When it comes to losing weight, everyone is different. A lot depends on the age, genetic makeup and the body type of the person looking forward to losing some weight. Gender is a big factor, as well. Here are 20 weight loss tips for men.

Losing weight is different for men than it is for women. 

With women, diet is a huge part of weight loss; just by making a few changes in their eating habit, women can lose a significant amount of weight within the first few weeks. For men, it could need something more complicated than trying out a new diet. 

However, it is not difficult to lose weight if you are a man. All you need to know are some of the basic tricks: what to avoid, what to eat, what exercises to start and what lifestyle changes to make.

Avoid What’s Bad for You

  • Avoid Alcohol, especially beer

If you are the type of person to sit back with a six-pack beer in front of the television after work, this is something to stop as soon as possible. In fact, it is important that you cut back on all types of alcoholic drinking, especially on beer. 

While a few drinks with your friends sometimes is fine, you should never overdo it. Also, you should not drink when alone and at home, which is one of the main reasons men gain weight. Here are some weight loss tips for men that will help, A 12-ounce can of beer alone has more than 155 calories in it; a few cans before bedtime means you are introducing hundreds of empty calories into your body without any reason. 

The more you drink alcohol, the more your belly fat increases. The term “beer gut” is only too real for men and women who love this drink, and a “boy’s night out” at a bar can actually mean a significant increase in your weight. 

If you are looking for low-calorie alcoholic drinks, some preferable options are vodka shots with lemon (less than 42 calories per serving), a G&T (less than 64 calories), champagne (90 calories), etc. These may not be common alcoholic drinks for men, but anything apart from these drinks is over 100 calories each. 

  • Avoid Processed Food 

Men love to munch on snacks, anything from chips and dips to cookies, donuts to protein bars, salty trail mixes and roasted nuts. There’s nothing better than these snacks when you’re busy at work and missed lunch, but the more you eat processed and packaged food, the more weight you gain. Here are some weight loss tips for men that will help! Most of these snacks are fried and contains an unhealthy amount of sugar and/or salt, making you feel bloated, decreasing your metabolic rate, or directly adding weight. When in need of a snack, there are many healthier options out there that are almost zero-calorie, although they might not be as tempting as a donut. 

  • Avoid Eating Late at Night 

Nothing heavy should be eaten after 6 PM; in fact, it’s better if you don’t eat anything significant after 8 PM. However, men who work late or stays up late can sometimes be seen drinking beer or ordering a late-night meal or even eating a few scoops of ice cream from the freezer. All of these are extremely bad habits that make it impossible to lose weight or to maintain your ideal weight. 

If you are working late and if you are hungry, try a healthy snack, such as an apple, raw nuts or fat-free yogurt. Although it’s better to not eat late at night, if you are hungry, you should eat something light and easily digestible. 

  • Avoid Fried, Fatty or Processed Fast Food 

Cooking for yourself can be quite a hazard if you live alone, and the easiest and the fastest way to eat would be to order a pizza or a burger or to fix yourself a cheese sandwich. Or at least, to put some ready-to-eat Mac & Cheese in the oven.  All of these are the wrong decisions you are making for your body. These fatty, fried and processed food are not only unhealthy but the number one reason for your less than ideal body weight. 

Your meals should ideally be fresh and home-cooked, with lots of protein and vegetables in the mix, and the least amount of carbohydrates. Instead, by ordering a pizza or fixing ourselves a burger, we are consuming simple carbohydrate and fat – ingredients that are contributing to our weight. 

Eat What’ll Help 

  • Eat More Protein 

Eating more protein doesn’t mean you should eat a steak for dinner every night! Rather, it means that your meals throughout the day should have a healthy amount of protein. Your refined and simple carbohydrates should be all more or less replaced with healthy protein sources. The right amount of protein will not only help you lose weight but keep you feeling full for a long time after a meal. 

Good sources of protein include whole eggs, chicken breasts and lean meat, oats, milk, fat-free yogurt, quinoa, whey protein, lentils, pumpkin seeds and other raw unsalted nuts, cottage cheese, tuna, all kinds of beans, lentils and turkey meat. These sources of protein, with a little number of complex carbohydrates, should be a part of your every meal. 

