Tons of people want to lose weight. Losing weight in a healthy manner is NOT an easy thing to do. The "tons of people" who want to lose weight want to do it want an easy way out--isn't that what everyone always wants? If you want to be like everyone else, then fine, go make unintelligent weight loss decisions, gain the weight back, and continue to make MORE unintelligent weight loss decisions.
I find that when people ask me what I do for my body, they hate the fact that I don't have some "secret" that could possibly help them. They don't want to hear what I do, which is working hard to make the right food choices and stay active. Hard work is unappealing to the general population. Don't be like them if you want to lose weight, keep it off, and be healthy. They waste their time with quick fixes that will NEVER work in the long run. Don't waste your time like them and watch your weight yo-yo. Work hard to improve your habits, and you'll live a healthier lifestyle, AND have the best body you can!
DO:1) Keep in mind that consistency is the key.If you can't stick to it, then don't do it. Are you going to be able to stick to 600 calories and 4 hours of exercise a day FOREVER? Didn't think so. So don't do it...unless you want to watch yourself balloon up when you eat and work out normally again.
2) Let yourself enjoy the journey, rather than obsessing about the destination (the target weight that you want to maintain).If you can't wait to lose some weight and get into a smaller size, then that's great. Of course you should be motivated. But if your days consist of grudgingly eating better, exercising, and saying that you'll be miserable until the weight comes off, you're doing yourself a disservice. Please love yourself now, no matter how much you weigh. BECAUSE you love yourself, you're living a healthier lifestyle because YOU DESERVE IT. If you can look in the mirror and say to yourself that you're doing your best to better yourself, then that's more than enough. Don't stress about not being at your "destination" yet. You need to be patient!
3) What you love
I hate the treadmill and running with a passion. HATE IT. So I don't do it...I go on the elliptical and other machines, weight train, take hip-hop classes, take spin, etc., and get the same results without doing an activity that I despise. My suggestion? Do your favorite fitness activities. What if you don't love any? It's my hope that you can find activities that you at least LIKE to some extent!
4) Accept your shape and make it look its bestIf you don't love yourself now, you won't love yourself after losing 50 pounds. Learn to appreciate your frame , whether it be small, medium, or large, and your shape, whether it be a pear, hourglass, ruler, etc. I promise you that no matter what frame and shape you are, you can and WILL look fabulous if you live the healthy lifestyle that will bring your body to its best! Don't forget to always wear clothes that flatter.
DON'T:1) Take diet pills.They sound too good to be true, right? Well, that's because they ARE! No, the companies are not always lying when they promise weight loss. Just know that the second you stop taking those pills, the pounds WILL pile back on. More importantly, diet pills are unhealthy. There are some nasty side effects to them. Pill bottles get taken off the shelves REGULARLY because of how unhealthy they are!
2) Eat less than 1200 calories a day.Tons of people who hate their bodies use this method because it does help you lose weight fast. I promise that the day you go back to eating a NORMAL amount of calories, the weight will start coming back on and you'll be back in square one. What's better-losing 10 pounds fast and gaining back all 10 (or more!), or losing 10 pounds slowly and keeping them off FOREVER? I'd say the latter. And don't forget, the more active you are, the more you need to eat.
3) Go for fad diets, or any diet for that matterFad diets work because they include eating too little calories, and/or eating too little of a food group (Atkins diet). NEITHER one of those things is healthy. You need calories...and you need protein, fruits and veggies, breads/grains, and YES, CARBS AND FATS. WW is a different story; it promotes a healthy lifestyle. But that's exactly what it has to be--a "lifestyle". A diet is short-term, so if you go on one, don't expect your weight to stay off and be "long-term".
4) OverexerciseIt's summer, and I have lots of free time. I don't exercise for 3 hours a day, because when I go back to school, I know I won't have more than 45 to 60 minutes a day to spare. My body would be used to the 3-hour intensity and react accordingly--I'd gain weight even though 45 to 60 minutes a day is plenty. Basically, what I'm saying is, work out for lengths of time that you will be able to do consistently. And don't forget, you don't want to injure yourself. Take care of yourself. I work out 6 days a week; I find a rest day to be crucial.
