I'm a Nutritionist and This Is the One Habit Worth Adopting to Transform Your Body

Are you struggling to lose weight? Hannah Adkins is a social media influencer who lost 15 pounds and became the healthiest and happiest version of herself. She starts by sharing a before-and-after transformation photo. “I guess you're probably thinking, okay, cool, you've lost a little weight, and you've gained some muscle definition, which is true. But let me tell you, my mindset changed, and so did my energy levels, clear skin, and happiness. That's the real glow-up. It's so good. So what changed? Well, the truth is lots,” she said, going on to explain in detail “what changed, why it changed, and how it can help you too.”

There Is More to Diet Than Just Counting Macros

“Number one, there is more in your food than carbs, fat, and protein, aka, your macros, such a buzzword when it comes to talking about the gym, diet, exercise, weight loss, and muscle gain. All anybody seems to talk about is your macros,” she claims in the video. She explains that in the past, she followed the “if it fits your macros” type of approach to diet. “I can't tell you how simplistic and problematic that approach is in my opinion.”

You Need to Educate Yourself About Nutrition

The problem is “you could eat a diet of almost entirely processed foods and still fulfill your macronutrient goals,” she says, noting that it is “so far from a healthy, holistic, balanced approach. I think a lot of people, including me, used to think I was having a balanced diet because I got a good split of carbs, protein, and fats. There was just so much more to it than that. So honestly, my first and biggest piece of advice is, please educate yourself on the topic of nutrition,” she says. “Read books by experts, listen to podcasts, watch Ted Talks. There are so many ways. Watch YouTube videos by these experts.”

She Recommends These Books

One of her favorites is How Not to Diet. “Basically, it is a book all about nutrition and explaining why following a more heavily plant-based diet is kind of the way forward and all of the reasons for that.” She also recommends a book called Gut, “which is all about your gut health and how important that is and how much that affects so many areas of your life. Not just how you look and how you feel, but also mentally, it can affect you in so many ways.”

Next, There Isn’t a “One Size Fits All” Approach to Exercise

“My second point is about moving your body. So exercise, I know I'm not the first person to say this, but I cannot stress enough how much there is not a one-size-fits-all all approach to exercise,” she says. “You don't need to be doing HIIT five times a week. You don't need a heavy-weight training split six days a week. You don't need to do hot yoga or running, or there's no prescribed way of doing exercise that is more effective or better than another. You need to find the type of exercise that A: you enjoy and B: is sustainable for you.”

She Used to Wear Herself Out Weight Training

She explains that she had done heavy weight training at the gym for years but “literally just burnt out, and I got to the point where I resented the gym. I hated going. I had massive guilt if I wasn't going.” She admits it was a “toxic way” of approaching exercise. She then started “experimenting with home workouts,” going on long walks and runs. “I slowly but surely realized that my body really wasn't changing that much. Actually, I now look forward to working out. It's something that I don't dread. It is something that I see as showing gratitude to my body. She feels better when she is doing “multiple different types of exercise in a week.”

Now She Mixes Up Her Workouts

“At the moment, my two preferred types of exercise are going for really long walks and doing kind of slow, gentle Pilates-type movement. But basically, you do not need to do the same thing week in or week out to see results. You can wake up in the morning and think about what I felt like today. Some days that might be a walk. Some days that might be super high-intensity training. Some days, it might be gentle yoga. Some days, it might be nothing at all. And honestly, as long as you are keeping your body moving most days of the week, you're not gonna, you're not gonna go wrong.”

Avoid “Diet” Foods

“My next point, I want to talk about substitutes,” she says. “I personally don't buy anything that's labeled low fat, light, diet. The reason is because nine times out of 10, the chemicals that they have added into that food so that it still tastes good without the sugar or without the fat are doing you so much more harm than the sugar or the fat.”

Instead, Substitute with Healthier, Nutritious Options

Her “kind of substitutes” are lentil pasta, pea pasta, chickpea pasta instead of white pasta, rye bread instead of white bread, and dark chocolate in replacement of dairy milk. They're my kind of substitutes, and they're the kind of substitutes that I would recommend.” She tries to make healthier choices 80 percent of the time. “The reason for that being is purely and simply because the nutritional value and the micronutrients in those substitutes are far better than in the kind of more processed alternatives. So, when it comes to substitutes, do I believe in them? Yes. Do I believe in diet things, light things, or half-fat things? Nine times out of 10, they're probably doing you more harm than good, in my opinion.”

