50 Tips To Get Fitter, Healthier and Slimmer

A woman jogging outside in the park with her dog

Essential Takeaways

  • Walk Daily: Walking burns as many calories as jogging over distance. Aim for 1 hour daily, even in short bursts.
  • Shop on Foot: Walking to the shops adds extra exercise to your routine and helps keep you active.
  • Jog or Run: Running needs no equipment and burns calories faster than walking, making workouts more efficient.
  • Lift Weights: Strength training builds muscle, boosts metabolism, and improves overall fitness.
  • Spend Time in Nature: Outdoor activities enhance mental health, reduce stress, and improve physical well-being.
  • Prioritise Sleep: Good sleep is essential for recovery, energy levels, and overall health.
  • Manage Stress: Reduce stress through mindfulness, exercise, and relaxation techniques.
  • Avoid Fad Diets: Sustainable, healthy eating habits are better than restrictive dieting.
  • Eat Healthy Foods: Focus on whole, nutrient-rich foods to fuel your body and maintain a balanced diet.
  • More Tips Inside: Discover more lifestyle changes for long-term health and wellness.

There are 2 ways to effectively improve health and fitness, which are: to be more active and to eat healthy foods. However, many small lifestyle adjustments are needed to really make a permanent change. Here is our list of the most important changes that you can make. We have divided the 50 tips into Lifestyle Changes, Healthy Foods Choices, Rules For Getting Fit and the Root Causes of Weight Gain.

10 Lifestyle Changes

1. Walk – Get More Active

Walking is an excellent form of exercise and over a set distance you burn just as many calories as jogging. Try to walk for at least 1 hour every day. This can be split up, say four 15 minutes walks per day. Read our walking guide.

2. Shop on Foot

Shopping on foot can burn a lot of calories. If you spend Saturday afternoon wandering around the shops you may cover several miles in total and you may walk for almost an hour when you go shopping. Plus the work effort involved in carry bags of shopping will increase the energy you burn. Shop ’til you drop (weight)!

3. More Intensive Exercise

Whether it is sweating down the gym, walking to and from work or a weekly five-a-side tournament, experts agree that physical activity increases your energy and stamina. Make an effort to exercise at least 3 times a week, but ideally exercise every single day.

Increasing the amount of exercise you do does not mean joining a gym, you can walk more everyday, go running, cycling, swimming or play more sports. When it comes to exercising, you should ensure that you put all your energy into it. Research has shown that short periods of highly intensive exercise are just as effective, if not more so, than long periods of slow exercise. Look at our fitness section.

4. Jog and Run for Health

Jogging and running is still a great way to exercise and lose weight. The best thing about jogging is that you need no equipment, just an open space in which to run. The advantage of jogging or running over walking is simply that the exercise is completed quicker.

5. Lift Weights

Weight training is very effective in helping you to lose weight. Muscle requires a lot of energy to be maintained, so by building more muscle, you raise your metabolism and burn more fat, even when you are watching television or sleeping! Read our Beginners Weight Training guide.

If you do not want to lift weights, then using a cross trainer / elliptical trainer and increasing the resistance is a great way to work your muscles harder. One classic mistake that many people make is trying to lose stomach fat by exercising just the stomach. This is termed spot reduction, and spot reduction of fat is impossible. Full body workouts are required.

6. Get Back to Nature

Tending to plants in the garden burns a lot of calories, and growing your own fruit and vegetables is a great way to get organic food. Digging over the earth, sowing seeds and weeding all burn up lots of energy. If you do not have a garden then seek some healthy outdoor activities in your area. Make an effort to get back to nature for a few hours at the weekend. You could even join a boot camp fitness class!

7. Get More Sleep

Rest is essential and many people do not get enough sleep. When you are tired you are far more likely to snack on sugary foods. Also research has shown that not getting enough sleep can affect the way the body stores fat. When you are in bed sleeping you are not eating from boredom!

Make sure you follow consistent sleep patterns – go to bed and wake up at similar times each day to get your body into a routine. Getting more sleep has other health benefits too, such as increasing weight loss and reducing heart disease risk. Also, if you are exercising then good quality sleep is vital to speed up tissue repair and growth – more sleep helps to make you fitter and stronger. Read our article on The Relationship Between Sleep, Health and Body Weight.

8. Manage Your Stress

When you are bombarded with stressful situations it is hard not to let it get on top of you. Make sure you can manage your stress and take some time out for yourself, so it doesn’t affect your health. High stress levels sap your energy sources by affecting your sleep and weakening your immune system. The less energy you devote to stress, the more you will have for the things you enjoy. Read our guide to Stress, Your Health and Your Weight.

9. Do Not Go On a Fad Diet

Many people try fad diet plans to lose weight. These invariably fail in the long term and the short term weight loss is often little more than a reduction in the amount of water that your muscles are storing and a reduction in total muscle mass.

The main problem with diets that just involve restricting calories is that your body goes into a starvation mode, whereby your metabolism slows down (when losing weight you want it to speed up) and rather than burning fat your body uses up muscle tissue instead.

As soon as the fad diet is finished and you revert to your previous lifestyle, all the weight comes back. Often any fat that is lost accumulates very quickly. The body overcompensates for what was lost and the end result is often weight gain. Learn more by reading Dangerous Diets, or read our healthy eating guide.

