Tip 1: Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day

Fruits and vegetables are packed with beneficial fibers, vitamins and antioxidants. They fill up your stomach fast so you feel full earlier. They are also low in calories and help to keep your calorie count low. Also, there are certain things that you can eat that actually contain less calories than your body burns while you eat them. So if you want to snack - snack on those foods for easy weight loss! We'll tell you about those foods in our next article.

Tip 2: Eat small frequent meals

Eat 5-6 times a day with about 3 hrs intervals. Make the meals small. The frequency of meals will tell your body that there is plenty of food and so your body need not store body fat for emergencies. On top of that, your digestive system will be constantly working to digest the food and so that means calories are burned. Remember that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eat a breakfast that is sensible and low in saturated fat and your metabolism gets to work, burning off calories for the rest of the day. It is that simple!

Tip 3: Start your exercises early

If you are able to, you should always do your cardiovascular or aerobic exercises in the morning before breakfast. These are exercises that exercise your lungs and heart. Your body has the most energy first thing in the morning, compare that to how you feel after lunch! By exercising first thing, your metabolism gets a kick start and will keep working throughout the day burning fat. Research has shown we can burn up to 3 times as much fat if we workout early than at any other time of the day. So exercis first thing, then you have no excuse to put if off as you go throughout the day.

Tip 4: Build the muscle

Muscles are active cells and they are great calorie burners. The more muscles you pack on, the more body fat you will burn because the calories you have eaten will be burned for energy by your muscles. So go and build muscles to lose weight. Do weight training 3 times a week with rest days in between. Do your weight training workout in the evenings so that you will continue to burn fat. Workout with compound exercises such as bench presses, squats, lunges, dead lifts etc to activate more muscle fibers and so that these large muscles will carry on burning calories for many more hours into the night

Tip 5: Drink!

No not alcohol! Water. Juices, pop, cream & sugar in your coffee or tea all add up. Opt for drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day. Firstly, it fills your tummy making you feel full and so less likely to crave food. Secondly when you are dehydrated your brain will try to let your body know it needs water, but this often feels like hunger to us. And so we will eat instead of simply drinking some water. When your body is hydrated your metabolism keeps ticking along, burning fat! And lastly, it is worth remembering that drinking ice cold water actually burns calories! As much as 60 a day!

Tip 6: Go for wholesome fresh foods

If possible, purchase fresh foods and avoid package (processed) and convenient foods such as fast food. Packaged and convenient foods are often higher in sodium and fat content. Many people we spoke to are amazed that they can easily lose weight by packing a home-cooked lunch to work instead of eating out. If you do go for packed food always read the nutrition label on the packaging. A product labelled with a fat-free claim does not mean that it is low in calories. Similarly a product labelled as low-sugar or low-carb does not mean it is low in fat or calories.

Tip 7: Stop eating at 7pm

This obviously depends on what time you go to bed and also on your lifestyle, but as a rule, you should plan to stop eating 3-4 hours before going to sleep. If you're a very active person in the evening, then 2 hours should be ok, but as most of us are on the couch in front of the television, 4 hours should be the norm. Your body needs time to burn off what you have eaten. Eat late and it won't have metabloised before you go to sleep. Following this ruile will give your body plenty of time to burn off those calories you have eaten throughout the day and help you to lose weight quickly.

Tip 8: Drink Green Tea

Yea really! Green Tea reduces cholesterol, and has been scientifically proven, which can only be good for you. There is research which indicates that taking Green Tea lowers total cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of good cholesterol (HDL) to bad (LDL) cholesterol. It contains polyphenols which is a powerful antioxidant. Take the tea as normal or you can purchase supplements which should work just as well. Just remember that Green Tea contains caffeine, albeit a lot less than cofffee.

Tip 9: Keep a food diary

Keeping a food diary helps you pin point your eating pattern and will enable you to easily modify it. If possible, have your Registered Dietitian review your notes.

Tip 10: Find out how many calories you need

You need to know your BMR - Basal Metabolic Rate to know the amount of calories you burn. This is simply calculated by:

Body Weight [lb] x 15 + (moderate activity [mins/day] x 3.5)

Since you wish to lose weight, your target is your BMR less 500 kcal

For instance, you weigh 140 lb and you perform 20 mins of moderate activity every day. BMR of this example = (140 x 15) + (20 x 3.5) = 2100 + 70 = 2170 kcal. BMR minus 500kcal; it would be 2170 - 500 = 1670 kcal. Therefore 1670 kcal is the target in this example to losing 1 lb per week.

Tip 11: Allow yourself a little indulgence

Having a small treat once in a while can be rewarding to your weight loss experience. Cutting too much of your favorite treats usually leads to an early relapse. Simply allow yourself a little indulgence, but watch out for the frequency and the quantity