Take this advice from someone who has already tried and tested so many diets and gimmicks; Low- carb, keto, juicing, fasting, high cardio, aerobic classes, starving myself, protein only diets, fat loss pills, fat burning creams!! Just take my word and save yourself the money and heart ache this New Years. There is no quick fix. Period. Weight loss happens with a consistent effort over a period of time. Give yourself 6 months, follow these steps, and transform yourself permanently.
Tip 1
Loud-mouth
Be vocal and verbal about your goals. Make the statement and make it to everyone around you. Tell your husband, tell your co-workers and your friends. Make an announcement on your social media. Once you have made a commitment and publicly air your goal to friends and family you will have a lot more to prove by continuing and a lot to lose if you quit. If your goal is to work out every day, post gym pictures or write about your routine. If your goal is to eat healthier, post pictures of your food. A workout partner, online support group or even regular gym classes. If you fail at being accountable to yourself, try this approach.
Tip 2
Attainable measures
Make your goals measurable. So instead of saying I want a flat stomach or I need to be toned, set a realistic plan you can follow. Try this: I will lose 1-2lbs a week for 12 weeks. So in three months I will have lost 24lbs.
Or instead of “I need to eat healthy and cut out my junk food”, start by committing to adding 2 full servings of vegetables each day. Or try to just meal plan to include 2 healthy meals everyday. That is attainable. Slow baby steps will get you there. If you think you can wake up Jan 1st and overhaul your habits in one day you are sure to be disappointed and are actually setting yourself up for failure.
Tip 3
Stop Yo-yoing
Don’t do anything that you can’t maintain for the rest of your life. Please, do not fall for all these lose 10 pounds in 10 days crap. Sorry, but it is crap. The appeal to drop weight fast draws us to such gimmicks but in the end, you can not maintain that weight because you can not continue to do drastic diet or exercise everyday of your life. Think along the terms of a lifestyle change and a long term commitment. The key is consistency to keep lean. Don’t indulge one day and then starve yourself the next.
Tip 4
Raise the Bar
Weight training helps your muscles burn fat even after you stop working out. Yes, even when you are sitting on your butt vegging in front of the TV. A pound of muscle takes up about 20% less space in your body than a pound of fat.. So you will look a lot slimmer. For further information on how muscles help you lose fat and keep it off permanently check out my previous article “why all women should weight lift”
Tip 5
Prepare.
This might be the single most important step to your success. To succeed at weight loss or dieting first thing is to remove temptations. Clean out your pantry, fridge, and freezer and re-stock it with all your healthy options. Plan out what you will eat for the week ahead and prepare it over the weekend. Use Tupperware containers and dish out your meals ahead of time and take with you to work. Also prepare healthy snacks ahead of time. Chop up celery and carrots, hard boil some eggs, have some hummus or other healthy dips on hand.
Good morning Harj, I am trying so hard to lose my weight. I am 45 and hormonal imbalance. It’s so hard because 2 weeks before my period I am tired and crave food like anything. Got all my blood work and everything seems to be fine where I need no meds. And I also got of BCP, which I am going on again this month. Please help me!!! I am so motivated and excited when I see your emails coming in. They are so plain and simple and I get so much out of it. Thank you so much and look forward to hearing from you soon.
Vipan