10. Prepare Your Own Meals

Learning the cook healthy meals is a vital part of health and fitness. A reliance on processed foods, ready meals and snacks is one of the main reasons why so many people are out of shape today.

20 Healthy Foods Choices

Shrimp sashimi

By eating fat burning foods, not only do you improve your chances of burning fat, but you also fuel your body to help build more muscle.

So, if you are serious about losing weight then ensure that you are eating some of these fat burning foods every day. Healthy, lean protein is vital to athleticism and fitness, learn more.

11. Eat More Fish

Fish is a very healthy source of protein. Salmon is great for our brains and contains essential fats. Diets high in Omega 3 fatty acids have been shown to improve weight loss.

Also, liptin that is present in fish alters your metabolism to increase the chance of using stored fat for fuel. Ideally you should eat salmon or trout 3 or 4 times a week. Seafood and fish are great protein sources.

Sardines contain an amino acid called tyrosine which promotes the manufacture of norepinephrine and dopamine. These stimulants act on your brain to improve your mental focus and performance. Other lean protein foods containing tyrosine include lean beef, chicken, turkey, pork tenderloin and shellfish. One hundred grams of sardines in tomato sauce provide 177 calories, no carbohydrate, 17.8g protein and 11g fat.

12. Eat Soup To Stay Full

Soup is a fantastic way to lose weight, and the winter months make it more appealing too. A study published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Deitetics showed that on average men that ate soup 5 days or more a week had a body mass index of 23. This is an ideal bodyweight for a lean man with average build.

13 Beans, a Fibrous Way to Melt Away the Fat

Beans are great, especially kidney beans. So chili-con-carne with a large serving of kidney beans makes a good weight loss meal. Kidney beans can stop carbs from breaking down into sugar, which slows digestion. This in turn prevents carbs from converting to fat.

14. Yogurt

Yogurt helps to increase lipolysis (fat burning), but you need to eat at least 3 servings a day to see results. In a study carried out by the University of Tennessee, men that ate a fat free yogurt diet lost 81% more stomach fat than the non-yogurt eaters. The high calcium and protein properties make it a great weight loss aid.

Yogurt is also rich in magnesium, which activates enzymes in the body to metabolize protein and carbohydrates. Magnesium is vital to energy release as it transfers the key phosphate molecule to adenosine triphosphate, the explosive energy source you use when lifting weights. One hundred grams of low-fat yogurt contains 56 calories, 5.1 g protein, 7.5 g carbohydrate and 0.5 g fat. A word of caution though; Can Greek-Style Yogurt Aid Weight Loss?

15. Drink Milk and Whey

Whey protein is one of the most popular supplements for bodybuilders. In fact, it helps to strip away fat as well as build muscle. The University of Toronto found that men that drank two whey protein shakes a day would eat on average 200 calories less than other men. Also the men on the whey protein diet increased muscle mass by 8% and lost 3% more fat than the non-wheyers. Consider following a Whey Protein and Amino Acid Diet Plan.

16. Low Fat Milk

If you are not building muscle then full fat milk may contain too much energy. Replacing a full fat latte with a skinny latte will save you a lot of calories and likewise having a low fat milk with your breakfast cereal will also help.

17. Red Hot Chili Peppers Diet

The hotter the chili the greater the fat burning potential. Chilies contain capsaicin, which not only protects against prostate cancer and maintains a healthy heart, but also increases metabolism so much that it strips fat off. If you want super hot, go for Scotch Bonnets or Bird’s Eye chilies.

18. Eat Oats

Oats are low on the glycemic index as they contain a lot of fiber, which means that your body gets a steady stream of energy rather than a flash flood. They also contain energizing and stress-reducing B vitamins that help to break down carbohydrates into usable energy. Other low-glycemic carbohydrates include whole-grain bread, brown rice and high-fiber cereal containing bran. One hundred grams of oatmeal provides 385 calories, 68g carbohydrate, 11.8g protein and 7.3g fat. Buy our Low Gi eBook.

19. Cereals and Dried Fruits

Breakfast cereals such as Weetabix, Shreddies, oats and muesli all help to keep weight down. A study by the National Weight Control Registry found that people that lost weight and kept the weight off were more likely to eat breakfast cereals rather than any other breakfast.

Cereals release energy slowly, meaning that you are less likely to snack on junk foods before lunch. Add a generous helping of milk to feel fuller longer.

20. Eat Cottage Cheese

A favorite of bodybuilders and athletes. 200g of cottage cheese contains as much protein as a small steak, and it also contains casein.

This means that cottage cheese is a slow digesting food, meaning that you are less likely to overeat later in the day if you eat cottage cheese for lunch. It also makes a great snack if you have an intense training schedule.

21. Grapefruit for Sharp Weight Loss

Finally some fruit! The 5 a day rule is healthy, but does not generally help us to keep the fat off. Ideally you should eat one and a half grapefruits a day, split into 3 snacks.

Grapefruits are high in vitamin C, which actually dilutes fat, making it easier the flush fat from your system. Researchers at Louisiana State University found that people who ate grapefruits regularly lost on average 4 pounds more over a 12 week period than other diets.

