10 Weight Loss Tips for Women

Millions of women are struggling to lose weight all over the world and it seems that we are constantly bombarded with new fad, diet and crazes that we are led to believe will lead to miracle weight loss, often with very little sacrifice.

Unfortunately, the majority of these plans and fads will not result in long term weight loss and although they may have good results to start with, they are often unsustainable in the long term.

The key to weight loss for women is simple in theory.  To lose weight you need to burn more calories than you are consuming through food, so you will need to up your exercise, decrease your calorie intake or for best results try a combination of both.

See also how many calories to lose weight for examples and a calorie calculator.

10 Useful Weight Loss Tips For Women

How do women lose weight fast? What are the most effective weight loss tips for rapid and lost lasting weight loss? The list below outlines 10 tips that can be followed by women of all ages (girls and women over 40) to lose weight naturally.

1. Don’t be afraid to lift weights

Many women are afraid that if they lift weights they will become bulky and muscular.  This is unlikely to happen, as women lack the testosterone levels that are found in men that are required to build really big muscles.

Lifting light to moderate weights or doing resistance training using body weight or other tools is unlikely to make you too muscular, but it will have positive effects on your appearance.  See also 10 benefits of strength training for women

These types of exercise tone your body and can help to replace fat tissue with muscle.  Muscle has a higher metabolic rate than fat at rest, so if you have a higher percentage of muscle you are likely to burn more calories even when you are not working out.

Although resistance training is not as efficient as cardiovascular exercise for burning calorie, it is still effective and has the added bonus of strengthening bones as well, which is particularly important for women.

2. Drink more water

Water is calorie free, usually cost free and has numerous benefits for your body including assisting with weight loss.  Hunger and thirst are often confused, so if you feel hungry, always make sure you drink some water to determine if it is really hunger that you are experiencing.

Drinking water before meals has also been associated with lower calorie intake during the meal, probably because the water fills the stomach and makes you feel like eating less.

Replacing other drinks such as sodas, juices and energy or sports drinks with water is a great way to reduce the calorie in your diet.  These drinks provide a lot of calories compared to their nutritional value, so you are much better off drinking water and eating a whole piece of fruit.

3. Share food

Restaurant meals are often much larger than the portion you would eat at home and it is quite common to eat more than one course when dining out.  Then there is the bread basket to contend with, which can leave you consuming vast amounts of calories.

If you only eat out occasionally, this may not be a problem, but if you are eating out on a regular basis this can quickly add up and lead to weight gain.

Sharing food with a like minded individual can cut these calories in half, literally, and will also reduce the cost of you meal.

Sharing food also has the benefit of being able to have a little of what you want without overindulging.

4. Find a workout buddy

It can often be hard to find the motivation to work out, but if you do it with a friend or work mate this can give you the extra motivation you need, not only to do the exercise in the first place, but also to work harder.

Try to choose a person who may be slightly fitter than you who will encourage you to pick up the pace and get your sense of competition going.

5. Use smaller plates

People who eat off smaller plates tend to eat less than those who use bigger dishes, probably because a smaller plate looks fuller with less food.

Buy a set of smaller plates and dish up on these, remembering if you are still hungry you can always go back for seconds, but at least your original portion will be lower in calories.

6. Remember you have lower energy needs than your partner

Women living with men, especially for the first time often find that they gain weight.  This is usually due to the fact that they are eating the same amount and type of food as their partner, who as a male has much higher energy requirements.

Women are generally smaller than men and have less muscle mass; meaning that they require fewer calories to maintain their weight and that eating as much as a male does will cause weight gain.

To avoid this serve your own smaller serves of food where possible and serve individual portions of snack foods in size appropriate dishes.

7. Reduce calories in your favorite dishes

To cut your calorie intake whilst still enjoying a wide variety of foods, experiment with lower calorie versions of your favorites.  Simple changes such as replacing some meat in a mince based dish with vegetables or legumes or using low fat dairy products instead of full fat will cut down the calories, or do some research for lower energy versions of many classic dishes, which are often so good you will never know they are healthier.

8. Keep a food record

Writing down your food intake daily makes you more aware of what you are eating, how many calories you are consuming and what times of day may be problematic for you.

Having this information in front of you can make it easier to implement changes, but also makes it harder to deny that you are eating too much or the wrong foods.

If writing is not really your thing, there are plenty of apps that are now available for recording and calculating food and energy intake.

9. Don’t starve yourself

Restricting your energy intake too much can be dangerous as you are at risk of missing out on essential nutrients you body need to function, as well as not supplying it with the energy it needs to work properly.

Many women forget that even at rest, the body is constantly working and processing and that it requires energy to do this.

Eating too little can also have a negative effect on weight loss as you body may go into starvation mode and start to hang on to any calories it does receive for survival as it is not sure when its next meal will come.

Very low energy diets also tend to result in weight regain in the long term as they are too restrictive to be followed for a long time period and when the dieter goes back to eating as they did before, weight piles back on.

10. Bump up your incidental exercise.

Women often think that to lose weight it is necessary to spend hours in the gym every week, but if this is not your thing then there are plenty of other ways to increase the calories you burn.

Every little bit of movement you do during the day adds up, so even if it is only in ten minute intervals, it can make a difference to your energy expenditure.

Take the stairs rather than the lift, walk some of the way to work, window shop in your lunch hour, clean the house or play with the kids at the playground, it all helps.

What is your advice to women that are trying to lose weight? If you are a woman what is your experience with weight loss?