I’ve just spent the last 12-days working on dropping that extra 10-lbs that crept up on me over the last year – (truth be told I’ve been carrying most of it since our second child was born almost 8-years ago!)

Over the last year, I’ve gotten into a regular 3-times/week minimum exercise routine that involves some resistance/weight training (only about 15-minutes 3X week on average) and at least 30-minutes of cardio with one session in the week at least 45-minutes. 

The cardio is not only to lose weight, but also promote heart health and keep my immune system humming along.

This did drop an initial 10-pounds the first month I started this routine, then about 5-more of that came back in the second month as the resistance training kicked in and my fat was replaced by muscle. 

One of the challenges though is that I did not change anything about my eating.  In fact it could be argued that over this winter I got into some bad habits of eating more before bed, reaching for carbs instead of alternative options and hitting the sweets a little too hard at times. 

So, what have I done over the last 12-days to knock off that stubporn 10-lbs – here are the simple weight loss tips I hope you can use to see similar results:

1. I increased the intensity of my normal exercise sessions.  Instead of doing 2-reps of the various resistance training machines, I did 3.  Instead of running 2Km – I ran 3.  Some weeks I even fit a fourth workout in which really does have a big impact on burning fat.

2. I ate less after dinner.  This is a big weakness for me…I’ve always hit the bread, toast, crackers and sweets pretty hard about 9 PM – even binging for an hour in front of the TV.  I didn’t completely eliminate the eating, instead I allowed myself to have 4 crackers with some Almond butter – ate them more consciously and slowly and felt more satisfied with far fewer calories.

3. I made sure to eat at least 50% of my total intake for the day made up of fruit and vegetables.  I thought this would be hard, but really it meant having a salad with every meal (fruit in the morning).  I still had sandwiches, pasta, meat and other foods for lunch and supper, I just made sure I had equal amounts of water-born foods to other foods…the funny thing was that I automatically ate less of the poor foods, but didn’t feel jipped. 

4. I made some other changes to re-focus on taking action in life…I find I eat more when I’m under stress, bored, or otherwise in bad humor.  By busying myself with my main goals, kids sports, working around the house, meditating and deep breathing – I found that food didn’t enter my head (or my mouth) nearly as often during the day.  After a few days the cravings got even less – I’m now at a place where they have all but gone at any time of day under any conditions. 

I have to say, the biggest benefit of applying these simple weight loss tips is not only the 10lbs I’ve lost, better muscle mass than I’ve ever had – but it is the ultimate feeling of control you get from knowing you can lead a healthy and happy life.