22. Coffee to Increase Energy

The caffeine in coffee blocks a chemical called adenosine that otherwise interferes with energy-boosting neurotransmitters. A mug or two per day can be beneficial but any more than this may trigger withdrawal symptoms, one of which is fatigue. Remember to drink additional water as caffeine has a mild diuretic effect.

23. Lentils are not just for Vegetarians

Lentils are a great source of both carbohydrate and protein. They are also high in B vitamins, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, calcium and copper. Lentils are also low in fat and calories. If you don’t eat beans often, start with a small portion or you’ll experience the flatulence factor and end up dining alone. Some other good choices include navy beans, chickpeas and kidney beans. One hundred grams of boiled lentils provides 199 calories, 17.5g carbohydrate 7.6g protein and 0.4g fat.

Read Why Vegan Athletes Keep Winning to learn more about a healthy vegan diet..

24. Bananas, An Athletes Favorite Energy Snack

Bananas are packed with “easily digested sugars and potassium, which help to maintain normal nerve and muscle function. Potassium isn’t stored for long in the body and levels can drop during times of stress or during strenuous exercise, when it’s lost through excessive sweating. 1 medium banana contains 105 calories, 27g carbohydrate, 1g protein and 0.5g fat.

Take a look at our banana smoothie recipes: 10 Banana Smoothies to Keep You Running

25. Chocolate to Help Digestion

The feel-good factor in chocolate comes from certain bioactive compounds such as tyramine and phenylethylamine, according to a study in the Journal Of Food Science. Chocolate has also been credited with combating anaemia, awakening the appetite, aiding digestion and improving longevity. Of course the sugar, fat and calories mean it should be consumed in moderation. Dark chocolate has the fewest calories and the most antioxidants. Half of a 50g fruit and nut chocolate bar contains 240 calories, 27g carbohydrate, 3.9g protein and 9g fat.

26. Eat Lean Meat

Strict low-fat diets are often iron deficient. Iron is a component of haemoglobin and when stores are depleted, the cells in your body slowly suffocate and burn carbohydrates inefficiently. Consequently, you feel sluggish, can’t concentrate and are exhausted after minimal effort. Red meat delivers the most accessible form of iron, so a high-quality steak once-a-week will ensure that iron levels stay healthy. One hundred grams of top sirloin steak provides 229 calories, no carbohydrates, 29g protein and 11.5g fat. Lean meat is a recommended protein source.

27. Eat More Nuts

Not all fats are created equal. While almonds are high in fat, it is the monosaturated variety which provides high-powered fatty acids known as omega-3s and omega-6s. These promote an alert mental state. The saturated fats found in butter and cheese, on the other hand, make you lethargic by lowering the amount of oxygen being pumped around in your bloodstream. 12 almonds provide 83 calories, 3g carbohydrate, 3g protein and 7g fat.

The classic party nut. Pistachios are high in lean protein and they also curb the effect of carbs on your blood sugar. This means that eating pistachios helps to keep your waist slim. These make an ideal snack.

28. Drink Less Alcohol

As well as the long term damage alcohol does to the liver it also stops you from burning fat. When you drink alcohol your body starts to metabolize it, as alcohol is a form of energy. While your body is using the alcohol all other metabolism is put on hold, so you do not burn sugar or fats for energy. So although you do not gain weight from alcohol itself (there is no way for the body to store alcohol) it causes weight gain because the body uses less sugar for energy, which is therefore stored. Alcohol also disrupts healthy hormone function, which further hampers fitness and weight loss. See British Celebs Stay Slim By Avoiding Alcohol.

29. Give Up Bread

Most people grab a sandwich when they are feeling a bit hungry. Many have toast for breakfast. Add a pizza in the evening and all this bread contains a huge amount of calories. It also has mostly “empty calories”, meaning that the energy is not combined with nutrients and vitamins. Give up bread for a week and you will see a difference.

30. Drink plenty of water

Mild dehydration can affect your mental and physical performance. A loss of just one per cent of your body’s water stores can cause you to feel sluggish. Make sure you drink at least eight to ten glasses of water a day and more during hot weather and when exercising.

Water makes it possible for your body to digest, absorb and transport nutrients. It also helps to regulate body temperature. When you’re dehydrated, your cells receive nutrients for energy less efficiently, and your body can’t properly expend heat through sweating. Both conditions lead to fatigue. Aim to drink eight to ten glasses of water every day and more when exercising.

It is important to remember that alcohol and caffeine both act as diuretics, which mean that if you drink these then you will urinate more and become more dehydrated. Water really is the best drink you can have for your health.

5 Rules For Getting Fit

Fitness is all about good planning.

31. Know That You Can Do It

And never give up! If you do not believe in yourself you will not be able to achieve your desired results. There will be days when you feel close to giving up, but be determined to fight back. You can do it.

If you are like most other people, a key reason for wanting to change is to look better. Place a picture of how you currently look somewhere that you will be able to see on a daily basis. This picture should provide you with additional motivation to follow this program. Or post a photo to your training log, so that others can see your progress, and give advice and encouragement.

