By Leanne Thompson

First off I want to say that I am no dietician, everybody’s idiosyncratic which means that everybody’s unique. Techniques that work for me may not particularly work for you. We all have different body types and this is just how I lost 10 pounds. So let me start off with the general stats on my body. In 2011 I was around 115-130 pounds, my weight has fluctuated heavily during this period of time. Right now in 2013, I weight a 100 pounds. Before you freak out and give me snide comments, this is very normal for my BMI. I am not underweight and I feel a lot healthier now. This took me over a year to lose this much weight as I prefer to do it naturally. So, I hope your expectations are aligned with me that this is not going to happen overnight so please DO NOT expect it to.

Weight Loss Tip Number 1 : Take a picture of everything you eat

I know this sounds extremely ridiculous, but this is actually really important because you will be more conscious of what you put in your mouth! Taking picture of your food, stopping and holding your appetite for 5 seconds makes a HUGE difference in your journey to lose weight. You can post your photos up on Instagram to help you keep track of your food in a fun and effortless way. Trust me, this helps gather data about yourself and make it easy to make adjustments in your diet.

Weight Loss Tip Number 2 : Curb your carb intake

I look at carbs like how I see the devil. I’m quite aware that there aren’t any good carbs no matter what the scientists say. Complex carbohydrates break down very, very slowly in your body and contributes to indigestion. There are also worse simple carbs like refined carbohydrates that causes faster fats release to your body, it just goes right to your tummy! These carbs are extremely delicious but you will have to avoid this as much as possible. I personally get my calories from protein and fibre. I only have carbs once a meal so perhaps you should try it too! Make sure you stop ordering fries from fast food chains. There is really no need to over-indulge.

Weight Loss Tip Number 3 : Remix your meals

This means recipes aren’t confined to what it says on the paper. Remember you can modify your recipes, you can take things out or put things into your favourite foods to make it healthier! For example, instant noodles are my favourite meals. When I was studying in my local university, instant noodles are kind of like staples to my diet. What I do is I would break one pack of noodles into half and cook it with broccoli, tofu and many other nutritional condiments to supplement it. This just makes components of your meal healthier and ultimately make you feel much better about yourself.

Weight Loss Tip Number 4 : Water is your best friend

My weight loss bottle is with me 24/7, literally all the time. Try to sip 3 – 4 times an hour throughout the day you’ll realize that most of the time when you’re feeling hungry, you are thirsty or you are just bored. Ditch the soda, ditch the juice. If you want to drink fruit juices, please just eat the actual fruit. Juices in the hypermarkets are just liquefied sugar because they do not contain any fibre at all! Fibre is what makes the fat burning process easier on your body so remember this tip!

That’s it! I hope you enjoyed what I have to share today. Thanks for being such an attentive reader.

– Leanne Thompson is a healthy weight loss and fitness enthusiast. She is a budding blogger that has been in the weight loss industry for 2 years now. Visit her blog at leanneknows.com for helpful advice on weight loss and general wellbeing.