I tested multiple ways to lose weight-This is what worked for me.

Remember any desire to lose weight must not be born from hatred towards your body, but from an earnest desire to live a healthy life and avoid a premature death.

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HOW DID MY JOURNEY BEGIN?

During the Covid-19 lockdown, I became a Winnie the Pooh lookalike. If you don’t know who Winnie the Pooh is, Google search him after you read this article.

The huge tummy, chubby arms and legs were just a replica of my body.

I didn’t want my friends to see me in that state after the lockdown restrictions were lifted, so I began scouring the internet for ways to lose weight.

I came across some crazy suggestions that were just ridiculous- they might work in an alternate universe where the laws of science aren’t applicable but definitely not this planet.

MY PLAN

I wanted to kill two birds with one stone, I wanted to look 10 years younger and also lose weight. My plan was to look for a natural collagen boosting food plan and easy ways to lose weight.

And that’s exactly what I’m about to share with you.

SO WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

Consider these steps as a personal letter from me to you, telling you how I managed to embark on a weight loss journey for a healthier life.

These are the steps that worked for me. I recognize the fact that everyone is different and results may differ from person to person.

These steps are divided into 2 categories. The first category includes:

-Steps that served as a catalyst for my weight loss journey

-Lifestyle changes I made after the 21st day

WHAT WERE THE STEPS THAT DIRECTLY AFFECTED MY WEIGHT LOSS?

These steps are those that directly helped me to lose weight. These are the steps that produced the fastest results.

These steps are highly overlooked, but the simplest ways to lose weight.

• Cutting Out Sugar
• A 21 day smoothie diet
• Walks and frequent movement
• Water

CUTTING OUT SUGAR

Not only is there a correlation between excessive sugar intake and health issues like diabetes and obesity, it is also purported that sugar is linked to bad skin, bad moods and low energy.

On the 1st day of my weight loss journey, I made a promise to myself to eliminate sugar. I cut out white sugar, cakes, sugary drinks and any unnatural sweet stuff basically.

I selected Wednesday as a specific cheat day to consume sugar.

Instead of sugar, I opted for small amounts of honey. Make sure you don’t use a lot of honey because you think honey’s a natural alternative.

If you consume large quantities of honey, you’ll find it hard to lose weight. But small quantities will actually help you to lose weight.

I also ate fruits canned in water or natural juice whenever I craved sweets.

WHAT DID THIS STEP DO FOR ME?

In the beginning my energy levels dipped slightly as a result of cutting out sugar.

This is because when you cut out sugar, your body begins to experience withdrawal symptoms, like the withdrawal symptoms experienced when someone stops taking hard drugs.

This is a completely normal phenomenon.

I experienced increased energy levels a few days later, I was less moody, and above all, I began to notice some very slight differences in how my jeans fit around my waistline.

A 21-DAY SMOOTHIE DIET

Now, this is what really took my weight loss journey to a whole different level!

I was making progress with the sugar elimination but the 21-day smoothie diet completely fast tracked my weight loss.

About 10 days into my journey, I came across the 21-day smoothie diet and decided to try it.

You'll recall that earlier, I talked about the fact that my plan included finding a meal plan that incorporated natural collagen boosting foods in my diet. And this was just that for me.

I found this plan to be the easiest weight plan yet. No fancy meals or difficult food preps or counting of calories.

This was very effective because it was like being handed a weight loss manual. It's packed with 36 smoothie recipes, snacks and meals, shopping lists, weekly schedules and tips for preparing smoothies and maintaining weight loss long term.

The 3-week diet plan promotes healthy eating, enhances immune function, detoxifies the body, improves skin and gut health and revs up energy levels. The diet was created by Drew Sgoutas CHC, AADP. He worked with clients for over 10 years before creating this plan, so a lot of work and experience went into this plan.

If you'd like to try the 21 day weight loss challenge, click the link below.

Click here to TRY THE 21 SMOOTHIE DIET!

MY PLAN WAS UPDATED

Finding this diet made me come up with a newer plan.

My plan was simple. I’d use this method to lose weight within 21 days and then stop the diet after that and rather focus on easier ways to maintain my weight loss (which I’ll teach you later in this article.)

If you have any health conditions, it’s advisable to check with your primary physician to make sure any diet is an excellent fit for you.

HOW I TURNED THE DIET INTO MY WEIGHT LOSS SAVIOUR

On the 21st day, I advise that you stop following the diet. What you’ll do from the 21st day is to make sure you focus on eating healthily, incorporating fruits and veggies in your diets. You stop the smoothie diet on the 21st day because by then you’d have lost some pounds. All you’d have to do after this will be to maintain the weight loss.