32. Goal Setting

How can you get somewhere if you don’t know where you are heading? Share your fitness goals with others, that way people can provide you with greater support. New Year is a good time to readdress what your goals are. Resolve to get fit and healthy. This should include a list of things you wish to achieve (your goals) and ideally something about how you will work towards your goals.

Remember those resolutions you made? Maybe by the summer you may have forgotten why you are exercising every day! Write down the reasons why you are following your fitness program and put them on your Facebook page so that everyone can see them – and hopefully remind you too.

After each month, compare your results against what you had in your original goals. Be critical of your own progress, but also be realistic. You will not always fulfil your goals, but it is better to aim high, and work hard, than to give yourself a task that is too easy. Challenge yourself.

33. Check Your Progress

Place a calendar on your fridge. Mark a back slash on the days that you followed your diet without cheating. Make a forward slash on the days that you trained. If you trained and followed a good diet on a given day, you should have an X marked on that day. Remember, long-term fitness and health comes one day at a time.

Take pictures of yourself every month and place them next to the before picture. This is to keep reminding yourself why you are doing this and also get motivated by seeing the progress that you are achieving.

34. Plan Your Meals

Remember to prepare all your meals the day before, so that when you are at work, you already have all of the food that you will need for the day with you. That way you limit the amount of times you’ll be tempted. Being prepared really is one of the most important factors in successful weight loss. Without a plan all good intentions end in chaos.

Keep your house free from any foods that are not good for your program. Only on Sundays can you bring these foods in the house. Hide your junk food away where you cannot see it – sometimes the simplest solutions are the most effective.

35. Remember That Your Are In Control

Remember that only you control what goes in your mouth and how active you are. Food does not control you and your feet do not control you. You think, therefore you are. Think yourself fit – eat healthy, exercise often.

Understand the 10 Root Causes of Weight Gain

In the technical or business world whenever a serious problem arises analysts work hard to determine the root cause of the problem, so that it can not only be put right, but also it does not happen again. So we at MotleyHealth.com have taken this same approach to the obesity and weight gain problem. The serious problem is weight gain, so what is the root cause?

The seemingly logical answer is that people are putting on more weight than ever before because of lack of exercise and poor diet. This is only partially true though. If these were the only problems, why do so many people fail to lose weight?

The real reason why people fail to lose weight is because of the lack of will power. You may want to lose weight, but unfortunately your mind has other ideas, as it continues to wanting to eat more food just in case of a future disaster. So, how do you learn to overcome your natural desire to eat too much food? Just follow our rules based on the root cause analysis of weight gain.

36. Not Eating When Hungry

It is important that you learn to eat whenever you are hungry. This is counter-intuitive, but one of the main reasons you put on weight is because you binge on sugar-laden foods when you get hungry. The way to avoid this situation happening is to not allow yourself to get so hungry that you act irrationally.

Of course, this does not mean that you can eat all the time. The trick is to not starve yourself while at the same time not overeating. It is a careful balancing act, balancing your nutritional needs and your mental desires. If you consume small, planned meals throughout the day as part of a nutrition program, while also doing plenty of exercise, you can avoid getting hungry and therefore avoid binge eating.

If you do not think that this is possible, watch how a child eats. Children only eat when they need to eat, and then will only eat enough to fill them. You cannot even force a child to eat food that they do not want, but as an adult you eat food that you do not need. Be like a child, eat when hungry, but only what you need.

37. Emotional Eating

Emotional eating comes in many forms, but it is most common when you are feeling depressed or suffering from anxiety. Although some people stop eating when stressed, many others will combat their emotional turmoil with food. It is when you are stressed that you become weak and your natural desires start to take over. How many times have you grabbed a packet of biscuits and convinced yourself that “only 1 biscuit won’t hurt” and then go on to eat half the packet?

These events almost always occur when you have just had a stressful experience, either a bad day at work or an argument with a partner. Somehow our subconscious knows we are in a weakened state and tricks the conscious mind into having “just one” biscuit. Why? Well, the brain feeds on sugar and that is the real reason why we crave sugar.

So, how can you overcome this? The easiest way is to plan your kitchen better and also put up notices. For instance, place all the bad foods (check the glycemic index for information on what is bad, bearing in mind high sugar content is the biggest problem) into a separate cupboard. Put all your cookies and chips away in a tin and write a label on top of the tin that says “Come back again in 10 minutes if you really want one”. A child will not bother reading the note, but it could well save you from binge eating.

Another way to help prevent any form of binge eating is to ensure that there are healthy grabs and good foods available. So, always have fresh fruits and salad items that you can eat instead if you really feel the need to snack. Instead of grabbing cookies, toast and ice-cream when upset grab the carrots and humus dip or chopped pineapple and banana.

38. Not Eating What You Want

This is a somewhat controversial approach to weight loss, but it can be very effective. The idea is simply that people that are of a naturally healthy weight do not deprive themselves of treats. The reason why they do not put on weight is because they never overindulge. It is OK to have some cookies, chocolate cake, ice-cream, beer or even white bread every now and then. You give yourself these as treats though.

Do not fall into the trap of having whole days where you treat yourself, or even 2 days in a row of small treats. Limit yourself to once a week at most where you can have your favorite treats, such as a piece of chocolate brownie with your meal on Saturday night or a bacon sandwich on Friday morning.

