Skip to Content

5 Easy Ways to Lose 5 Pounds

5 easy ways to lose 5 pounds
There are easy ways to lose 5 pounds without making huge changes to your lifestyle. Even small changes can significantly effect your weight loss efforts. You may be doing things that you don’t realize are sabotaging your success. Here are some ideas for making small lifestyle changes that can make a difference on the scale.

Strategy #1: Ditch your diet soda
More and more studies are coming out linking diet soda to weight gain. Researchers conclude that those who drank two or more diet soft drinks a day have the largest waistline increases. Artificial sweeteners are addictive, and cause you to crave sugary foods. Cut diet soda out of your daily routine, and replace it with water. Not thrilled by plane water? Add some lemon wedges or crushed mint leaves.

Strategy #2: Get enough Sleep
Research shows that sleeping less than six hours a night not only prevents weight loss, it can lead to a higher risk of obesity. When you don’t get enough sleep, hormones that tell your brain that you are full, decrease, and hormones that tell your body that it’s hungry, increase. Yikes! So, get your ZZZZZs to avoid the extra LBs.

Strategy #3: Use smaller plates
Many people have their mother’s voice in their head saying, “clean your plate.” Plate sizes in American continue to grow, and we are famous for the all-you-can-eat buffet. Beat the bulge by using lunch or dessert plates (usually 7-9 inches wide) instead of dinner plates (11+ inches wide). You can eat as much as 30 percent less food as a result. Feel less guilty when you “clean” a smaller plate (which is filled with healthy foods, right?)

Strategy #4: Don’t let yourself get too hungry

Be sure you eat regularly to avoid major fluctuations in blood sugar, which can lead to “snack attacks” where you’ll eat anything without giving it much thought. Be prepared with snacks when you’re on the go. Carry a piece of fruit, crackers, string cheese, or yogurt. Tucking away something ahead of time will keep you from being tempted by fast food or vending machines.

Strategy #5: Trade Slow Cardio for Interval Training
In order to really make your workout more effective, you need to turn up the intensity. If you love the treadmill, then do a series of sprints throughout your workout. If you’re a swimmer, then push yourself extra hard every other lap. Amp up your workouts with bouts of intense cardio and watch as the fat starts to disappear.

Before you know it, you’ll see those pounds start to slip away on the scale. What other strategies do you use to lose weight?

Sharing is caring!

  1. Great Article Jenn! Interval training is key to burning calories throughout the day. I have also added half a grapefruit a day to my weekly meal plan. This is known as a fat burning food and I feel like it has boosted my fat burning process.

  2. Lauren says:

    Sleep is so underrated. I literally feel my body rebelling against a good composition when I go for lengths of time without sleeping well.

    The biggest thing for me was making fat loss a lifestyle change. Moving away from that mentality of having to lose weight as opposed to implementing all the right things put me in the best shape of my life. You get in a rhythm and nothing can stop you.

    Great tips.

  3. Johanna says:

    One of my goals with BBB is to drink more water (hoping that would mean I’d drink less diet coke — I’m an addict). So far, it’s working. I’m definitely drinking more water while also sticking to 2 or less diet cokes a day, which is a huge improvement!

  4. Great tips…the ditching the scale is so important too.

    • Jenn says:

      I agree that ditching your scale is a good idea, or at least not obsessing about your weight. I pay more attention to my measurements, how my clothes fit and how I feel.

  5. Great list. I really need to work on the sleep department. I suffer from insomnia and bad nightmares. I tend to go to bed really late. Get up early with the kids and am exhausted by afternoon. So, I am dead tired by my younger son’s nap-time and I need to nap. It is such a vicious cycle.

    • Jenn says:

      I suffer from insomnia as well. Have you tried melatonin? It can really help. Eating right and getting in exercise helps tremendously too. Good luck breaking the cycle.

  6. Wendy says:

    LOVE this, Jen!

Comments are closed.