15 Weight Loss Tips for Women in Their 20's ...

1. Start Now!

Did you know that the sooner you start losing weight, the more successful you’ll be? So you’re lucky, sweet thing, this fact seemingly designed to be a weight loss tip for women in their 20’s. Your metabolism is naturally faster than older women, new healthy habits quicker to learn… so go! Start now!

2. Try for Five

This weight loss tip for women in their 20’s is a two-for… because you ought to aim for five servings of fresh fruits and veggies every day, and you ought to aim for eating five small meals a day (rather than three big ones). How will these help? Because if you eat five small meals a day, you won’t have the chance to be ravenous and weak to temptation, and because this constant eating will keep your metabolism in high gear. The five fruits and veggies are important because they’re loaded with nutrients you need, like the diet’s friend fiber, to aid digestion and keep you feeling fuller, longer.

3. Get Help at Home

Whether you live with roommates or still live at home with Mom and Dad, you’ll have an easier time dieting if you enlist their help. If no one in your house buys junk food, then you won’t be able to indulge during a moment of weakness and break your diet. And if you and your roomies or parents are all dieting, you’ll be there to encourage each other, too!

4. Know Your Servings Sizes

Let’s try an experiment: grab a box of cereal and a bowl, then pour what you think is one serving. Now measure that against what the nutrition label on the box says is a serving. Chances are, you poured out about two servings of cereal… which is fine, but if you’re counting calories, you’ll need to know how many servings to count! Until you learn to eye serving sizes, heed this weight loss tip for women in their 20’s (or of any age, really) and measure them out.

5. Don’t Skip Meals

Eating disorders tend to affect younger women the most, so this weight loss tip for women in their 20’s is especially important: don’t’ skip meals. Don’t starve yourself. First of all, it’s not healthy. It can, quite literally, kill you. Second of all, it won’t help you lose weight. If you eat small meals, all day long, you’ll be less likely to wreck your diet by indulging in a desperation-fueled snack. The frequent meals will also help keep your already-rocking metabolism going strong.

6. Don’t Deprive Yourself

Hey, you’re young, and you deserve to have some fun and indulge once in a while! The key, of course, is to practice moderation, but “moderation” doesn’t have to mean “deprivation.” If you’re craving pistachio gelato, indulge, a little. A little gelato isn’t a bad thing… a lot of gelato every night is.

7. Learn How to Shop

Hey, you know how to shop! So what am I talking about? This is a grocery shopping tip, one that is as simple as steering your shopping cart in a particular pattern, from the outside aisles of the store directly to the check-out, avoiding the inner aisles altogether. Why? Because the perimeter of the store is where all the good stuff is — the whole grains, lean protein, low-fat dairy, and fresh fruits and veggies — and the inner aisles contain all the junk food. So while you may have nailed the Shoe Shopping and Handbag Co-ordination categories, this Grocery Shopping tip is another important weight loss tip for women in their 20’s.

8. Look at Labels

Everything you need to know about the food you’re eating is right there on the nutrition labels, but this weight loss tip for women in their 20’s is something a lot of us ignore. Start by looking at calories, then where those calories come from. Look at fat. Look at fiber. Look at protein. Also, read the list of ingredients… if there’s anything you can’t pronounce, let alone identify as food, chances are, it’s not going to be very healthy or diet-friendly. Or tasty!

9. Skip the Soda

Plain and simple, soda has no place in a healthy diet, so my ninth weight loss tip for women in their 20’s is to skip the soda! Soda is loaded with calories, most of them from sugar. Aside from that sugar, soda contains nothing nutritious… and in fact, some studies have shown it can actually leach valuable calcium from our bones… and if you’re thinking you can just swap the regular soda and drink diet soda instead, think again. A recent study by the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio found that people who drink diet soda actually gain 43% more weight than people who don’t drink diet soda. Add to that the risk of cancer from the artificial sweetener, and maybe you ought to just heed this weight loss tip for women in their 20’s and stop drinking soda altogether, right now!

10. Remember to Count All of Your Calories!

If you’re trying to lose weight, chances are, you’re counting calories… but this only works if you count the calories in everything you consume, and that includes condiments (like ketchup and mayo) and drinks (especially coffee drinks). Count all the calories!

11. Find a Buddy

You probably know how much more fun something is with a friend by your side. Find someone you can count on to join you on your weight loss journey and you are more likely to achieve success and you'll have someone to be accountable to. Knowing you have a friend who is making the same changes you are is a great way to shed some excess pounds. Your sister counts too!

12. Sleep

Finding time to fit everything in over the course of the day is hard, especially for women in their 20's who are in college, starting a new career or raising small kids. That makes it hard to get enough sleep every night, but making the effort is well worth it. Not only does inadequate sleep mess with hunger hormones, making it more likely that you'll eat unhealthy snacks, but it also leaves you with little energy to exercise for weight loss. So aim to get at least seven hours each night and you may see the number on the scale move its way down.

13. Exercise

Physical activity burns calories, which is vital for weight loss. If you're not interested in Mom's Jazzercise class, try taking a walk around the block, going for a bike ride or hike with friends or hitting the local pool like you did as a kid. Exercise combined with a low-calorie diet is the single best way to lose weight.

14. Strength Train

Strength training builds lean muscle mass. Lean muscle mass boosts your metabolism, which means you'll more calories. Lift weights, do body weight exercises, attend a yoga class or use resistance bands at least twice per week to build healthy muscle all over your body. Make sure you get plenty of cardio, like jogging or biking too!

15. Skip Fast Food

Yep, it's tempting to hit the drive-thru if you have to study, feed the kids or clean the house. It's a bad idea if you're trying to lose weight though. Many fast food meals contain thousands of calories and very little in the way of nutrition. Prep simple meals at home and you'll be much more likely to lose that weight you can't stand.

With so many weight loss tips for women in their 20’s, all of them designed to help you lose weight while you’re still young enough to rock a bikini, do you think you can get started? I know you can do it… so what are you waiting for? Which of these tips will you try first? Which is your favorite? Or do you have any other young-people weight loss tips to share?

This article was written in collaboration with editor Eliza Martinez.
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