Losing weight, exercising more, and eating healthier are three of the most common new year resolutions, and 2023 is no different. This isn’t surprising, considering the growing health consciousness across all generations, particularly Gen Z. If you’re aiming for the same this year, you may have already looked into various ways to shed those extra pounds. Before you decide, make sure you take a holistic approach to ensure not only the effectiveness but also the sustainability of your weight loss program.

Want to know what experts have to say?

7 Holistic Weight Loss Tips

Here are seven holistic weight loss tips that professional trainers in Dubai approve:

1. Stick to Whole, Single-Ingredient Foods

Many weight loss regimens often leave you feeling unsatisfied and deprived, mainly because they focus on limiting the amount of food you eat. But did you know that holistic weight loss begins with choosing the right food?

According to experts, you need to ensure your meals comprise whole foods or those that barely undergo any processing.

Whole, single-ingredient foods can also fill you up faster than processed food, making it easier for you to stay within the healthy calorie limit. They also contain less added sugar and fats and more essential nutrients.

Here are some examples of single-ingredient whole foods:

• Beans
• Nuts
• Eggs
• Whole grains (e.g., brown rice or oatmeal)
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Shellfish
• Fish

2. Steer Clear of Some Processed Foods

Processed foods are the exact opposite of whole foods. As the name implies, these provisions undergo treatment to make them last longer on the shelves or taste better.

This type of food can be quite appealing because of its added flavours and convenience. However, it can’t provide the same amount of nutrients as whole foods and contains unnecessarily large amounts of added sugar and fats.

Among the most common examples are:

• Breakfast cereals
• Cheese
• Canned vegetables
• Microwavable or ready-to-eat meals
• Cakes, biscuits, and pastries
• Bread
• Savoury snacks (e.g., sausage rolls and crisps)
• Meat products (e.g., ham, bacon, sausage, salami, and pate)

Of course, you have to remember that not all processed foods should be avoided. Some, like milk, require processing to ensure safe consumption. Others can only be suitable for preparing food after processing, like sesame and sunflower oil.

The key is to pick your processed foods wisely.

3. Stay Hydrated

Did you know that drinking water can also help promote weight loss?

According to studies, consuming half a litre of water can boost calorie burning by as much as 30 per cent within an hour after drinking.

On top of that, drinking before meals can also help make you feel full faster, leading to less calorie intake. This is particularly helpful for middle-aged and older people.

Of course, this still depends on the fluid you drink. Water is the ultimate beverage recommended by medical professionals and personal trainers as it replaces other drinks containing high calories.

These so-called liquid calories from fruit juices, chocolate milk, energy drinks, and sugary soft drinks are not recommended for various reasons:

• They increase the risk of obesity, especially among children.
• The brain doesn’t process them the same way they do solid calories, which means you end up adding them on top of everything else you consume.

4. Avoid Skipping Meals

Some people think they can reduce their weight fast if they skip one or more meals. However, this results in something else entirely.

You see, the human body is designed to adjust to extreme situations to stay alive. If you keep yours from getting the calories that fuel it, it will go into overdrive and adjust to survive.

When you deprive yourself like this, you’re only causing your body to crave more of the energy-dense foods. In the end, you’ll just be eating more than you should.

Because of this, personal trainers and nutrition and dietetics experts recommend eating on time. Some recommend a four-hour interval in between snacks and meals.

5. Try Intermittent Fasting

Among all the trendy dietary regimens that emerged during recent years, intermittent fasting is the most promising.

For one, intermittent fasting doesn’t limit how much you consume, force you to skip meals, or even dictate what you should and shouldn’t eat. Instead, it lets you follow a different eating schedule.

This eating pattern entails daily fasting for 16 hours daily or 24 hours twice per week.

Variations of intermittent fasting have emerged since it was first introduced, but the most popular ones are as follows:

The 16/8 Method

Sometimes referred to as the Leangains protocol, this method involves restricting eating hours within eight hours daily (e.g., 1 to 9 p.m.), leaving the remaining 16 hours for fasting.

Eat-Stop-Eat

This eating pattern entails fasting for 24 hours once or twice every week. The most common way of implementing this is by not eating anything between dinner on the first day until dinner the following day.

6. Choose Exercises Wisely and Stick to a Schedule

Besides your diet and eating patterns, you should also be mindful of how you burn the calories you consume. Having regular physical activity is important, but you must choose the right exercise for your specific fitness goals.

If you’re on a diet, experts recommend adding resistance exercises to your daily workouts. This way, you can prevent muscle mass loss that often accompanies a restrictive diet.

Muscle mass loss can cause your body to burn fewer calories than before, which renders your workouts less effective in the long run.

On top of that, you should also ensure that you follow a strict and consistent exercise schedule. This has been proven to maintain weight loss successfully.

7. Get Feedback

Staying motivated is one of the most significant challenges in weight loss. To make sure you don’t lose sight of your goals, seek help from someone who’s ready and willing to provide feedback on your progress.

Having someone check on you will help you stay on track of your goals and remind you of the reasons you’re undergoing the weight loss program in the first place. Plus, it’s easier to stay disciplined when you’re not the only one who knows that you’re supposed to be doing (or not doing).

Get Help from Professionals

Personal trainers provide much-needed guidance through weight loss.

They do this by giving you custom-tailored diet and workout plans, offering their expert knowledge from years of training and experience, and helping you stay accountable for your own wellbeing.