With weight loss being something I achieved personally, and something I specialize in daily, I am proud to offer you these helpful hints for losing weight that helped me and several clients of mine over the years.
If you are on any kind of weight loss program you may have run into some of the most common barriers to progress that affect all of us. Whether it is lack of motivation or hitting a plateau, here are just a few helpful hints to remember when trying to lose weight.
It Takes More Than Just Eating Right
*You have to incorporate cardio-vascular and strength training into your routine and combine it with healthy eating. These are the three major facets of fitness. You cannot do one without the other and still expect to see great results. A solid program for losing weight is cardio vascular exercise 3-6 days per week and strength training 2-3 days per week. Proper eating habits go right along with this. See a personal trainer for a program consultation.
Genetics
*Genetics play a huge role in determining your body weight and type, but this does not mean you cannot overcome the odds. Just because your mother or father was overweight doesn't mean you have to be, it just means you may have to work a little harder than others who seem to be able to eat whatever they want and not gain an inch. Remember, they are that way because of genetics too.
Recognizing Plateaus
*Depending on how overweight you are, the weight may come off a lot faster in the beginning of your program (ever heard of a show called 'The Biggest Loser'?), but then a few months down the line you may hit a plateau and progress slows or even stops. These plateaus can be overcome by manipulating the time, intensity, and duration of your workouts. Switching up your exercise routine is very beneficial because the body's development thrives on variety. The key is to not let these plateaus get you down and say to yourself, "Well I guess I'm not going to lose anymore, I'll just stop." Working through and essentially over these plateaus will help you hone self-discipline. This self-discipline is what ultimately will carry you through the rest of your program, help you achieve your goals and take you through the rest of your life.
Stay Away From That Scale!
This is one of the biggest pitfalls I see people put themselves through in the gym. Weighing yourself during your program can create more stress than it is worth, because one's weight is always fluctuating depending on many factors. In addition, a lot of gym scales, home scales, or even doctor's office scales are inaccurate because of the amount of traffic they get, or warping of the scale due to not being returned to zero after weighing. Weigh yourself at the beginning of your program and after you reach your goal, or maybe even one time per week, but doing it all the time will just drive you crazy. Many people who have achieved their weight loss goals never even approached a scale the entire time they lost their weight. Ultimately, weighing yourself all the time during a weight loss program can promote unneeded low self-esteem. The best determining factor for being able to figure out if you have lost weight is how your clothes fit, and, essentially, people will start to notice and let you know how good you look.
Remember That Feeling
The last sentence in the above tip is also a great motivational key. Putting on a pair of pants and having them fit more loosely than usual will put a bounce in your step and add a certain charm to your demeanor you may not even realize, thus making you perform better in your daily activities. Having other people tell you that you look like you have lost weight or telling you how good you look works the same way. Think about how good it feels to hear such a compliment and remember that feeling. Remember that feeling that perhaps made you happier than usual or gave you an adrenaline shot. Remember the feeling that made you happy at work even on a rainy Monday. Remember that feeling gave you that extra shot of self-esteem and had people looking up to you. Remember the positive energy you gave off. Remember these feelings and use them as further building blocks to more progress. Its little things like this that help you keep going and not give up. Now you just have to think about what feels better to you, those feelings that improve your overall life by making you feel good or how good the cookie tasted that you ate in 30 seconds. Most importantly, remember that feeling when you reach for the cookie.
A Lifestyle Change
*Don't consider it a diet because diets end, and usually people go back to eating the wrong things after some sort of set date, which in most cases will put more pounds back on than you had to lose in the first place. You have to think of it as a lifestyle change. Think of it as starting a new job. You are in a different location than before; in a different position with different people. Well, now you are eating different things as part of your everyday meals. Not thinking of it as a diet and considering it a lifestyle change is the key to keeping your weight off.
Cheat Days
*Don't freak out and think after reading the above tip that you will never be able to eat those foods you love anymore because of your lifestyle change. Offering yourself a "cheat day" has been proven to be beneficial to the body and spirit. The key is to hit some sort of goal first, then reward yourself. Let's break it down hypothetically and say that you want to lose 50 pounds. After you drop your first 20, have a cheat day; the same would go for the next 20. After you lose all the weight you want and are satisfied with your results, schedule a weekly cheat day. The key to these cheat days is self-control, because it is very difficult to have a cheat day and then go right back to eating right the day after. Truthfully, this is how a lot of people start back on a downward spiral. If you don't think you are quite disciplined enough yet, put it off until you think you are ready. The same would go for holidays, birthdays, special occasions, etc.
Sip Less
If possible, while you are eating, try not to take sips of your beverage through the entire meal. This can be tough of course because eating makes you thirsty, but having one sip before you eat and one sip after you eat can actually push along your weight loss progress. When you take sips in between bites, the liquid can actually pack down the food that goes into your stomach, causing it to get denser and heavier, causing the metabolism to slow down. This can create that bloated feeling. Try the sip before and the sip after routine and you will feel lighter on your feet after a meal and help your progress.
Motivation
*A big question asked of personal trainers is "How do you motivate people?" This is a tough question to answer. You have to find something within yourself and figure out how much you really want to achieve your goal, because in the end, if you want it bad enough, you can achieve it.
No comments:
Post a Comment