Want to start losing weight but intimidated by starting a gym routine? Here are some top tips to kick off your weight loss journey at home.
Eating for Weight Loss
Many people start their weight loss journey with a reduced-calorie diet, losing weight safely and sticking to a realistic diet is important for your health and success in losing weight. The recommended daily calorie intake is 2,500 calories for men and 2,000 calories for women.
Look at it this way, there are 3,500 calories in one pound of fat, so if you cut your calorie intake by only 500 calories per day on average, you should lose 1 pound per week. I know this may not seem like much, but if you consumed an extra 100 calories per day, you would gain 11lbs by the end of the year! These small changes will make a significant difference long term. (1)
Planning your meals
Planning your meals is an essential tool to help you stay on top of your diet. At the beginning of the week use a meal planner to create a shopping list for the week ahead. When you are in-store don’t be tempted by promotions of larger pack sizes and foods high in fat, sugar, and salt, this can cause weight gain and you will be back to square one. You should never go shopping hungry.
Portion control
It is very easy to cook too much, many people make the mistake of saying ‘I’d rather have too much than not enough,’ this isn’t necessarily the right attitude to have when you are trying to lose weight. Making ‘too much food’ encourages you to eat more if the food is in front of you. It takes about 20 minutes from when you start eating for your brain to send out signals of fullnessThis means you could continue to eat even though you don’t need to.
Check out the food fact sheet and how you can manage your portions.
Skip the Fad Diets
Many of us have tried a fad diet in the hopes to lose weight quickly, and most of the time they just don’t work. You may see that you lose weight over the short term, however, you will likely gain the weight right back. To lose weight and keep it off, you need to change your eating habits paired with regular exercise. Fad diets won’t result in long-term weight loss and could be very bad for your health. (2)
Replace Juices with Real Fruit
Fruit and vegetable juices and smoothies contain a variety of vitamins and minerals.
One 150ml glass of unsweetened fruit juice, vegetable juice or smoothie can contribute to a maximum of 1 portion of your recommended 5 daily portions of fruit and vegetables.
We advise that you make sure to limit the amount of fruit juice, vegetable juice or smoothie you have ensuring no more than a combined total of 150ml a day (1 small glass). Then have whole fruit and vegetables for the other 4 (or more) portions.
We say this because the sugars in fruit and vegetables are released when they're juiced or blended, making them "free sugars".
When these sugars are released, they can cause damage to your teeth, like a fizzy soda drink would, especially if you drink a lot of juice drinks.
The sugars found naturally in whole fruit and vegetables are less likely to cause tooth decay because the sugar is contained within the structure of the fruit. (3)
A Harvard study in 2013, found that drinking a serving of fruit juice every day was associated with as much as a 21% increased risk of developing diabetes. Why? "The juicing processes lead to lower contents of beneficial phytochemicals and dietary fibre. In addition, juice fluids are absorbed more rapidly and lead to more dramatic changes after eating in blood sugar and insulin levels than solid whole fruits."
Drink More Water
Water is a cheap and healthy option to quench your thirst. It has no calories and contains no sugars that can damage teeth. If you are not a fan of the taste of water on its own, you could try sparkling water or add a slice of lemon or lime. You could also add some no-added-sugar squash or fruit juice for flavour.
Water can contribute to the success of your diet, when you are dehydrated, your body will run less efficiently -- and that includes your metabolism. Think of it like your car: if you have enough oil and petrol, it will run more efficiently. It is the same case for your body. (4)
The Eat well Guide says we should drink 6 to 8 cups or glasses of fluid a day.
Have Three Square Meals
You should eat three balanced meals a day and try and stick to planned times to have these meals. View the NHS eat well guide to see what a balanced meal is.
You should snack if you are hungry, and if you chose the right snacks and eat small portions, this could also assist in speeding up your metabolism. See the food fact sheet for a list of healthy snacks.
Incorporate More Protein
Protein is an important nutrient for weight loss because a high protein intake boosts metabolism, reduces appetite and changes several weight-regulating hormones.
Replacing carbs and fat with protein will reduce the hormone that makes you feel hungry, in turn boosting several hormones which make you feel full. This leads to you feeling less hungry and the main reason protein helps you lose weight. (5)
See a list of high-protein foods here.
Exercise Tips at Home
Start with Short Workouts
It is important that you start with short workouts, your body needs time to build up strength and endurance. If you feel any pain or are holding your breath, you should slow down. There isn’t anything wrong with taking a small step at a time, especially if you do not exercise regularly and are making a lifestyle change.
Consistency is Key
Being consistent with healthy eating and exercise is the key to seeing long-lasting results. Consistency produces healthy habits which you would continue to use throughout your life.
Find an Activity You Love
There are many ways to keep fit, whether it’s going to the gym, yoga, weight training or going on long walks with the dog, you should choose an activity you like so it doesn’t seem like a chore and keeps you interested to keep it up for longer.
Exercises to Help You Lose Weight
Walking
If you add 30 minutes of brisk walking to your daily routine, you could burn about 150 more calories a day. (6)
Yoga
Not only does Yoga help you relax and de-stress it can also help you burn calories, as well as increase your muscle mass and tone.
Weight Training
Weight training is more effective than cardio at building muscle, and muscle burns more calories at rest than some other tissues, including fat.
Because of this, building muscle is the key to increasing your resting metabolism (how many calories you burn at rest). (7)
Additional Weight Loss Aids
If you need a little helping hand, you can get weight loss aids available at Oxford Online Pharmacy, this method can be effective when used alongside a healthy eating and exercise regime.
Work With Your Doctor
Our team of medical specialists are on hand to help and advise the best treatment suited to you. See below some of the treatments we have to offer.
Weight Loss Treatments
Orlistat
Orlistat is used to treat obesity by blocking one-third of the fat digested and preventing the fat from being absorbed. The typical recommended dosage of Orlistat 120mg is one capsule three times a day after each main meal.
Orlos
Orlos is a branded version of Orlistat and works in the same way. It comes in 60mg capsules, and a prescription isn’t required to purchase this medication. We will need you to answer a few simple questions to allow our pharmacists to make sure it is the right medication for you to use.
Xenical
Xenical can accelerate weight loss in certain groups of people in whom dietary changes and exercise have not proven effective. Xenical can be prescribed to patients with a BMI (Body Mass Index) of more than 30. It can also be prescribed if your BMI is greater than 28 in the presence of other risk factors such as type 2 Diabetes, High Blood Pressure or raised Cholesterol. Xenical contains 120mg of Orlistat in each capsule.
Alli
Alli is a lower-strength version of the prescription medication Orlistat. As it is a low dose it is available over the counter without a prescription. We will need you to answer a few simple questions to allow our pharmacists to make sure it is the right medication for you to use. Alli can be used by individuals who are overweight, with a BMI >28.
XLS Medical
XLS-Medical Fat Binder's active ingredient is Litramine™ which binds readily with dietary fat from food and becomes a large fat fibre complex. This fat-fibre complex is too large to be absorbed in the small intestine and is eventually excreted from the body.
After the fat binding phase, the essential fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E are released and absorbed into the body. This optimizes the availability of fat-soluble vitamins for absorption by the body.
References
Skip The Fad Diet - Go the Healthy Way - US Department of Veterans Affairs
Water and your diet: Staying Slim And Regular With H2O - WebMD, published 13 February 2022
How Protein Can Help You Lose Weight Naturally - Health Line, published 29 May 2017
Can I Lose Weight If My Only Exercise Is Walking? - Mayo Clinic, published 12 February 2021
Cardio vs. Weight Lifting: Which Is Better For Weight Loss? - Health Line, published 24 October 2017