Today's Blog is going to explain what has worked for me to be successful at weight loss.
1. Water; Drink a lot of water! A lot of people believe that drinking water makes you gain extra "water weight." This has quite the opposite effect. Your body is composed of a high percentage of water. Replacing the water in your body on a regular basis is important to get rid of unwanted toxins in your body. Also, instead of only drinking more water, only drink water. Soda, even no calorie soda, causes muscles to deteriorate which essentially causes your metabolism to slow down and you to gain weight.
2. Workout; This seems simple. Even if you only workout for a minimum of 30 minutes a day, if you do this on a consistent basis you will lose weight! Cardio is the most important thing you can do, but you want to do strength training 2-3 days a week as well.
3. Sleep; 8 hours of it. Contrary to what some people think they can run on, 8 hours of sleep a night is crucial for weight loss. This allows your body and mind to rest, and you will be more likely to accomplish your goals the next day. Also, getting 8 hours of sleep a night is proven to cause less stress, which also plays a big role in weight loss.
4. Calories; This is simple. Treat what you eat and the calories you consume like a bank. If you burn more calories then you consume you will lose weight. If you consume more calories then you burn, then you will gain weight. Even if it is a minimal 250 calories a day that you consume more then you burn, you will gain a pound every 2 weeks. That is 26 pounds a year! I used an excel spreadsheet to track my calories consumed and exercise done each day to accomplish my goals. I am hoping to be getting a BodyBugg for Christmas that will tell me how many calories I burn in a day, they use these on the Biggest Loser TV show!
5. Avoid eating after 7 pm. This can be difficult for some people. I know it is for me. What I did to accomplish this is if I knew that I would be tempted to eat later in the day, I would eat a bigger lunch so I would be less hungry at dinner. This allowed me to digest most of my calories throughout the day. This tip is important because if you eat and go straight to bed, your body does not have time to digest and it is more likely to store food as fat.
6. DON'T cut out your favorite foods. Your diet should be enjoyable. If your favorite thing to eat is Chinese, opt to have it once every 2-3 weeks, and do an extra 30 minutes of work outs that day. This will allow you to eat what you love and it not throw you off your diet plan, which should eventually become a lifestyle change.
7. Replace Sugars, starches, and condiments with fruits and veggies! This step alone can cause major weight loss and will improve your overall health! Find what you like and stick to it.
These tips/tricks are my 7 top tips for weight loss. I have been successful by doing these things. What I have learned from it is simple, it's all mental. Not drinking a can of soda and drinking water not only saves you money when dining out, but I felt satisfied with myself every time I choose water over soda. Now do I never drink soda? No, I have a McDonald's Coke about once a month, but for the first 3 months I only drank water.
If anyone is interested in coming up with a diet/exercise plan, and would like my input, I would love to help! Everyone's plan is different and should be different! You can be successful! Believe in yourself!
CZ