The trick is to learn when a treat becomes an obsession. Some children are given “occasional treats” by adults, but adults who lack self discipline often treat themselves several times a day!

39. Not Questioning Your Reasons for Eating

This is another method for overcoming your instinct to eat. Every time you are about to eat something, ask yourself if your are really hungry, or do you just want to change the way you feel. The most important question is:

Am I really hungry or do I want to change how I feel?

So often people eat because it is the time to do so. It is “lunchtime”, “dinner time”, “supper” or because friends and family are also eating. A very common reason people give for eating when not hungry is simply because they just felt that they should eat something. Not because they need to eat, but because it is a designated feeding time. We are not animals in the zoo, we should not have to follow strict feeding times.

40. You Do Not Think About Your Food

Thinking about what you are eating will help you to control your food intake. Overweight people are thinking about food all the time, except when they are eating. While eating the mind goes blank, almost into a trance, until all the food is gone. Why is this?

When you eat, a hormone called serotonin is released making you feel happy and wanting to carry on eating. The effect this has is that when you eat quickly you ignore the signal from your body to stop eating when you have eaten enough which results in overeating and then bloating.

By thinking about your food as you eat, you naturally slow down, chew more and feel full at the right time. One trick is to put your knife and fork down while you are chewing, or if eating a sandwich, put it down too. Look at your food as you eat it, think about the food, its texture and the way it makes you feel. Savor it. And chew your food up to 20 times before swallowing it.

It is important not to eat while watching television, reading, drinking or working, as these all distract you from the food. The purpose of this is to teach yourself to eat slower all the time. The longer you practice this method of eating the easier it will become and in time you will naturally eat less because you will want less.

41. When You Are Full You Carry on Eating

So often people feel the need to finish their dinner. As children we are conditioned by our parents to “eat it all up”. Parents are often so concerned about children not eating enough that they end up encouraging their children to eat too much. Adults are literally programming their children to eat more than they need, to eat more than they want, and to eat faster and ignore their own natural body signals to stop eating.

To reverse this you must learn that it is OK to leave some food on your plate. If you have a sandwich, or pizza or bowl of pasta then you should not feel that you have to finish it. Food actually keeps in the fridge much better than most people think. If you cannot finish it today, eat it tomorrow. Save money and lose weight!

42. You Do Not Taste Your Food

This is a fun experiment that you can try. In a study a few years ago researchers found that when people we blindfolded they ate about 25% less than normal. Why? Because by not being able to see how much food they had eaten, or how much food was left on the plate, their only indication as to how much food they had had was by how they felt. More often than not, people felt full enough to stop eating long before finishing the food on their plate.

By being blind folded you are also more aware of the taste and texture of the food. Some people actually found that they disliked their usual daily meal when blindfolded. A classic example is the full cooked breakfast. In the study when subjects were sat down with their usual sausages, bacon, fried eggs, baked beans, hash browns, toast and ketchup, but then blindfolded, many found that the food was too salty and stodgy for their taste. Even though they had been eating this very meal every day for years.

Quite simply we have learned to ignore our natural body signals that tell us if we need food, or even like food, or not. By being blindfolded we can learn to start listening to our body response to food again and not just going with the flow out of habit. To lose weight you must learn to break old habits.

43. You Punish Yourself Over Mistakes

Often people are so serious about losing weight that if they miss a workout or allow their diet to lapse they punish themselves emotionally. If you slip up you have not failed. Learn to forgive yourself and move on, carry on with the plan.

44. You Are Not Drinking Enough Water

If there is one magic weight loss elixir, then it is water. Water is really the only liquid you should drink in large amounts on any day. Black coffee is good for a caffeine boost to help increase your workout performance. Water should be drunk the rest of the time.

Fruit juices are high in sugar and your body does not react differently to sugar from fruit juice to that of sugar from candy. Sugar is processed and turned to fat if it is not used as energy. So do not drink those healthy fruit juices, as you should be getting enough vitamins and nutrients from your healthy diet. All juice just adds to more sugar.

Also, many people mistake thirst with hunger. So, next time you start to feel a little hungry in between meals, have a glass of water before your start to think about getting a healthy snack to eat.

So the secret weight loss weapon is water.

45. You Weigh Yourself Too Often

If you are doing all the right things to lose weight, if you are exercising properly, eating healthily and not cheating yourself, then weight loss will come eventually. The worse thing you can do is to keep weighing yourself.

Whenever someone weighs themself and finds that they have lost less weight than planned they start to doubt their methods and themselves. All regular weighing can do is reinforce the idea that you are not doing things right. If you are losing weight then your progress should be obvious anyway, you will have more energy, your clothes will be looser, you will be fitter and feel stronger.

If you have to weigh yourself make it a monthly event, not a daily nor even a weekly chore.

5 Key Rules to Living a Healthier Life

46. Exercise Every Day

Many people fail to get in shape or lose weight because they simply do not exercise enough. To get fit you need to exercise often, and a little exercise every day is possibly the best way to stay fit. Also research revealed that exercising for one hour every day is the best way to lose weight.

47. Eat Healthy Every Day

Many people adopt diet plans which allow weekends off or “cheat days”. Really it is better to make your diet healthier 7 days a week, with the rare treat (birthdays, Chrismas etc.).