  • Add more Fiber 

Besides protein, you need to add more servings of fruits, vegetables and leafy greens in your meals. Fruits and vegetables that are mostly water (i.e. celery, oranges, pineapple, iceberg lettuce, raspberries, green peppers, watermelons, strawberries, cantaloupes, etc.) will fill you up but doesn’t have a lot of empty calories in them. You can eat them in healthy salads, as desserts or simply as a snack, in a huge amount, if you want. With whole fruits and veggies, you are filling up on fibre, as well, which are great for a regular bowel movement. 

Leafy greens such as Romaine Lettuce, watercress, Bok Choy, turnip greens, Arugula, Swiss Chard, beet greens, etc. increase your metabolism and help your body to process food faster. 

  • Drink More Water 

The only drink you need is water and lots of it. Water can actually help in your weight loss journey to a great extent. Two glasses of water before every meal helps you to eat less than you intend and also helps in digesting the food quickly. 

Besides, many times when we feel hungry and reach out for an unhealthy snack, we are actually thirsty. Thirst can masquerade as hunger in our body, goading us to make bad food decisions. Whenever you feel hungry, drink a glass of water instead, and your “hunger” will go away. 

The average water requirement for adult men is around 15 cups, i.e. 3.5 litres for men. 

  • Reduce your Portions 

Eat two-thirds of what you usually eat, because that’s the actual amount you need. Everyone ends up eating more than their body needs, not because we are hungry but because we don’t know when to stop. Your body takes a few minutes to send the “I’m full” signal to your brain, and during this time, we usually end up eating more than we should. So, reduce your portion size and stop eating before you are completely full. 

  • Drink More Coffee 

This is good news for people who can’t start the day without coffee. Coffee (black coffee, only) can actually help burn your calories, temporarily give your energy, increase your metabolic rate, encourage a bowel movement and break down the fats stored in your body. 

Skip the sugar, the milk and the cream and simply drown back a black coffee, and you’ll find your body is responding to it positively. Strong, black coffee can give you the boost you need for a vigorous exercise session, as well. 

Try Exercising 

  • Start Running 

If you’ve started eating healthy, you will automatically start to lose weight, but no significant weight loss is possible without some form of exercise. If you have never exercised before in your life and want to start afresh, the simplest form for you would be to start running. 

The male body requires more vigorous exercise to start losing weight than the female body, which means that walking or jogging won’t help much. You need to start running, not only to lose weight but to prepare your body for further exercises down the line. A 45-minute session every day, or at least 5 days a week, can help you get ready for more complicated exercises in the future. 

  • Do Strength Training 

Strength training, aka lifting weights, helps you to build muscle, increase your strength, and of course, lose weight. Vigorous weight lifting sessions burn the unnecessary fat stored in your body and combined with a protein-rich diet, builds muscles. With regular strength training sessions, you can significantly reduce visceral fat, i.e. belly fat. 

You can burn the most amount of fat in your body by strength training sessions, as well as burn most of the calories you’ve consumed throughout the day. 

  • Do the “Burpee” 

The “Burpee” is a relatively new exercise that works more muscles than most other exercises. In a single movement, it starts from a pushup position to getting up for a jump, and then back to a pushup position, without any breaks in between. Every single movement works multiple muscles from your head to your toe. The “burpee” is a great movement for your belly fat, guts arms and legs. 

Other similar helpful exercises are squats, chin-ups, deadlifts and pushups. 

  • Do the “Mountain Climber” 

The “Mountain Climber” is similar to doing a plank, but while you are moving all the time. Do a mini crunch and then draw your leg up to your chest; return your leg to the original position, and instantly, repeat with the other leg. Keep on repeating with both legs for as many times as you can. 

The “Mountain Climber” as this movement is called since it looks like you’re climbing a mountain extremely fast, is great for your belly fat, thighs, legs and arms. It burns tremendous amounts of fats and calories, especially if you learn to do a few dozen movements without stopping.

Do as many as you can for not more than 20 seconds at a stretch, rest for 10 seconds, and then start again. 

