By I can understand your frustrations regarding weight loss. With the abundance of information everywhere you look, it’s hard to decide which path to take, and what would be most suitable for you. I’m sure you’ve read up on so many diet alternatives, and what kind of exercise plans to download and follow. It can all become a little but overwhelming to say the least!
I do have a great plan for you to follow, that will help you decide exactly what you want to achieve. The first step is understanding what you want to achieve. Then we form habits in order to take a step every day, assisting us on the pathway.
The 3 most crucial steps when starting a weight loss journey
Step one. Know why you are doing this.
It’s important to understand the underlying reason why you want to take this journey, and why it’s important to you. Note this down.
Step two. What do you want to achieve?
What is the ideal goal you have in mind. Is it to cure a health problem? Change the way your body looks? Is it because you are sick of feeling so flat and lacking energy all the time? Get to know what you want out of this journey.
Step three. How will you feel when you achieve your goals.
Now it’s time to tap into the future. What will you look, feel and see when you finally achieve your goal? What are you wearing, where are you, who are you with and how are your surroundings. What’s going on inside of you knowing that you have finally nailed your goal!
Once you’ve highlighted these, it’s time to really break it down by answering these questions:
Q1. How much weight or body fat do you want to lose?
Q2. What is the timeframe for achieving this goal?
Q3. How much time are you willing to commit to this? (meal prep, exercise etc)
Q4. Who and what will help you achieve this goal? (trainer, friend etc)
Once you have a solid plan written down, you can begin to construct the ways to move forward in achieving this. Perhaps you need to see a nutritionist about food, or hire a personal trainer to help you with exercises. The choice is yours, based on your goals and how much you already know.
Having these goals in place will really help you stay focused and on the path towards achieving what you want. Yes, there will be days when things become challenging, and perhaps you slip up. But when these dreams and goals are written down and you have the dedication and commitment to achieving them, for as long as it takes, nothing can stop you for too long.
Below I will highlight some basics regarding food and exercise, to get you started.
4 top food tips for weight loss – food is key to weight loss
- Always eat cruciferous veggies during each meal. These are spinach, kale, broccoli, cabbage and asparagus. These will help keep you full for longer periods and increase your basal body temperature – meaning, you burn calories digesting this stuff.
- Make protein an important macronutrient. It’s important to focus on high grade protein, that’s low in calories, such as fish, turkey, chicken breast and eggs. These again, will promote satiety, and increase your metabolism. Over time, you will notice a huge difference eating these sources. But do swap with high fat alternatives once in a while, to shock your body.
- Don’t dismiss fats. Fats are key to optimal repair and decreasing inflammation within the body. It’s also a key nutrient for cognitive function. Eat lots of salmon, avocado, cold pressed olive oil and snack on nuts.
- Watch your portion sizes. Make sure you are eating enough, but not too much that you increase your body fat stores. Portion varies from person to person, based on your activity and metabolism. The only way to really know is experiment and test. Usually the size of your palm dictates the amount of protein you should have. Veggies are consumed by the cup-full.
2 top tips when exercising for weight loss
- Train with weights – and lift heavy. Weights are the best way to decrease body fat stores, re-shape your physique and increase muscle mass. Muscle is what increases our metabolism, allowing us to eat more without storing it as fat. Cardio cannot do this for us, and it never will. Focus on conditioning and strengthening your body over the long run. It will serve you well into old age.
- Cardio should be HIIT. This can be varied immensely. You may choose to do a circuit session, or intervals of sprints on a treadmill. You can lift weights as a circuit as well. The choices are endless, and these forms of high intensity cardio sessions, that will make a big impact on your body composition, without compromising your muscle mass.
These are just some of the things I discuss with clients, regarding their weight loss and strength training programs. I do hope this helps you in some way too.
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