This month we’ve asked our Wellness Times Editorial Advisors for their favorite weight loss tips. Here is what they had to say. And remember, you can join the discussion on our Facebook page and share your own tips, health secrets and product recommendations.

Try an app for that

Lise Alschuler, ND

It is much easier to count calories and track fitness these days with the advent of various food and fitness applications for smart phones and computers. Many of these "apps" are free and will provide the full nutritional profile of foods that you input or that you scan in by the bar code on the packaging. These programs will also keep track of your daily caloric intake as you progress towards your goal. Tools like this can make a dedicated weight loss effort much easier.

Get a heart rate monitor

Michael Murray, ND

Heart monitors are devices designed to be worn during exercise to measure heart rate. Originally designed to provide immediate feedback on the work level of your heart, newer models have even more features, including the ability to gauge calories burned. While heart monitors are one of the most effective aids for tracking and developing your exercise endurance, I have found that learning how much effort is required to burn 100, 500 or 1,000 calories is extremely educational for people. It takes most people about an hour of intense exercise to burn 500 calories, but it is easy to consume 500 extra calories at just one meal. It just makes people stop and think before overeating. Knowing how hard it is to burn calories can have a huge effect on cutting calories from the diet.

Check thyroid function

Jacob Teitelbaum, MD

Thyroid function regulates our metabolism, so if it is low, it will be nearly impossible to lose weight. Unfortunately, lab tests miss most cases of low thyroid. So how can you tell if you need thyroid hormone? If I have a patient with fatigue, cold intolerance, brain fog, constipation or high cholesterol along with difficulty losing weight, I consider giving them a trial of bioidentical thyroid hormone.

A quick workout that works

Sherry Torkos, RPh

Not having enough time to exercise can be a problem. When I’m crunched for time, I do a 20-minute workout that features alternating bouts of cardiovascular activities and resistance training. This gets my heart rate up, boosts calorie burning and allows me to make the most of my time. For example, I do a brisk walk on the treadmill or jog on my rebounder for 5 minutes, then 2-3 minutes of a weight training activity and then go back to cardio, with increasing intensity for each interval. I follow this with a 5-minute stretch and I feel great the rest of the day.

Sleep your way to weight loss

Beverly Yates, ND

Anyone who wants to lose weight needs a regular bedtime and must strive to get both enough sleep (quantity of sleep) and restorative sleep (quality of sleep). Research continues to show that lack of sleep puts the body into an insulin-resistant state, which leads to weight gain. If we don't get enough sleep, the body perceives this as a stress and shifts the metabolism to store fat. Adults usually need 7 1/2 to 8 hours of sleep each night; younger children and teenagers need 10 to 10 1/2 hours of sleep a night. If you are having trouble losing weight or keeping it off, look at how many hours of sleep you are getting each night and adjust as necessary.