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How can social media help you lose weight?

The best thing about social media is that it allows users with similar interests to get in touch with each other, regardless of what part of the world they are in. If your goal is losing weight then you might be surprised to find that social media sites are your best ally.

Every social media site offers different advantages when it comes to losing weight, sticking to your diet, tracking the calories you eat or simply acquiring healthier eating habits.

These are the different ways in which the most common social media sites can help you to lose weight when you diet and some of these are listed below:

Facebook: one of the most popular social media sites, Facebook can be a meeting point for all those users fighting the dreaded ‘bulge’.

Just by typing ‘lose weight’ or ‘diet’ in your Facebook search tool gives you access to an infinite range of pages specializing in this topic. Many people around the world are trying to lose some pounds or follow a diet and Facebook helps to connect and encourage one and other.

Forums: unlike Facebook, forums are social media sites in which users can enjoy more in-depth interaction with other users.

The great thing about forums is that they allow internet users to sign in to very specific conversations, which means that people are more likely to find other users with the same worries and concerns as themselves.

You can therefore get to know other users on a more personal level and you can all track your calorie intakes together. A number of people like forums because they feel they offer an ‘online family’ who support and encourage them.

Blogs: interacting with experts and getting professional advice are the top benefit of trusting blogs to help you lose weight – making them a great option.

For instance, a blog specializing in losing weight may be written by experts who publish relevant advice. Blog experts can advise you on what specific diet would be best for you or could let you know what tools are available to help you track your progress.

Twitter: Brits looking for losing some pounds can also turn to the new favourite social media site – Twitter.

Like Facebook, a great advantage of Twitter is getting in touch with a very high number of people who have similar objectives.
This encourages you to fight for your goal by reminding you that you are not alone.
Hash-tags are a great feature of Twitter which allow you find everything related to specific words such as #losingweight or #diet.

Eve Richards is a regular blogger and nutritionist. Offering regular advice on how to diet , Eve regularly uses social media to help reach a wider audience. In this post she examines how social media can help you to lose weight.

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Swap It, for a Better You

Woman Running Barefoot (IMG_1153)Losing weight is not an easy feat especially if we cannot seem to do the big lifestyle changes that weight loss programs demand. But as any process, starting small can go a long way and is a fantastic start to the journey to a better health. One of these baby steps that you can easily adhere to is setting your mind on choosing better alternatives not just on matters of picking out food, but of daily activities as well. Remember that eating healthy and moving helps you lose fat while decreasing your risk to heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer.

These changes may seem small but overtime it will pay off if you stick to them and successfully train yourself to the “swap it” mindset. Encourage your family and friends to do the same. Here are some swap it ideas that are easily incorporated in your lifestyle.

1. Bigger portions to smaller portions.

If it is hard to stop eating your favorite dishes regardless of how unhealthy they may be, then go ahead and eat it, just in a smaller portion than usual. Then eat slowly so you can recognize it when your stomach is full. Avoid going back for seconds. When eating dessert, divide it into two and share it with someone. Make this a habit and gradually you’ll start managing your appetite better.

2. Frequent to Sometimes.

Control the number of times you go for take-away foods or eating out. You don’t have to  put a stop to it right away as again, we are doing baby steps here. Otherwise, you’ll just be resistant to change and readily fall back to bad habits. So instead of passing by the fast food every Friday, do it every fortnight instead.

Keep a tab on your diary to help. Instead of having soft drinks every dinner, make it every other day, cutting them down further over time and choosing water instead. Same goes for treats such as ice creams and lollies. You’ll find it easier to remove it altogether in a matter of weeks with this method.

3. Inside to Outside.

When you find yourself sitting in the couch having nothing to watch really, then make a swap for the outside. Grab your runners and walk around your neighborhood instead. You’ll be burning fat and get your heart pumping, definitely way better than doing nothing important.

Encourage children to do the same, choosing outdoor games at the park instead of sitting and playing video games. You can also work out your social life this way by inviting friends for a walk instead of having coffee at home. Go for a tennis or bowling game instead of watching a movie. Swap inactivity to activity.

4. Diet to Healthy. One of the main reasons people fail in their quest to lose weight is their false mindset of “dieting”. They avoid and stop eating altogether so they often bounce back to their old habits. Swapping it instead to a healthy lifestyle mindset is more effective as you will be convincing yourself that the priority is improving your health to avoid diseases.

Losing weight will follow nonetheless. And striving to be healthy makes swapping choices easier. Picking up a fruit instead of a chocolate bar, having a cup of tea instead of snacking, and buying low-fat instead of full cream milk. Do the tips mentioned above as they point out to a healthier lifestyle.

Dieting fads are hard to live by. But learning how to live a healthy lifestyle is more likely to stick with you as it becomes a habit.  So start making simple everyday changes and the benefits will follow.

Jessy blogs on health dieting, frugal living and eco-friendly gadgets. Her most recent blogs are fiber weight loss and carb diets. You can follow Jessy on Twitter as @JessyTroy

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HOW TO: Enjoy Your Losing Weight: 5 Really Easy and Fun Tips

Pomme d'AmourThe quest for the Holy Grail has been one of the most celebrated legends of our time.  King Arthur and his knights went through hell and high water as they embarked on that journey.  But there is an even more enduring quest which spans time, age, race, sex, and religion: the quest for weight loss.

These are two simple, monosyllabic words which, when heard, often elicits a gamut of reactions…ranging from peals of incredulous laughter to fiery outrage.  Is weight loss really hard to achieve?  Not really, as there are easy ways to attain this goal:

  1. Shop – yes, ladies! Our favorite activity does present health benefits!  Obviously, hopping from one store to another burns calories.  Don’t hesitate to buy your loved one that expensive shirt he’s been egging you to get him.  This works two ways: you lose weight by walking around the mall, hunting for that prized present, and as you spend, your wallet feels lighter.
  2. Eat solo, slowly – When we eat out with a bunch of friends, we tend to literally bite off more than we could chew.  Eating with company simply makes the whole experience more fun, so we can’t help but savor the moment, and all the oily (but yummy!) grease that comes with it. So, we should just counter that and eat alone and slowly.   It takes 20 minutes for your brain to tell you that you’re full, so eat that T-bone steak for 20 minutes, and you’ll be stuffed even before you’ve gone halfway through it.
  3. Indulge a bit – Don’t deprive yourself of that bar of chocolate or slice of decadent cake.  It’s perfectly alright to treat yourself once in a while, as restricting yourself could lead to a relapse.
  4. Skip rope, but do not skip meals –  If you skip lunch, for instance, this will make you feel hungrier, so you tend to make up for it by wolfing down that extra quarter pounder when dinnertime comes.
  5. Steer clear of soda –  Sugary drinks, juices, even that tiny lump of sugar in your brewed coffee all add up.  Fill up on water instead.  It not only hydrates you, it also makes you feel full.

Discipline does work wonders on just about anything. Exercising both self-control and on that stationary bike will benefit you tremendously.  Your waist and hips will thank you for it.  If you set our mind to it, you too can conquer the Holy Grail of weight loss.

Jessy Troy is a stay-at-home mom and a lifestyle blogger. She loves writing about weight loss, frugal living and green gadgets. Her two newest dieting blogs are lean cuisine diet and weight loss diet. Please follow Jessy on Twitter as @JessyTroy