Learn How to Cook

“Let's talk about homecooked meals,” she says about her next point, admitting she is “not the best or the most enthusiastic cook” because of the effort and feeling like she isn’t very good at it. “One of the best, best, best things that I've done is take more time to try and learn new recipes and basically just teach myself to cook, and I've literally just done this through buying recipe books.”

That Way, You Will Know What Is in Your Food

“The reason why learning to cook is so, so key is because eating home home-cooked food is always gonna be the best option if you are looking to manage your weight in some way or achieve some kind of goal. The reason for that being is that you actually know what is in your food,” she says. “When you eat out, you have no idea what they've added to that food to try and boost the flavor.”

Shift Your Mindset

“The final thing, but genuinely probably one of the most game-changing things that I'm going to say is, please don't underestimate how important shifting your mindset and your mental wellbeing is. I've said this before in another video, but you cannot hate yourself healthy,” she says. “Being truly grateful to my body for everything that it does to me on a day-to-day basis, everything that I'm able to do because I have a healthy body is genuinely almost my soul motivation these days to eat really healthy nutritious food and to move my body each day.”

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Listen to Your Body

“What we put into our bodies and how we choose to move or not move our bodies on a daily basis has such an enormous, enormous impact on that, in line with this, one thing that I really, really want to impress upon you is please listen to your body. Our bodies are so complex and so amazing, and they have evolved over thousands and thousands and probably millions,” she says. “If you're hungry, please eat that. Is your body telling you that you need fuel to be able to go about your day and carry on and live a healthy, full life? If every single time you eat a meal, you are getting like really painful, big kind of bloating, please, rather than punishing yourself and thinking that you've just eaten too much or that you shouldn't eat certain types of food or whatever it might be, please see an expert and get their opinion because the chances are you might possibly have an intolerance or an allergy or some reason why your body is reacting in that way.”

Love Yourself

“Next time you are looking in the mirror, and you are thinking, I hate this aspect of my body, I don't like that aspect of my body, just take the time to genuinely appreciate everything that your body does for you outside of what it looks like,” she encourages. And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.

Are you looking for a few simple and realistic health habits that will enable you to lose weight? Grace Macena is a social media influencer and “macro focused” nutritionist who promotes sustainable weight loss. In a recent viral post, she reveals some of the most helpful habits that enabled her to achieve weight loss success. “These helped me lose 20 pounds, and I will never gain it back,” she writes in the Instagram post, revealing her top 6 “simple and realistic” habits.

Focus on Volume Eating

Her first healthy habit is focusing on volume eating. “I have a big appetite, so l will try to make my meals as filling as possible,” she says in her post. “Add egg whites to oatmeal, add extra veggies to your meals, use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, add berries to your yogurt,” she recommends. “This will ensure that you feel full without adding a bunch of calories.:

Walk 30 Minutes a Day

The second habit? Get your steps in. “Go on one 30-minute walk a day,” she says. “If the gym stresses you out or you’re confused, don’t do it. Start with a simple walk a day. Start somewhere. Do something you enjoy.”

Have Healthy Snacks on Hand

Her third habit? “Have healthy snacks with you everywhere you go,” she suggests. “I carry snacks when I know I’ll be out of the house for long. If you wait until you are starving, nothing good happens. I always grab a piece of fruit before leaving the house, just in case.”

Enjoy the Process

Next, “Enjoy the process and focus on doing the best you can every single day!” she explains. Say to yourself, ‘I am in the process of becoming the healthiest version of me.’ You can let one reading on a scale or one day of eating end your journey. Toughen up.”

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Nourish Your Body with Food

She also recommends looking at your diet as nourishment. “I would focus on learning what food brings to my body, eating macro balanced,” she says. “Look at your meal. What protein am I eating? What veggies, starch, and fat?”