48. Vary Your Diet

Eating the same things all the time can become monotonous and lead to snacking and comfort eating. If you ensure that your daily diet consists of many of the foods mentioned above then you will experience greater energy levels throughout the day, and also have more energy for exercise. However, please ensure that if you do enjoy a lot of these foods, that you do some exercise, otherwise this extra energy will turn to fat.

49. Enjoy Living

Sounds rather clichéd, but enjoy living. You only have one life, make the most of it. Do not spend your whole life in front of the television!

50. Follow Your Own Rules

These rules are very simple to follow. Stick with them and make them your own. Make them part of you daily routine, and you will soon find that you have higher energy levels. More energy means that you can do more of the things you love and you should also feel more motivated to exercise. A few positive lifestyle changes can quickly have a very beneficial knock on effect, leading to many more health gains, both physical and mental.

Conclusion

To conclude, the best way to lose weight really is to combine all of these points, make a full and permanent lifestyle change, and never give up. Life is precious, and if you want to live as long as possible in good health losing weight is essential.

This is not a list of things to do in isolation to lose weight and get fit, it is 10 things you can do to enhance your current weight loss plan. Losing weight really is a matter of eating less than your body needs. Every minute spent sitting in a chair watching television is a wasted minute if you want to lose weight!

These small changes will help you to burn a few extra calories. Do these, plus some more, and you will become a more active person and weight management will start to feel more natural to you.

Eat a healthy diet, do regular exercise and learn to relax and get a good night sleep. If you follow these rules, not only will you successfully lose weight, you will live a fuller, happier life.

Although you do not need a system to lose weight, many people do respond very well to a structure weight loss system. By following our guide to losing weight you can more easily stay on track and fulfil your goals.

The weight loss systems provide more information on nutrition, feeding your muscles while burning fat, and various different exercising methods to help lose weight.

265 Comments on “50 Tips To Get Fitter, Healthier and Slimmer”

  1. Hi motley health

    Im 18 , I am kind of a muscular kid but ever since i was young ive had a fat obliques. For a month, i ate salad , turkey wraps, fruits , and grilled chicken wraps . only bad things i ate were dressings . all i drank was water. i exercised perfusely and didnt see a difference really. Any suggestions?

  2. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi Rob, it really depends on how much you ate and how much exercise you have been doing. Suggestion – exercise more, reduce bread, increase protein.

  3. Hey I have excess body fat and a little thigh fat and I would like to find an easy, fast way to lose it all and have a slim stomach. I want to know what diet plan would be right for me and if just doing the elliptical is good enough or if I need to do any other exercises and for how long and how many times a day. I am not that fat but I have been wanting to get rid of this fat for a long while now. I’ll take all the advice I can get!!! Thx =)

  4. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi Alyssia, using the elliptical is good. Ideally you should aim for at least one 45 minute workout as this raises your metabolism to help burn more energy. For diet, jsut eat a balanced diet that is calorie controlled. Cut all the processed, junk, soda, sugar etc. Interval workouts on an elliptical can be a good way to burn more fat, but do not increase intensity if it means you cannot complete the 45 minutes. One option would be a short intense workout in the morning then a longer one at night (of vice versa) to aim for an hour of exercise a day.

  5. Hi, is having vinegar with food good to loose weight?

  6. MotleyHealth says:

    Maybe, possibly. Research on the subject concluded “Body weight, BMI, visceral fat area, waist circumference, and serum triglyceride levels were significantly lower in both vinegar intake groups than in the placebo group. In conclusion, daily intake of vinegar might be useful in the prevention of metabolic syndrome by reducing obesity.” from the research paper “Vinegar Intake Reduces Body Weight, Body Fat Mass, and Serum Triglyceride Levels in Obese Japanese Subjects” by Tomoo KONDO et al published in Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, Vol. 73 (2009) , No. 8 pp.1837-1843.

    In the study subjects had 15 ml or 30 ml of vinegar. Of course, the cause of the weight loss is not know, having vinegar may have prompted people to eat differently. Bear in mind this was a Japanese study and Japanese diet is very different to Western diets too. So lots of vinegar on chips / fries is not necessarily going to help you to lose weight.

  7. Just came across this page bm u guys are doing great… am ok with my weight now cos i have been exercising and have been on diet. Am 22 about 5’3 ft and am hoping to grow taller:-) any idea what i should do? diet-wise or by exercise? thanks.

  8. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi Ada, to reach your maximum possible height you just need to maintain a healthy diet and get regular exercise, i.e. be a healthy person. However, most women have stopped growing taller by the age of 22 so do not be surprised if you do not grow any more.

  9. hi my name is krish and i want to melt my love handles and too much fat, i am traning from last one month and my weight was 106 kg pn nov 20th 2011. taday my weight is 100.7 kg after one month.. but i want to get lean and get flat stomach soon can you please give me a diet plan which will keep my muscle and melt only fat from the body.

  10. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi Krish, you are making good progress. For diet, you need to keep calories down, eat low GI carbs, healthy lean proteins, plenty of fresh vegetables, limit bread etc. Call it a Paleo Diet or a Low GI Diet, this is the type of eating that you need to follow from now.

