12 Best Weight Loss Tips That Will Keep You Sane

Tired of weight loss advice that leaves you starving or exhausted? Look no further. Read on to find 12 of the best and easiest weight loss tips that will keep you sane don’t including dieting!

I remember the day like it was yesterday, or at least parts of it. It was summer break and I was a teacher in 2016 or 2017, which meant I really didn’t have much to do and was home. I proceeded to eat THREE corn dogs, half a bag of onion rings, and wash it all down with dessert. And this was in one sitting. I was to the point where I felt so out of control that all I could manage to do was shove whatever I could get into my mouth to try to make myself feel better. I’ve come since then and I’m still learning so much about health and fitness, as well as about myself! I’m excited to share the start of this new journey with you, as well as my story and some weight loss tips that will allow you to keep your sanity!

Disclaimer: I first want to let you know that any information I put out there is simply that: Information. It is not meant to sway you or to get you to believe one particular way over another. This is information I have gathered along the way and these are my own thoughts and opinions. What you choose to believe is based on your own thinking, not mine. While this information has worked for me, it does not mean it’s going to work for you or get you the results you are looking for. Make sure you are consulting professionals and medical practitioners when seeking out professional or medical advice.

My (Partial) Story

To share my entire story in one post would be too much. There’s just too much history, so I’m going to regale you with what’s most important. Between my high school years until about 2020, I majorly struggled with the binge eating-yoyo dieting cycle. From 2014 until 2021, I gained and lost a cumulative total of approximately 250 pounds. Yikes! I saw my weight go from 135 up to 186. I felt powerless over my own body. I would complete the Whole30 each January to “fix” my relationship with food, but it was just a cover-up for losing weight. A few months later, usually around summertime, I’d be right back to bingeing and eating whatever I wanted. While I’d lose 10-15 pounds during the Whole30, I’d put back on all of the weight, and then some, by the end of the year.

In 2020, feeling miserable after another round of the Whole30, I asked myself a question. “What if I didn’t tell myself no?” What if I ate the foods I told myself were off-limits? And I did. I began healing my relationship with food which took me on the most incredible journey. From March to December 2020, I gained 20 pounds. I obviously didn’t feel too great, but I trusted that if I healed myself, I’d be on track to getting healthier.

In April 2021, I began Corinne Crabtree’s No B.S. Weight Loss program, and guys, it absolutely changed my life. I managed to lose all 20 pounds I had gained plus completely heal my relationship with food. I felt amazing!

In 2022, after ending one relationship and starting a new one, I put on “love weight,” as they call it. I gained back almost 15 pounds, but I looked at it differently this time. Instead of seeing myself as a failure for gaining weight, I saw it as simply a line on my life map. I also started to see weight loss differently.

It was no longer just about losing weight and looking a certain way. Now in my thirties, I started to realize that my health needed to take priority over solely losing weight. And after doing just that, 12 of those 15 pounds melted off from March to June 2023.

Two of the biggest differences I’ve noticed since healing my relationship with food is:

1. I now treat myself with compassion instead of belittling and berating.

2. I’ve shifted my focus to healing my body instead of losing weight to look a certain way or fit into a certain size of jeans.

It’s allowed me to learn a lot about myself, like how I begin eating trigger foods (foods that cause certain harmful physical symptoms in my body) when I’m more emotionally unstable. Or, how I can recognize when I’m craving foods depending on what’s going on in my life or daily activities, like how I begin to crave sugar and refined carbohydrates if I haven’t eaten enough carbs or if I’ve burned too much energy.

Currently, I’m in such a good place. While I have many goals I’d like to accomplish, I’ve also learned to take baby steps. It helps me not get frustrated when I don’t see changes the minute I implement something new (Raise your hand if you’ve been there before!).

Journey to Jamaica

This post comes at a great time because I am about 20 weeks out from going to Jamaica! It’s my first international trip and I am SO excited about it. While I am shifting my focus on health, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to lose weight. In fact, knowing Jamaica is only 20ish weeks away, it’s lit a fire under my butt to get myself in gear.

I’ve decided to create some goals for myself, both “macro” and “micro.” Here are some of my long-term goals I’d like to accomplish:

• Limit added sugar intake to no more than 15 grams per day.
• Significantly decrease dairy consumption, rarely consuming “creamy” types of dairy like cream cheese, heavy cream, ice cream, soft and creamy cheeses.
• Be able to run a 5k without walking.
• Sleep a minimum of 7 hours per night.
• Reduce tendonitis symptoms (Currently experiencing in right wrist/top of hand, hips/groin area, knees, and outside of left foot)
• Increase fresh vegetable consumption, specifically focusing on green vegetables
• Find healthy alternatives to the fall foods I love
• Exercise a minimum of 4 days per week
• Be able to deadlift 160 pounds
• Be able to squat with minimal pain (I currently can’t do any squatting exercises because of the probable tendonitis in my knees)
• Track all food in my food journal (I don’t count calories or macros; I simply write down what I eat in a physical journal)

Goals for the week of August 13-19:

• Exercise 4 times
• Complete stretching routine and 1+ minute plank 6 out of 7 days
• Eat at least a serving of protein every day during breakfast
• Only eat when truly hungry

I haven’t yet achieved many of the health goals I’ve created (hence why they’re goals), but by building habits and becoming disciplined, it’s more likely that I will be able to accomplish them! Notice how none of my goals included reaching a certain number on the scale or losing a certain number of pounds. That’s because it’s not a goal I can control. All of the goals I’ve created for myself are goals that I have control over.