6. Stop Drinking Your Calories

Lastly, she recommends avoiding drinking your calories. “Honestly, I would say goodbye to alcohol,” she points out. “It doesn’t do anything for you, but that is your choice. Or at least limit it outside your house. Empty calories that WILL cause you to lose progress.”

And, Track Macros

In another post, she recommends incorporating some other healthy habits, including macro tracking. “Start learning about what fuels your body and the quality of your food vs simply counting calories. Focus on fiber and whole foods and watch your body and energy transform. It’s not about being tedious, and it's about really learning how to look at food and what each food gives your body. You will never need a diet again!” she writes.

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Lift Weights

Also, she recommends strength training. “Lift weights 3-4x a week, 30 mins/ session, following progressive overload. You don’t need to do hours, and like me, you can do it from home,” she says.

Amp Up Protein and Fiber Intake

Eat more protein, she continues. “If you want to lose weight, feel full, and change how your body looks, aim to eat 25g-30g of protein per meal and at least 100g per day.” As for fiber, it “is your secret to helping reverse insulin resistance, keep you full, anti-aging, heal your gut,” she says.

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Wake Up Earlier

Her last suggestion? Wake up earlier. “I said it. You need time for yourself. Waking up with the kids and someone asking you to get something is always hard for me. I don’t get up early because I’m tough; I do it because I need it to be a good person.” And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.

Danni Ren is a social media influencer and weight loss warrior who lost a whopping 22 pounds in just three months. In a viral video, she details exactly how she did it. “I wasn't ever truly happy with the way I looked, but one day, I didn't recognize my body. My usual sizes didn't fit me anymore, so I got more and more frustrated at myself for letting it get to this point,” she says. Now, she claims she is the best version of herself. “I'm feeling the strongest and healthiest I've ever felt in my life.” In her video, she explains that she will be sharing her “tips to ease yourself into your weight loss journey and lead this healthy and balanced lifestyle that everybody talks about.”

Start by Figuring Out Why Your Diets Fail in the First Place

Dannie starts off by explaining the importance of analyzing why your diets aren’t working. “I think it's so important to look at why most diets fail rather than jumping straight into what exercises to do or meal planning for the week. Your experience may be different from mine, but I always failed my diet when I gave in to ‘bad food,’ like sugary snacks, bubble tea chips, or anything. When you indulge in bad food, usually it feels pretty good at first, but then it follows with this chain of emotions that you usually bring upon yourself, like self-pity, guilt, disappointment, and even self-forgiveness,” she says.

She points out that when dieting, “either consciously or subconsciously, you have an idea of what foods you should be saying no to, and usually those are the foods that you really enjoy,” so a diet is a constant test of willpower.

“But the longer I go without the food that makes me happy, the less happy I'll feel,” she says. Eventually, she will “crave it a lot and then give in, therefore, failing my diet,” she says. “You get the wave of emotions, the cycle repeats, but then your patient starts to run thin for yourself.”

Avoid the Emotional Eating Trap

“One of the biggest challenges that I didn't know I needed to face at the start of this weight loss journey is actually emotional eating,” Dannie admits. “I tend to turn to food when I'm feeling stressed, accomplished in need of comfort, or even when I'm bored, and while there's nothing inherently wrong with enjoying food, it can become a problem when it becomes a coping mechanism.”

She explains that breaking the pattern has been difficult. “It's taken a lot of mental fortitude to overcome my dependence on food to feel good. I thought that if I could stop the cycle of cravings and just break that entirely, then maybe I can actually be successful at my diet for once,” she says, revealing that a book by Janine Roth, Breaking Free From Emotional Eating, was a game changer. “It contains practical tips and strategies for overcoming emotional eating, and I love that the tips are all taught through the experiences and reflections of people who are also going through the same struggles,” she says.

Stop Using Food as a Reward

“One of the most important things I've learned is to stop using food as a reward,” says Danni. “Instead of celebrating a productive day at work with a massive meal or a sugary snack, I try to find other ways of rewarding myself, like through giving myself the free time to do anything that I wanted, even if it's doom scrolling, even if it's reading a book, as long as it's not food related. Something else I've realized is that if I stop putting my favorite foods on a pedestal, I actually end up thinking about it less and therefore craving it less.”