How has your journey with your weight been? What works for you and what doesn't? Are you guilty of any of the Don'ts?
Healthkicker.com
Comments (15)
Weelllll, i'm at the same weight for the past six months. After last year, I joined tennis and i run everyday so I gained muscle and lost fat =D
I definitely agree with consistency & finding something you love. It's helped me find a workout that works for me and I haven't skipped a scheduled workout day for over 2 months now..that results are becoming fantastic lately :)
Good points
It seems like I've tried every fad diet out there...Atkins, South Beach, Slim Fast... Every time I would easily lose ten or fifteen pounds but that's where it would usually stop. Any of those diets are very impractical life style choices. Not to mention every time I lost ten, I think I ended up gaining twelve back. I never felt healthy, I was always tired. I feel like I'm having to reteach myself how to eat and think properly. It sounds silly, but every day I have to make little reminders to myself. It is helping though, and while I know it might take me three or four months to lose ten pounds instead of two weeks, this time I will lose it for real. Diet's DON'T work. I just wish I'd learned that sooner.
The problem is that I LOATHE going to the gym. Most of the exercise I do is outdoor stuff, like biking, swimming, walking, hiking or rollerblading. I need to change it up or I get really bored, so in the winter I tend to get lazy and stop working out. I can't stand cold weather, so I mope around indoors all the time. I also have such an inconsistent schedule due to school and work, so sometimes I forget to plan my meals ahead of time and end up grabbing really fattening food (I work at a Cracker Barrel) or end up grazing on biscuits and croutons at work, which ends up adding up to more calories than a good healthy meal. I know exactly what to do to be healthy since I've read so much nutrition and exercise info. I've even taken many classes through college or the local gym, but the problem is actually going through with it.
These are pretty good for the general public. I've seen plenty of people eat less than 1200 calories a day to lose weight, and keep it off after their diet was through. Most people aren't able to do that, however.
I'm actually following most of these rules, but I do need to obsess less about my goal weight... Thanks for the tips!
i really like the girl's jeans in this picture.
I need to stop overexercising since I have so much free time... but not anymore soon. D=
I'd say it took me too years to figure out what to eat and what not to eat. I remember when my diet buddy and I tried to first loose weight, we were patting ourselves on the back for making potatoe lentil chowder and thinking we'd loose weight b/c we were eating lentils. But the stupid soup hand a generous amount of bacon, butter, and flour. Just using skim milk instead of 2 % and adding a few lentils wasn't going to make all our fat worries disapear. Especially since we had very skewed concepts of portion size at the time. In fact, we ended up gaining weight from mistakes like that.
It's really hard to undo 20+ years of bad eating choices programmed into us since we were children. And if we had never gotten brave enough to make potatoe lentil chowder to give lentils a chance, we would have never moved on to roasted asparagus, brussel sprouts, sugar snap peas, minestronne soup (instead of creamy chowders), chickpea cutlets, baked tofu, or black bean sweet potatoe chili. It was like climbing down stairs. Now we have eating habits that are helping us loose weight, but will be very easy to keep for the rest of our lives.
this is good advice. my friend set up an exercise plan for me because he has got certified as a personal trainer. teh only thing is he is piling stuff on me that I DO NOT like to do. I mean, there are exercises that I enjoy, but a lot of what he gives me I don't like. Should I change my routine to suit myself instead of what he thinks I should do?
This is exactly what I needed to hear:) Thx for posting!
thx! great post!
Great article, but I would add another don't: don't beat yourself up when you mess up. Yes, you are going to over-eat or skip a workout eventually, especially when you are starting out. It is human nature. The trick is to not let one slip derail all your work. If you get discouraged and give up alltogether, someday you will look back and regret it. This comes from hard experience.
I used to be the queen of fad dieting, starving myself, throwing up my food when I thought I had eaten too much, and eventually realized my problem wasn't my weight, it was how I viewed myself (tying right in with your #2!)
Since I got over my self-esteem issues and started eating PROPERLY and continuing to work out like I always have, my weight has dropped about 10 pounds and has stayed there. I run for an hour 3 or 4 times a week, walk every day and follow a healthy diet that I know works for me. No matter how busy or stressed I am, I make time for my workouts and make time for my food. It keeps me sane.