Top 2 Weight Loss Tips

Secret Weight Loss Tricks?

I’m often asked whether I have any secret tricks for weight loss. The two that come to mind are not actually secrets, but they might as well be considering how many people seem to ignore this old wisdom.

Tip #1: Drink Water

I don’t know what the best solid food is for you. There are some awful choices available, and there are some great ones, but there is not one best option. Beverages, however, are another story. Water is the best in almost every situation. It’s the most hydrating, least expensive, and most available option. It has zero calories, can be boiled and frozen, and never spoils when pure. Every beverage alternative that I can think of has limitations when compared to water. Milk can be high in fat. Fruit juices contain carbohydrates. Carbonated beverages are bad for our teeth. 

It's not about drinking more water, it's about drinking mostly water. 

I’m not saying that you absolutely can’t drink anything other than water. However, consider limiting these alternatives. The more you drink beverages other than water, the harder it might be for you to achieve your goals.

You say you can’t drink water? You don’t like the taste of water? In most places in America, tap water is very safe to consume. However, the taste of tap water can vary widely across America. Luckily, you can change the flavor of water. Consider acquiring a water filtration system. There are effective inexpensive systems that you can purchase today online or even at many local stores. 

• Pitcher filters are water storage pitchers within an integrated filter cartridge. They can filter water while being stored in your refrigerator between uses. 

• Faucet filters attach to your kitchen sink faucet and filter water upon use. These are both simple solutions that may improve your impression of your tap water taste. 

• Reverse osmosis systems are sophisticated and potentially more effective solutions that can be installed underneath your kitchen sink. 

• Finally, you have the option to purchase bottled water. This might not be the most ecologically friendly option, but this can result in a dramatically different taste experience.

If you still don’t like the taste of water after trying these options, then you just might consider trying to reprogram your taste pallet a little. During most of the time that humans have been living on Earth, we had access to only one beverage outside of infancy: unfiltered water. Humans consumed for millennia a beverage that many current Americans can’t seem to consume exclusively for an entire weekend. Tea, dairy milk, alcohol, and soda were relatively recent discoveries. Fruit juice was rare and likely only accompanied actually chewing up and swallowing a whole fruit. Although we are not very different from our ancestors biologically, our beverage choices would seem very foreign to them.

This is when some people consider adding calorie-free (non-nutritive) sweeteners to their water. Artificial calorie-free sweeteners have been available for many years. More recently, natural calorie-free sweeteners have become available. Just because they are "natural" and "calorie free" does not mean that they are free of risks. Some people have suggested that calorie-free sweeteners might function as appetite stimulants that might cause you to consume more calories at other times of the day.1 Moreover, periodic consumption of sweet foods and beverages might keep the desire alive for sweet flavor profiles. For many people, it’s much easier to resist sweet foods such as pastries and candies, if they have been successfully avoiding other sources of sweetness in their diet for an extended period of time.

So, if water isn’t your primary beverage currently, consider transitioning today. It might just make a dramatic difference in your overall health.

? If drinking water was weight loss trick number one, can you guess what trick number two is? 

We invite you to ask Dr. Richardson that question during your next consultation.