Practice Mindfulness and Self-Awareness

“Another strategy has been to practice mindfulness and self-awareness when it comes to my eating habits and my emotions,” explains Danni. “When I turn to food for comfort, I just like to take a moment and pause to check in with myself. Am I really hungry, or am I feeling stressed? If it's the latter, then I try to find other ways to cope, like journaling, maybe that will help, or even talking to my partner about how I'm feeling. This book really put me out of this tunnel vision with food, and I started to realize just really how manipulative it can be.”

Pay Attention to Insulin

“When dieting, I always focused on cutting calories and increasing my cardio, but I realized that there's another really important factor to consider, and that is insulin,” Danni reveals. “Insulin is a hormone that helps our bodies to store energy from the food that we eat. When we eat, our bodies release insulin to help move that energy into ourselves. But if our bodies are constantly bombarded with food, our insulin levels can remain elevated, which can make it harder for us to burn fat or enter fat-burning zones.” She also points out that insulin also spikes depending on what types of foods you eat. “Instead of opting for a carb-heavy meal that can spike your insulin and then cause a sugar crash or a food coma, try to find nutrient-dense foods that will keep your insulin low and steady,” she says.

Intermittent Fasting

“The idea of restricting myself and calorie counting just seems so exhausting for one and unsustainable. I just wanted to eat whatever I wanted and still be skinny. And that leads us to our next tip, which is intermittent fasting,” says Danni. “I think some people might view intermittent fasting as some sort of diet that's on the same playing field as these diets, but it's more of a long-term diet that doesn't actually limit the amount of food or the types of foods that you can have. Instead, it's just a little bit more restrictive in terms of when you can eat. So if I can still have ice cream, bubble tea, and all those great things, but I just need to have them within a certain time of the day, then that's a pretty good trade.”

She set up her window between 12:00 PM and 8:00 PM every day. “The idea is to limit the amount of time that your body is producing insulin. And to be honest, at first I was skeptical after understanding a little bit more about insulin. It sort of makes sense to keep it around only for a portion of the day rather than sporadically throughout the day by sticking to my eating window and allowing myself to eat whatever I wanted. Within that time frame, I found that I was able to satisfy my cravings in moderation without feeling deprived. And because I was only eating during a limited window of time, I found that I wasn't constantly thinking about food.”

She maintains that intermittent fasting “has truly been a game changer” for her. “You can eat the same thing, but if you just timed it differently, it could be the difference between you continuing to put on weight or losing weight.”

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Focus on Nutrition Over Calories

She also recommends putting a stronger focus “on the nutritional value of food rather than the numerical value of food, like through calories,” she says.

“You want to set yourself up for success. And while calorie counting is a very easy and common way of tracking the amount of food that you've had, I feel like it's quite easy to lose sight of what is actually good for your body,” she says, pointing out that not all calories are made equal, “so it can be misleading if you just relied on the number to determine what you can and can't eat. Especially when we are busy and on the go, I feel like it's quite easy to lose sight and pick convenience over health.”

Pay Attention to Fiber, Protein, Healthy Fats

Instead of counting calories, she suggests paying more attention to things like fiber, protein, and healthy fats, “and generally making sure that you're getting a good balance of everything is much more sustainable and important for your long-term health,” she says.

“The great thing about this method is that it allows for so much flexibility and variety in your diet. You can still have fast food, just have it in moderation, but more importantly, focus on things that will make you feel your best. Of course, this doesn't mean that calorie counting is not useful or that it doesn't work. It definitely works. I just don't think it's very suitable as a daily measure to maintain your health over the long term.”

Create a Routine

“One thing that has been key to my weight loss journey is the art of showing up and the power of a routine,” she continues. “When we make healthy habits part of our routine, it's more likely to stick with us over the long term. Of course, building a routine is easy, it takes time and effort to build new habits, and sometimes we are going to fall back onto our old patterns.

She recommends the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, calling it “incredibly helpful” as his approach to habit formation “emphasizes the importance of small incremental changes that will add up over time. On days where going to the gym seems extremely farfetched, simply putting on my leggings changes that from ‘I don't really feel like it today’ to ‘But I need to move my body.’ There's just something about outfits and how they can really put you into another head space.”