  11. Ok im 236lbs 5’10” jog/walk 6 times a week for 20 min. and low weight high reps the other 40 min. and I Dont have problem with muscle mass. I should drink 2 syntha 6 shacks a day and small supper to lose fat weight. Im stuck and only eating like 900 to 1200 cals. a day and I have low energy now. B-fast: Banana Lunch: 1/2 peanut buter sandwitch Supper: Egg sandwitch. Thanks for your help.

  12. MotleyHealth says:

    Weston, how long have you been doing this? If you are not losing fat it is because you are consuming too many calories. Cut out the Syntha 6 and only have bread once a day, so drop the peanut butter sandwich and have soup or salad instead.

  13. MotleyHealth says:

    This article just received a major update! Check it out today.

  14. I am 62 years old, I have a BMI of 33, I want to lose 50 pounds. I intend to start walking everyday, go on a low triglyceride diet. do you have any suggestions on exercise?

  15. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi Jo, walking is certainly a good start. Really, this may be enough, if you walk enough. On average running burns energy at about 4 times the rate of walking, but most people are capable of walking for 60 minutes, few are capable of running (not jogging) for 15 minutes. So for now, stick with walking and just get more active. Try to rely on private transport less, and get more active elsewhere. Just getting out of the house more often burns energy.

  16. Hi. Im 24 & about 165Ibs. Im currently into weight gaining program so engage in weight lifting excercise. My only part in the body that is fat would be my belly. Most people give advices on losing body weight but here i want to gain more muscle mass & only need to shred those fat belly. Some even say that weightlifters dont engage in much cardio exercise since they want to gain mass. But with my research i have noticed cardio is important to lose belly fat. I need sum advice to lose my belly fat through some food habits & some stomach exercises. Thanks

  17. MotleyHealth says:

    Do cardio. Many bodybuilders do cardio in the mornings to help reduce fat. Athletes such as Usain Bolt do a lot of cardio and still manage to grow muscle in the gym with good nutrition.

  18. Hi I’am zack and i’am 17 years old ; i really really want to get rid of my belly fat i don’t want to see fat on my belly i’am so sick of it ; i want to know if i do everything i just readed and continue on a good diet eating healthy food drinking lot of water , i want to know how much time i will see the result cause i’am kind of skinng i just got the belly fat that’s all but it’s not really that big just a little bit and i’am so sorry for my bad english i’am from french so i try my best to be good on english Thanks <3

  19. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi Zachary, if you do all the above then really is it just a matter of how many calories you consume and how much exercise you do. Start working your body harder, aim to get fitter. Keep eating healthy and avoid all the little treats.

  20. By giving up bread, do you mean white bread which is highly processed? I’m confused because I thought whole grain bread was good for you. I haven’t eaten white bread in years but I do eat whole grain bread pretty regularly. Although it’s not the main source of carbs in my diet, I do try to limit it.

  21. MotleyHealth says:

    Yes, but not as a permanent change – just give up all bread for a week to assess how it affects your total calorie intake. Whole grain is certainly best, higher GI, slower to digest and release the sugars. If you have already developed a balanced diet and are in great shape, then stopping the bread is not required. Some people eat about half a loaf a day – way too much energy.

  22. Hi, I’m yvonne, I want to lose the belly and side fat.. i just dont know how. can you give me advice.

  23. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi yvonne, read this article: how to lose belly fat. Basically, you need to eat a healthy diet, drop the junk food, reduce the refined carbs and exercise every single day.

  24. Hey Everyone , My name is megan and i’am 17 years old I just want you to help me with something i got a belly fat and i started a diet i just want you to tell me if it’s a good one and i’ll also tell you how many times i work out in the week
    In the morning i drink a glass of milk and at launch i eat salade or soupe (not both at the same time ) at 4 evening i eat an apple and i drink 10 glasses of water a day ; for my work out i go to the airobic twice a week and i walk 1 hour a day and at the week end i run with my mom ; is it good? should i continue like this ? Thank you :)

  25. MotleyHealth says:

    It is not bad Megan, seems very calorie restrictive though, maybe too restrictive as you need a good variety of fruits, vegetables, pulses and lean proteins at your age. Daily walking is good, but a 17 year-old should be doing more really, you are young and should be fit.

  26. hi im jo i really want to lose weight and stomach fat, there are days where im excercising, eating healthy because i am thinking constantly about loosing weight, but saying this there are days where i am not bothered at all, eating what ever then regreting it after looking at the mirror!

    please help me, i am a sporty person love sports and play sports but it doesnt seem to be shrinking , but over recent years i just dont have time to play sports or go gym and so it gets worser and worser, piling on the punds!….can u please give me some tips?

  27. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi Jo, you just have to be active and maintain a healthy diet. If you love sports, get out there and play sports. Enjoy your exercise and just moderate your eating – do not give in to temptation so easily.

  28. Hi I’ve been on a reduced calorie and excersise regime now for 6 weeks. I’m eating all the right food and jogging about 3.5km every after noon 6 days a week. I don’t seem to be losing much weight in the last 2 weeks, and I feel that perhaps I could jog further. Should I be increasing the intensity of my work outs due to my body hitting an excersise plateu??

