26 Real Tips That Helped Me Lose 100 Pounds

Do you want to lose weight and keep it off? Dr. Nina Ellis Hervey is a health expert and influencer who shares about “healthy lifestyle, weight loss, natural hair care, confidence, self-esteem, education & more.” In one of her viral YouTube videos, she breaks down all the simple habits that enabled her to lose over 100 pounds and keep it off. “Your girl understands that weight loss ain't easy. If you're trying to lose anything from two pounds to over 100 pounds like I did and keep it off for 13 years, you might face some battles,” she says in the clip. “But what I do know is that if I did it, you can too, but you have to stay consistent and dedicated.” She goes on to share the top “bomb fitness tips with you, all that helped me before weight loss and after weight loss. These five tips are gonna give you the extra push that you need to make your weight loss journey a success.

Make a Workout Space

“The first thing is to make your place where you work out,” Dr. Nina suggests in the video. “No matter if it's your home or in a gym, your heaven and your haven.”

Make Your Exercise Time All About You

Next, “Give yourself permission to make this time about you,” says Dr. Nina. “Schedule the time, make sure that you understand that this is important to you and your body,” she says. “I don't text, take phone calls, or really even make time for small talk in the gym.”

Make Your Exercise Space Efficient

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“When I come to the gym, I like to settle into a space where I can be cozy. I sweat a lot, so I like to be kind of secluded or away from too many people. I also love to make sure that I have an area where I'm comfortable where I can use my iPad while I'm running or doing cardio. If I work out at home, I keep it no-nonsense. I like to keep an area pretty clean and clear so that I don't make excuses about working out the next morning,” Dr. Nina says. “In fact, I try to go ahead and clear the area the night before if I can. And also, I try to make sure that that space is large enough to accommodate different exercises.”

Keep a Workout Library

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“I also keep a workout library, so I have no excuses about things that I can,” she says. This also helps her switch it up: “I keep my iPad handy for free resources like workouts on YouTube.”

Count Calories Correctly

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“The next thing is to play the calorie counting game correctly. Believe it or not, losing weight really is simple math. The whole name of the game and weight loss is to make a caloric deficit for yourself,” she says.

Understand That Your Workout Doesn’t Allow You to Eat More

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“Don't start getting in your mind that a workout equals a free pass to ball out on your calories,” Nina continues. “In fact, it should make you watch what you're eating even more. Know that your hardcore workout deserves to be treated well by eating well.”

Learn How to Create a Calorie Deficit

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She recommends using a weight loss calculator to determine how much you should be eating. She says to input information like your age, weight, daily activity level, and how many months you have to lose weight. Once you calculate that, you can determine how much you can eat to lose weight.

Understand That if You Overeat, You Will Gain Weight

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“If you overeat on the calories, just because you've done a hardcore workout, you'll actually end up gaining weight instead of losing it because you'll start to think it's okay to take in more calories than you've actually burned. So to make sure I'm burning my calories the right way,” she says.

Mix Up Your Workouts

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“I mix up my workouts,” she says. “On Mondays, I'm getting in about 45 minutes of cardio. That could be running, jogging, stair climbing, things like that. On Tuesdays, I'm getting in about 25 minutes of lifting. That can be legs or arms or both. Then, I do about 25 to 30 minutes of cardio. On Wednesdays, I do about 35 to 45 minutes of cardio. On Thursdays, I'm back to mixing it up with about 25 minutes of lifting and 30 minutes of cardio, and that's gonna be legs or arms, again, alternating. And then, on Fridays, I'm doing about 45 minutes to an hour of cardio. Saturdays are about 25 minutes of lifting and about 25 to 30 minutes of cardio. Sundays, I make it a point to take a nice long walk or do a fun activity like going to the zoo or the park or something that just keeps me active every day. I'm taking nice walks,” she says.

Do Workouts That Give You the After Burn Effect

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She also recommends doing a workout that creates “a good afterburn effect, meaning that you'll keep burning calories after you've worked out,” she says. “Try running, cycling, lifting weights, hitting, or doing interval training as well. Try doing some short workouts on days that you don't really feel like working out. If you do just two 10-minute workouts, that's still gonna burn you some good calories. You can always work harder, stronger, and longer.”