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Hit the Gym

Her last goal? “Simply rock up to the gym. Just get there. That's my next goal. The point is not to look too far ahead, just focus on what's next that will help you towards getting to where you need to be,” she says. “Can you imagine the amount of progress you'll make to anything that you do if you just mastered the art of showing up and the power of a routine?” And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.

Do you want to lose 10 pounds by the holidays? Jenn Markwardt is a fitness and nutrition coach and founder of Flourish Nutrition, whose goal is “helping you lose 20lbs in a stress-free way. In a recent social media post, she reveals how to drop weight fast by making a few simple tweaks to your routine. “Maybe it’s your energy, maybe it’s an extra 10-20lbs that came out of nowhere, especially around your middle, or maybe it’s exhaustion and brain fog you can’t get rid of,” she writes in the Instagram post. “Here are the three️ things I (and my clients) would avoid if I wanted to drop fat and get my energy back.”

Stop Eating Healthy and Start Eating with Intention

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Her first tip? Stop eating “healthy” and start eating with intention. “Track your food for a week (not forever, and you’ll be amazed at what you learn. It’s not about eating as little as possible; it’s about understanding how to build your pants in a way that leaves you full and satiated and helps your body lose fat without restriction and hunger,” she writes in her post.

Get More Focused with Exercise

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Next, “stop doing random workouts and only relying on cardio,” she says. “Muscle is the key to lighting up your metabolism and helping you actually keep your results! You should be training intentionally in a progressive overload style (building in weights or reps each week) to optimize your results!”

Don’t Do It Alone

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And her third tip is to “stop trying to go it alone,” she says. “Listen, things change as we age, but you are not broken. It’s not impossible to see results, but you have to do things differently than you did in the past, and it’s a heck of a lot easier when you have the support and accountability of coaches and other women just like you.”

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She Also Recommends These 5 Healthy Habits for Weight Loss

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In another post, she reveals that one of her clients dropped a whopping 30 pounds over a period of six months, “and this was someone who has done literally every diet under the sun,” she says in the clip. “Here are the five habits we focused on to optimize her metabolism hormones and get her energy back so fat loss felt easy,” she adds in the post.

Walk 8,000 to 10,000 Steps Per Day

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The first habit is to get your steps in. She recommends “daily movement of 8-10k steps.” Why should you aim for 10,000 steps per day? A 2018 study published in the journal Obesity found a link between walking that amount and weight loss and weight management. Other studies published by the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) in JAMA Neurology and in JAMA Internal Medicine also linked walking 10,000 steps a day to less dementia and less cardiovascular disease overall, with less heart disease, less heart failure, and fewer strokes.

Amp Up Your Protein Intake

Next, amp up your protein intake. “30g of protein at each meal for satiation and preserving and building muscle,” she writes. According to clinical trials, consuming more protein than the recommended dietary allowance not only reduces body weight (BW) but also enhances body composition by decreasing fat mass while preserving fat-free mass (FFM) in both low-calorie and standard-calorie diets.

Also, Increase Fiber Intake

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Also, she recommends amping up your fiber intake. “25g of fiber daily” is her suggestion. Why? “Fiber is key for balancing blood sugar and keeping you full, so you avoid mindless snacking,” she says.

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Strength Train

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In addition to getting your steps in, she recommends doing strength training to build muscle. Specifically, she suggests three 30-minute strength workouts a week “using our Flourish Fitness progressive overload program,” she writes. According to the Mayo Clinic, strength and weight training help reduce body fat, preserve and increase lean muscle mass, and burn calories more efficiently. Strength training may also help you:

• Develop strong bones
• Manage your weight
• Enhance your quality of life
• Manage chronic conditions
• Sharpen your thinking skills

Stress Management

Lastly, she stresses the importance of mental health. She explains that “stress management and finding and creating the time to prioritize” yourself is fundamental in getting in physical shape.

A Lot of Factors Impact Weight Loss

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“And here’s why this works: your metabolism isn’t just ONE thing. There are a lot of factors, and your daily habits have the biggest impact on your metabolic health and hormones. You don’t have to do these things perfectly, but consistency (even on the weekends) matters for forever results,” she writes at the end of the post. And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.