Take Note

If your main goal is to lose 12 pounds in 6 months and you don’t hit that number on the scale, you’re probably going to be disappointed, even though you have almost no control over it. However, if you create a goal for yourself that is entirely in your control, you may be more likely to accomplish it. That’s because YOU have the power over whether or not you make it happen.

Also notice that the goals I’ve created are tangible and goals that work for me. You won’t see goals like “No sweets at all” or “Exercise 5 days a week for at least one hour per day.” You also won’t see “Weigh, measure, and track everything” or “Run a half marathon.” For me, these just aren’t going to happen based on my past experiences.

Your goals should not be a punishment. I repeat: Your goals should NOT be a punishment. Instead, they should motivate you to keep going while building habits and celebrating prior successes. I’ve already built in the habit of exercising 3 days per week over the last month, so now I feel like I’m ready to add another day.

Now, what you most likely came for: Tips! These are the ones that have worked the best for me throughout the years. The best part: None of them involve dieting or exercising for hours on end!

12 Best Weight Loss Tips (That don’t involve dieting)

• Find a style of eating that works for you. If you love paleo, keto, the Mediterranean diet, DASH diet, Adkins diet, whatever it may be – go for it! Only as long as it truly works for you and you can see is sustaining you throughout the rest of your life. If you are using a calorie counting app and you’ve been inconsistent with using it or if you follow a particular diet or set of rules, you may want to ask yourself if it’s sustainable. Especially if you feel you are constantly back to Square 1 each time you go “off plan,” you may want to look at something a little less strict.

• Create small goals to help you tackle the big ones. Read all about this above!

• Make your smaller goals something tangible, something you can accomplish TODAY. I.e., If you eat ice cream out of the carton every day and want to eat less, consider putting it into a smaller bowl. Or, if you want to increase your vegetable consumption, maybe you can add some spinach to a smoothie or protein shake.

• Eat when you are truly hungry. I personally don’t believe it is ever okay to starve yourself into weight loss. If your body needs food, you need to eat. With weight loss, you naturally eat less over time, so you might feel pretty hungry, at least in the beginning. It’s also a good idea to regularly hydrate with water, so sipping some between meals can help level your hunger levels.

• Find a type of exercise you enjoy. For me, I lift, run, walk, swim, hike, play pickleball and volleyball, and even sometimes dance in my living room! Maybe you love Zumba or basketball. Gardening and chores also count! As long as it gets you moving, that’s an important first step.

• Make sleep a priority. Try going to bed 10 minutes earlier tonight than you did last night. Every few days or weeks, go to bed just a few minutes earlier. Put your phone away at least 20 minutes before you plan to lay down. If you haven’t heard by now: Blue light affects your sleep.

• Plan ahead in a way that works for you. Some suggestions: Prep your meals at the start of the week. Look at restaurant menus beforehand to decide what you’ll eat. Determine what you will or won’t eat at a function. Pack snacks to take with you to work. The more prepared you can be, the better.

• Learn to gracefully say no. Oof, this one can hurt. We don’t enjoy letting others down. It also gives us an excuse to eat all the things and sidebar our goals we set. If you decided you’re not eating candy on Tuesdays and a co-worker offers you candy on a Tuesday, it’s ok to say no! The candy WILL be there on Wednesday.

• Stop forcing restriction. This one is huge! If you’re used to bingeing on sweets, junk food, and takeout multiple times per week, going from 0 to 100 and cutting out everything you love cold turkey is probably going to wreak havoc on you mentally and physically. Then again, maybe you’re a unicorn. This is where your micro-goals become so important. Figure out where you want to be and treat it like a word ladder puzzle. In order to get from one word to another, you have to change it one letter at a time. So, what’s your next letter going to be?

• Understand that you WILL mess up. You’ll eat pizza when you said you wouldn’t. The desire to go out to dinner spontaneously with friends will overtake your desire to eat your meal-prepped salad. You’ll get sick or injured. Your car will break down. You’ll get delayed at the airport. You’ll have an extra dessert. Life happens and plans don’t always work out. The best thing you can do is give yourself some grace. Belittling and berating will only make you despise the process, leaving you more likely to quit. Trust me, I’ve done this SO many times.

• You MUST practice patience. You didn’t end up in your starting position overnight, so what makes you think you’ll accomplish your long-term goals overnight? This is why smaller goals are the absolute key to building success. As you meet those micro-goals, you’ll start to notice micro-changes, and those will add up to big ones over time!

• Realize that you are an island. You are not entitled to anything, including support from friends and family. They don’t owe you anything. But you owe it to yourself. It can feel lonely sometimes, especially because each person’s journey is unique and we all have different perspectives and opinions. While it’s great when you do get the support you’re looking for, it doesn’t always happen. You have choices, though. You can choose to complain or you can choose to act. Which one do you think will get you to your goals faster?

This list is just a fraction of the lessons I’ve learned over time! There’s been a lot of anguish and stress but also there have been even more successes and victories. I’ve learn to come out on top and keep going, even when it’s tough. Walt Disney said it best: “Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” Stay curious, my friends!