Many have contacted me asking for advice about weight loss so I thought I’d get back into my healthy lifestyle blog about tips, tricks, and weight loss stories. Fair warning, if you’re easily offended, turn away now. Don’t follow my blog because I guess just like what many say about trainers, and fitness coaches – the ones who have gone through the process will not be the nicest. :) Why? Because we know what your excuses will be, we’ve made those excuses before. Been there, done that. We usually always know what you can and can’t do, what you’re capable of and what will take time… and one thing is sure: weight loss, and adapting to a healthier lifestyle will take time. What is important are:
#1 - knowing that you want to change. Get your head in the game immediately! Of course YOU CAN DO IT! I did, and I was probably the laziest person in the world. - and
#2 - knowing that the hardest part of this journey is starting the weight loss/lifestyle change process.
I've been calling this a lifestyle change because it has to be. If you want permanent weight loss and a healthy body, you have to change the way you live your life. You can’t possibly do the same thing you’re doing and eat the same way and expect to change. And don’t even think about popping some pills to help you. There’s no magic pill except the “get your ass up every day and move it” pill.
Then again, some people have commented to me about how they don't really want to through this weight loss process because they will only gain it back and then some... seriously people, what is your excuse #2 because #1 is pathetic. And no, your skin won’t sag and have to go through skin surgery that you can’t afford. Ok, I know there are hundreds of excuses out there but if your head is ready, and you’re tired of being unhealthy… follow the simple rule, and you will be just fine: Eat Less, Move More.
Let’s start with moving… changing eating habits is harder (at least for me) so we can tackle that next time.
Here are a few steps to begin with:
• Go to your doctor. Your doctor will let you know how good or bad shape you are. In my case, I was in pretty bad shape. All my test results were bad. Cholesterol, blood pressure, sugar, pre-diabetic, etc. I know some of you don't want to go to the doctor because you're afraid about what you'll find out. Goodness, go now and get this ball rolling. Otherwise, stop reading now and pretend you never saw this post.
• If you get the same type of news I got, you have two choices. You can keep doing what you’re doing – meaning, nothing… and if that’s the case, stop reading now and pretend you never saw this post; or, you can do something about it. MOVE! Just MOVE, do something and keep moving.
• According to Dr Oz, if you keep doing what you have been doing – and not change anything in your life except for doing a 30min exercise-ish activity every day, you WILL lose weight. Makes sense right? So walk for 30 minutes every day, or run if you like to do that. In my case, I couldn’t run then – my knees hurt when I ran because I was too darn fat and my knees were being pounded on way too much. I know I know – you’ve heard all these before: take the stairs not the elevator or escalator, park far away from the front door – but it really works! Don’t give yourself an excuse, otherwise stop reading now and pretend you never saw this post.
• Get yourself a pedometer. It’s $20 at Walgreens for a basic pedometer. I think they even have free pedometer apps now. Make it a game… 10,000 steps a day is good. If in the first couple of days, you’re short some steps… figure out a way to get to 10,000. I work in an office and sit almost all day… when I first started walking (not quite exercising yet), I realized 10,000 steps is a ton!!! I was only making 3000-5000 a day so I got up from my desk every hour at least and walked at least 5 laps on our hallway floor – it’s a small building. Didn’t seem like it was making much difference but at the end of the day… I was at 8000-9000 steps, so I only had to make up 1000 more steps. Side note: when I started taking Zumba (Eduardo’s of course), I realized one class was about 8,000 – 12,000 steps. So go to a gym and take a class! You’ll get to your 10,000 steps quicker and will have some fun doing it.
• Finally, DO NOT get in your car to head home until you’ve hit 10,000 steps, or until you’ve done your 30 minutes of exercise for the day (or whatever your goal is for your daily activity.) Like many people, we work all day and when we get home, we just want to rest, have dinner, do our chores, and catch up on TV. Again, DON’T… GO… HOME… until you’ve done your activity for the day.
Schedule your activities as part of your day – not something you do when you have time. Just like going to work and eating every day, your daily activities need to be part of your life. Knowing “I CAN DO IT” is good… but “I AM DOING IT” is a better mindset.
Good luck friends… if you haven’t “stopped reading now and pretended you never saw this post”, you passed the first test. That means you’re still interested in being healthy and hope you check out my next post. I’m here to help anytime… send me a message, I don’t mind at all. I may not be able to answer your questions individually, but I will make sure to address them during my next post.
Till next time, keep on movin!
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