Surprising things that will support your weight loss journey

Sleep
Research shows that getting around eight hours of high-quality sleep supports your weight loss journey, as well as contributing to your overall health. A lack of sleep can disrupt your hunger hormones, which means you’re more likely to feel tempted to eat outside of the plan you’ve set for yourself.
Take action to improve your sleep by checking off at least two of the following:

• Stick to regular bedtimes and waking times.
• Reduce (or cut out) caffeine intake at least six hours before you go to sleep.
• Avoid screens for at least one hour before bed.
• Keep your bedroom cool and dark.

Steps
Our non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) makes up around 15% of our total calorie expenditure. This includes everything from fidgeting and other subconscious movements to doing jobs around the house, running around after the kids, and even shopping! While we typically have limited time and physical capacity for planned exercise (such as going to the gym, going for a run, or doing yoga), we can all make an effort to increase our NEAT. A good starting point is to look at our overall step count.
Take action today by monitoring your current step count. If your average step count is low (fewer than 5,000 steps a day), this is an excellent area to try and improve. Check your phone or fitness tracker to see your current average and set a new, realistic target to try and increase this (current research shows that we need around 7,000 steps a day for optimal health). Make a plan for how you can increase your steps; you might try the following:

• Add a 20-30 minute walk to your day (pro tip: if you do this first thing in the morning, that ‘first light’ has also been proven to improve your sleep!).
• Ditch the car and walk to your destination, whether it’s a trip to the shops or visiting a friend for coffee.
• Switch to a standing desk; this will encourage more overall movement and can even help with issues such as back pain. Win-win!

Stress
If you’re prone to feeling stressed most of the time, this can disrupt your journey for a few reasons. Elevated levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) can lead to water retention, which can mask fat loss (though it won’t actually stop you losing fat, which is a common myth). If you’re using the scales to monitor progress and your weight isn’t changing, this can make you feel more stressed, leading to a vicious cycle! Another issue with stress is that it can lead to more episodes of emotional eating or overeating. If you find yourself regularly reaching for calorie-dense snacks when stressed, self-reflection might be a helpful tool.
Take action: If weighing yourself is causing you stress, step away from the scales and break the stress cycle! Use measurements, photos, and how you feel to get a clearer view of your progress over time. Also, lean into the process more and focus less on the outcome—this will help too! Try thinking about the areas that are causing your stress; consider what you have control over and what you don’t (try to let go of the latter!), and then see how you can reduce stress around the things you do have more control over.

Structure
While we want our approach to fat loss to be flexible overall (no restriction on food choices, not missing out on social occasions, flexibility with meal times and frequency, etc.), having some structure can be hugely helpful in reducing some of the stress around dieting. Whether it’s having pre-planned meals ready (or at least knowing what you’re going to eat) for 70% of the day, or choosing some of the same foods on a rotation, reducing decision fatigue can be a great support and make fat loss a little easier with some planning and organisation.
Take action: If you’re feeling stuck, start by simply writing down some of the meals you plan to have over the coming days. Check that you have what you need for these meals, make a list of anything else you need to buy, and even write down when you plan to prepare and eat. Batch cooking can also be really helpful if you’re making meals from scratch—cook enough for 3-4 meals and put some in the fridge or freezer. Your future self will thank you for this simple act!

Self-reflection & awareness
This is probably one of the most overlooked areas, but mindfulness is associated with improving awareness of your feelings and helps ensure you stay present in all areas of your life, including your approach to food and eating habits. Mindfulness techniques can be incredibly helpful when pursuing fat loss, as being more mindful can increase your awareness around food and improve your eating habits.
Take action: Try journaling daily. Write down your emotions, celebrate your daily successes (both diet-related and non-diet), and practise gratitude (for example, pick three things each day you’re grateful for). Also, try eating more of your meals without distractions—this means no screens! Put your phone down, turn off the TV, and focus on the act of eating, paying attention to the textures and flavours of the food and taking your time (putting your fork down or having a sip of water between bites can help slow you down). This can help you be more present with the food itself and the eating experience, leading to greater levels of satisfaction, which in turn can reduce the urge to eat again soon after or reach for more calorie-dense foods when you crave the feeling of satisfaction.