  29. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi Michelle, definitely jog further if your body is asking! Maybe start with one longer run at the weekend (or whenever you have more time), aim for 7km and see how that goes.

  30. Please I’m not at all fat. But I feel my tummy fat is increaseing . Can I just work on the diet without the daily exercice. Really cause I don’t want to loose so much weight..just a little with the tummy fat I think is comming out

  31. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi Olivia, exercise is best, it will help tone and shape your body and make you healthier.

  32. Side flab and tummy fat is troubling me from some time and i started jogging for 30 min and a good diet and after 3 weeks i just realized that i lost 2 kgs .is it healthy loss or should i work hard more

  33. MotleyHealth says:

    Ravi, 2 kilos in 3 weeks is good weight loss, keep it up!

  34. with a new baby, loosing weight is so hard, after reading this article i think i can do this!

  35. MotleyHealth says:

    You can Mitz242 – anyone can do it! Planning, patience, willpower and a little work!

  36. hi my name is manoj
    i m sick of round fatty belly line near my waist
    plz give me advice

  37. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi Manoj, do you exercise? Start exercising, improve your diet, reduce calories, get more active in general. Read our article on how to lose weight too.

  38. hi this is erica i weight 172 pds and im 5’3 i wanna be at least 130 loose 40 pds .. most of my fat is the belly everything else looks ok but i have a lot what kind of excersise should i do so i could loose all the belly fat .. i am eating healthy now i ilimintated all the bad choices so it now up to the excersise and how many minutes or should shoule i put in this…

    Thnkyou so much for the advice .. ERICA

  39. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi Erica, the key is to exercise every day. Any exercise will help you to lose weight, it is a matter of burning more calories. You may need to adjust your diet too. It is good that you have started eating healthily, but you can still consume far too much when eating healthy food. Ideally, aim for 45-60 minutes of exercise every day.

  40. I am not “fat” I just have some belly fat a d I want to get rid of it , what should I do ?

  41. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi Lily, eat healthy, exercise often.

  42. i can’t do exercise. which food will i eat to loose weight or slim tea

  43. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi Ann, eating food is often the problem! You need to consume a well balanced and healthy diet, and control calories. It really is not so much what you eat, but how much. However, what you eat does affect your mood, your appetite and hormone levels, which can make it easier to consume less. Take a look at our nutrition section.

  44. Hello ; My name is Harry and i’am 17 years old and i’am weight 70 pounds ; After reading i just wanted to know if i started eating healthy i mean there is some things that i had in mind i mean my own diet:

    Breakfast i eat a cup of fruits with milk 0% Calories and a salade at lunch and of course i drink water beofre all the meals.

    I just wanted to know i keep eating this and working out 5 times a week you know like crunches (cardio ) at my home , will i be fit in 2 months cause the summer is really near and i want to just get rid of all the fat .
    And thank you so much :)

  45. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi Harry, how tall are you? Sounds like you need to bulk up a little. Or do you mean 70 kg? But yes, eat healthy, exercise often, and you will get fit. Obviously for fitness, the key is a lot of exercise. How much are you actually doing? Crunches and cardio can work, but you need a lot of the cardio. Add more exercises to your routine and consider weight training.

  46. Anteron Herbert says:

    Hello,

    I found that eating has been kind of a problem with me. I lost 80 pounds over 6 years ago doing the atkins diet. I’ve gained back 30 pounds do to overeating and falling off of track. I find it hard for me to count calorie. I would much rather do a diet with more restriction limiting the things I eat, rather then count calories.

    If I do low carb I know I can stick it and keep the weight off this time. I’ve maintained 50 pounds that I lost. Why do you think it is so hard for me to get back on the ball? Do you think Atkins is a good diet. Please give me a little direction. I really want to get back on the ball and lose and maintain my weight.

  47. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi Anteron, if you did Atkins then you should have reached the maintenance phase (the final phase) which means that you consume a lot of carbohydrate, just not more than your body needs. Did you get to this stage? Or did you just do the induction?

    Really you should focus on a well balanced and healthy eating diet, i.e. a normal diet. Then get regular exercise. Reducing carbs is a good idea if you know what you are doing. Low carb is not zero carb, low carb is not high fat. Low carb should just be that – low carb. What you probably should follow is a low GI diet plan, as this allows carbohydrates (which are VITAL for good health), but teaches you which ones to eat to help lose weight and maintain your weight.

  48. Hey it’s harry again ; and i was gonna say 70 kg ; sorry about my terrible mistake you thought i’am a hobbit or something xD well about the cardio thing i do it like 1 hour a day i work the abd , legs , butt arms..? is it enough ? and thank you once again it’s very generous of you helping me and the other people around the world :)

  49. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi Harry, it does not sound like enough exercise, but then again it may be. What are you doing? It is hard to know if you need to do more. How do you work the abs, legs, butt and arms? You need to add some bulk, and that really means lifting weights and eating more while still eating healthy.

  50. gwen thomas says:

    i work third shift, its very hard , i sleep in the daytime and sit at a desk at night for eight hours. when do i work-out and how to schedule my meal plan. example: when is bkfast,lunch and dinner. my work hours are 7pm. to 4am. help please

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *