36 fast, easy ways to lose weight

People who keep food diaries wind up eating less food than those who don’t. And new research suggests logging what you eat is one of the most effective and easy ways to lose weight. Just watch out for weekends: One study found people tend to consume an extra 480 kilojoules per weekend day, primarily from alcohol and fat.

If you think you’re consuming 7000 kilojoules a day and don’t understand why you’re not losing weight, add about another 1600 kilojoules to your guesstimate. Research shows that even dietitians underestimate their caloric intake by more than 800 kilojoules, while non-professional study participants underestimated by 1600 kilojoules.

Researchers found that online weight-loss buddies help you keep the weight off. Those who had several friends within the online weight loss community nearly doubled the percentage of weight lost compared to those who didn’t have friends in the program.

You’ve heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy? If you keep focusing on things you can’t do, like resisting junk food or getting out the door for a daily walk, chances are you won’t do them. Instead (whether you believe it or not) repeat positive thoughts to yourself. “I can lose weight.” “I will get out for my walk today.” “I know I can resist the pastry cart after dinner.” Using meditation can be another tool – mindfulness meditation was shown to help reduce binge eating and emotional eating.

Learn the weight-loss resolutions nutritionists are making this year. 

Throughout the day, focus on water instead of juice or soft drink. The average person consumes an extra 600 calories a day from soft drinks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s nearly over 220,000 kilojoules a year – or almost 7kg! And research shows that despite the calories, sugary drinks don’t trigger a sense of fullness the way that food does.

Here are 12 things that happen to your body when you stop drinking fizzy drinks. 

…or one less treat a day, or one less glass of orange juice. Doing any of these can save you about 400 kilojoules a day, and that alone is enough to prevent you from gaining the one kilo most people mindlessly pack on each year.

A study found the more that study participants watched television, the more they ate – and the more unhealthy food choices they made. Sacrifice one program (there’s probably one you don’t really want to watch anyway) and go for a walk instead – in even just 15 minutes, you’ll reap some amazing benefits from walking.

Whether that’s a floor, a couple of windows, the shower stall, bathroom tile, your car, a 68-kg person will burn about 16 kilojoules for every minute spent cleaning. Scrub for 30 minutes and you could work off approximately 500 kilojoules, the same number in a half-cup of vanilla frozen yogurt.

It’s stunning how often we eat out of boredom, nervousness, habit or frustration – so often, in fact, that many of us have actually forgotten what physical hunger feels like. (In fact, 38 percent of people surveyed said they’d eaten unhealthily to deal with stress in the past month.) If you’re hankering for a specific food, it’s probably a craving, not hunger. If you’d eat anything you could get your hands on, chances are you’re truly hungry. Learn how to recognise these feelings mistaken for hunger, then find ways other than eating to express love, tame stress, and relieve boredom. But talk to your doctor if you think you’re always hungry for a medical reason.

Always hungry? Here are 8 reasons you can’t stop eating. 

One study found that eating in front of mirrors slashed the amount people ate by nearly one-third. Having to look yourself in the eye reflects back some of your own inner standards and goals, and reminds you of why you’re trying to lose weight in the first place.