  • Swing a Kettlebell 

Swinging a kettlebell can burn more calories than you can imagine! If you know your exercises, you’ll already know what a kettlebell is; for the starters, a kettlebell is something that you might have seen around the neck of cows at one time, but these are solid iron ones used for exercises. They come in different weights, from 5 pounds to 45 pounds. 

You hold the kettlebells by their handles and swing them in front of you – from between your legs up to your chest (keep a safe distance from others so that you don’t hit anyone), keeping your arms straight and slightly bending your knees at each swing. 

The kettlebell swing works wonders to burn calories and fat, especially around your belly. Your thighs, legs, torso and arms get good exercise, as well. 

Make Some Lifestyle Changes 

  • Get Moving 

Every moment of leisure that you get should be spent in movements, not sitting down or lying down unnecessarily. If you want to lose weight, you need to have an active lifestyle. This means no more spending hours sitting down in front of the television, no more taking the car or a public transport to where you can simply walk, no more taking the elevator when you can take the stairs. 

Any moment that you get away from work and sleep, you need to stay active. Do crunches while you watch TV or walk around the house when checking your emails – anything but sitting put idly. Why take the car when you can walk to the grocery store? Why walk when you can run? It’s faster and better for your health, so don’t let any opportunity to be active pass you by! 

  • Get More Sleep

It might seem that you’re being idle when sleeping but in fact, your body burns more calories while sleeping rather than when you are trying to relax and watching TV. Besides, getting enough sleep is paramount to your health! 

Sleep at least an hour more than you’re used to. Go to bed a little early and wake up a little late, and avoid late nights as much as possible. The sleep-deprived your body is, the more hunger hormones it creates; you eat more simply because you haven’t had enough sleep, and gain more weight.

  • Avoid Stress 

This is easier said than done, but stress is one of the main reasons behind weight gain. Stressed-out men tend to eat more than they need, most of which happen to be unhealthy meals and snacks instead of healthier alternatives. When stressed about your work or your relationship, would you be more satisfied with a can of beer or a few celery sticks? Would you prefer to munch on a donut or an apple? This is how stress always affects your body weight – you always choose wrong while stressed. 

Besides, mental stress directly decreases your metabolic rate. Even if you’re eating healthy, stress makes your body process food slower, adding to your weight. Therefore, even hard, it is very important that you try to live a stress-free life. 

  • Use a Bike 

If your workplace is near where you live, ride a bike instead of taking the car; you’ll be contributing to your health, the society and the environment at the same time. An expensive car isn’t a symbol of your success or affluence anymore; these days, people who are conscious of their environment and their health are appreciated more. 

When your destination is near, ride a bike. It’s faster than walking, and you’ll burn more calories biking than by sitting in your car in the traffic. 

  • Drink More Coffee 

This is easier said than done, but stress is one of the main reasons behind weight gain. Stressed-out men tend to eat more than they need, most of which happen to be unhealthy meals and snacks instead of healthier alternatives. When stressed about your work or your relationship, would you be more satisfied with a can of beer or a few celery sticks? Would you prefer to munch on a donut or an apple? This is how stress always affects your body weight – you always choose wrong while stressed. 

  • Start Cooking 

When you are a man living alone, it can seem unnecessary to cook for yourself, not when you have so many restaurants and delis that deliver. However, most of what comes to your doorsteps are going to be fried in unhealthy oil, processed, fattening and at least, high in carbohydrates. To start eating healthy, you need to also start cooking. 

Even if it’s a simple salad or a sandwich, it is important that you fix your own meals – using only healthy and fresh ingredients. Visit the produce section of the grocery store more often and pick up everything that’s fresh; only choose complex carbohydrates instead of refined ones, and some healthy fats. Fix a meal for yourself so that you know exactly what you are eating, and how many calories. 

When it comes to men, crash diets and starving doesn’t help in losing weight; you need to do the whole package. Eat healthily, always keep moving and exercise well – that’s how men lose weight. It might seem hard in the beginning but it’s going to be all worth it when you can feel the calories burning away the surplus of energy you haven’t felt in a long time and the pounds that seem to be melting away from your body. 

Not to mention, the toned body and the muscles you can make along the way.