Work Up Your Weights

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“Make sure that you work your weight up to become more intense in your workouts,” she says. “It ain't meant to be easy. Strength train to build muscle and burn fat.”

Learn How to Read Nutrition Facts

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“While we're talking about lowering and burning calories, learn how to read nutrition facts and labels. It's easy to find nutrition facts annoying or even to overlook them, but if you are looking to lose weight or to keep it off, you have to look at them. So just get the basic facts straight,” she says.

Focus on These Facts

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“Look at the serving size, check out the calories, look at the present daily values, which really tell you how much of your daily value is made up of certain nutrients from this food in one serving,” she says.

Read the Ingredients List

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“Stay as low as possible on those saturated fats, added sugars, and sodium. Look at your vitamins, minerals, and fiber levels, and also check out the ingredients list. That ingredients list is in order from what's largest in the ingredients to what's smallest. So keep that in mind,” she says.

Eat Five to Seven Servings of Veggies a Day

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“Eating five to seven servings of vegetables a day is good for anyone with any kind of diet, but it's extra good to go hard on it when you're trying to lose weight. Also, it's even better for those of us who want to keep the weight off. Most fruits and vegetables tend to be low in calories and high in fiber, which is going to be more filling for your body,” she says.

Meal Plan and Prep

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She also recommends meal planning and prepping with vegetables and fruits. “When I'm being lazy, I simply blend them up. When you blend with fruits and vegetables, you rarely ever taste the vegetables, so it's a great idea to get nutrients,” she says.

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Drink Juices and Smoothies

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“For those of you all that don't like the heavy vegetable taste, and y'all know I'm forever and always gonna talk about my yay organic juices and juice bottle because it helps me get in all my nutrients daily. I'm also able to charge up my phone while on the go with this bottle and get all the nutrients from the juices,” she continues.

Don’t Overindulge on Healthy Food

“Also, remember, just because you're eating something that's healthy doesn't mean it's an all-you-can-eat buffet. Try to actually like what you eat. You don't have to eat cardboard boxes and sandpaper. Make sure that you keep it fresh and fun just like you would with any relationship,” she says.

Keep Things “Interesting, Fun, and Fresh”

“Remember that this fitness journey is you building a relationship with yourself. You're investing in yourself in a way you're dating yourself. I try to keep things interesting, fun, and fresh,” she says.

Try on Clothes Instead of Using a Scale

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“Try to use trying on clothes instead of the scale so that you can easily measure your progress, but also not get discouraged. I stayed off the scale and tried to only weigh myself every two to three weeks,” she explains.

Find a Group of People to Support You

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“Try to get with a group of people or even just one friend that is healthy for you physically and emotionally. These people are gonna support you, but also keep it real with you through your weight loss journey,” she says.

Mix Everything Up

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“Mix up your workouts, mix up your food, even mix up the music that you listen to. Get some cranking,” she continues.

Workout in the Morning

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“Try to work out in the morning when you're fresh, and y'all don't get me started on making time for this. If you wanna make this work, you'll make the time for it. In the morning, you're going to be your freshest. You're gonna give your all. You're gonna work harder. So morning workouts are better and more effective,” she says.

Treat Yourself

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“And while it's nice to have cheap meals, treat yourself to more than just food,” she says. “Get cool new fitness gadgets, new workout clothes, new shoes, new fashionable clothes and accessories.”

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Keep These Healthy Habits

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“Keep it fresh by keeping healthy habits, even when you travel. When you do these things, you'll be less likely to hit a plateau or even get burned out,” Dr. Nina says.

Finally, Don’t Go Back to Your Bad Habits

“If you wanna keep the weight off after you lose weight, you can't go back to your bad habits,” Dr. Nina says. “Losing is a lifestyle change, not something you do until you reach your goal. If you go back to old unhealthy habits, the weight will quickly creep back on. And yes, you can give yourself room for indulgences, but you should do this in moderation.” And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.