Canada’s best healthy weight-loss tips

We asked: What are your best healthy weight-loss tips?

When you’re trying to lose weight, the information floating around about the best ways to shed pounds can be downright confusing-not to mention unhealthy. There are the diets that want you to live on nothing but grapefruit or cabbage soup, and fitness gadgets that promise six-pack abs in 20-minutes a day. But it always comes back to one question: What actually works?

We asked our readers to share their no-fail tips for healthy weight loss. Here are some of the best responses, submitted to Best Health via Twitter and Facebook. Have some great advice of your own? Share it with us in the comments below!

Lighten up your diet

One of the most important components of healthy weight loss is making smart food choices every day. Facebook user Sarah Meyer Downey shares this tip: “Start eating with the new season, fresh stuff will soon be pouring into the farmers markets. Local, fresh and good for you! No more heavy winter comfort food!”

Also on Facebook, Lois Sarich Eibl adds, “Eat more foods commonly eaten in summer, such as salads, grilled chicken, seafood, and fresh fruits.”

Looking for a lighter take on some of your favourite foods? Try these lightened-up comfort food recipes that will feel like an indulgence, without all the extra calories.

Write it down

Writing down what you’re eating every day can be a great tool for losing weight. “Be accountable!” urges @URHealthURChoic, via Twitter. “Keep a journal of your activities and what you eat. Be honest with yourself. A journal makes you accountable daily!”

Keeping track of your eating habits may reveal patterns in your daily eating schedule that are making it harder for you to lose weight. If you’re raiding the office candy jar every day around 4 pm, you may want to stash some healthy snacks in your desk, instead.

Get up and get moving!

What does Facebook user Laura Dugal Crozier find works best for losing weight? “Getting up with the sun. Doing some yoga and walking first thing in the morning.”

Also on Facebook, Maggie Outland takes it a step further: “Start running the pounds off,” she says. “[Try a] daily run or walk (for half an hour).”

There’s no denying that adding some extra activity to your day will help you shed pounds. If you can’t find time to squeeze in a sweat session after work, why not try waking up a bit earlier in the morning to fit in a workout at the start of your day? Crossing it off your to-do list first thing means that you won’t have to stress about it later, and you may find that it will give you more energy to get through the day.

Don’t stand in the way of your own success

Sometimes we could all use a little tough love, and that’s exactly what @DavidKittner has to offer. “Stop blaming everyone else for your situation and start taking 100 percent [ownership] for what you put in your mouth, and for your activity levels,” he says, via Twitter.

If you’re having a hard time losing weight, ask yourself what’s standing in your way-and be honest with yourself about the answers. If you’re eating junk food before bed every night or zoning out on the couch with American Idol instead of going for a jog, you’re not going to achieve the results you want.

Give yourself a break!

Yes, it’s important to push yourself during your weight-loss journey-it’s a key part of reaching your goal-but it’s also important to be kind to yourself. Don’t get hung up on every slip or drag yourself down with negative self-talk. It will only derail your progress and stop you from moving forward.

“De-stress and appreciate the body you have,” says @LiveWell360, via Twitter. “The body you want will come much more quickly”

Related:
• 17 unusual weight-loss tips from around the world
• 10 incredibly easy ways to lose weight
• 6 ways to maintain weight loss