To maintain your weight loss, eliminate sugar and opt for natural sources of sugar. Or you could simply take small amounts of sugar every other day.

Eat 3 times a day after the 21st day, but make sure your meals are nutritious and loaded with veggies.

Make a list of your favourite smoothies in the 21 day smoothie diet and have one of any of those smoothies a day.

WATER

I realized that taking lots of water throughout the day forced me to move around, and as insignificant as this may seem it really helped.

It also made me feel less hungry, so I ate smaller amounts of food.

It absolutely worked for me.

WALKS AND FREQUENT MOVEMENT

Set an alarm to remind you to move around every hour.

The 10000-step recommendation has been mainstream for some time now, and though it may seem ineffective. It actually helps!

Don’t get scared by how huge the number looks, you simply need to break it down.

Every hour, I tried taking 1000 steps around my house. I did this by downloading a playlist of my favourite songs that amounted to 10 minutes of listening time.

Then every hour I’d listen to this 10-minute-long playlist while moving around the house.

I did this on days that I felt too lazy to take a proper walk.

In a study by Prevention, women were armed with a wearable device that monitored personal activity level and calorie burn. The women were told to maximize their daily movements.

The results were incredible. In just 4 weeks of following a 1600-a-day calorie diet and maximizing incidental activity of their days, the women lost a combined 99 pounds, some dropping 11 pounds.

That’s almost 3 pounds a week!

• I also took little walks after eating.

• Another strategy I used was “paying” for sweets with a walk. Whenever I felt tempted to eat any kind of junk food, I’d take a long walk before I’d allow myself to eat it. It’s a very effective strategy, eventually, you would get tired of having to take long walks just to eat junk food. So if you’re disciplined enough, you’ll gradually stop taking junk food.

• Always make sure you place your remote far from you. This will force you to get up and take a few steps before you’ll be able to change the channel.

• Get up to walk to family members when you need to talk to them instead of yelling at them.

AT WORK

• Stand up each time you talk on the phone. Make excuses to move around. Walk your lunch outside or another location instead of sitting at your desk.

• When you need to brainstorm, do it while walking. Become helpful at your workplace. Try to offer to take stuff around e.g. documents etc. This will force you to move around.

• Make friends with someone on another floor and try to visit the person often.

• Wear comfortable shoes so that you’ll be able to walk more.

• Leave your cell phone in one location. Whenever you need your cell phone, you’ll be forced to go to it.

A HEALTHIER LIFE, FINALLY!

After almost a month, my dreams were finally becoming a reality.

I looked 10 years younger, developed a clearer complexion, felt healthier, had higher energy levels and a slimmer waist line.

All I had to do was to maintain the weight loss.

WEIGHT LOSS MAINTENANCE

As I indicated earlier, after I ended the 21 day smoothie diet, I made lifestyle changes that are quite easy to implement in your daily life.

I decided to carry on with the sugar elimination strategy. I just made it slightly flexible. I took sugar on Wednesdays and Sundays. On other days, I put only extremely small amounts of sugar in my cereals etc.

I went back to eating full meals thrice a day, but I made sure these meals had a lot of vegetables incorporated in them.

I also selected 5 of my favourite smoothies from the 21-day smoothie diet and had one of them every day.

I switched to eating meals in blue smaller plates. Blue plates are known to psychologically suppress your appetite. Hence, it makes you eat smaller quantities of food.

I made Wednesday and Sunday my junk food and sugar cheat days. I consumed small quantities of junk food on these days.

I also made sure I drank a lot of water 30 mins before eating. This helped in appetite suppression.

I started to eat brown bread instead of white bread and focused on eating fruits that boost collagen. In the long term, this will make you look 15 years younger than your age.

When baking cookies, brownies or cakes, cut the sugar called for in your recipe by one-third to one-half. Often you won’t notice the difference.

Enhance foods with spices instead of sugar. Try ginger, allspice, cinnamon or nutmeg.

SUMMARY

The steps I personally found to be the simplest and easiest steps to lose weight - those that worked for me are.

1. Cutting out sugar
2. A 21 day smoothie diet
3. Water
4. Walks
5. Frequent Movement

These were the steps I took that helped me lose weight. The path to a healthier life requires dedication, discipline and consistency.

Always remember that consistency is key!

Begin your journey to weight loss today.

If you start now, within 21 days, you'll think of this day as the day your life transformed for the better!