You want to lose weight and get healthy, but where do you even start? There are so many directions to go, so many changes to make, and so many pounds to lose. Here is a list of a few things to help you start out on your weight loss journey.
Start out slow: You promise yourself that Monday you will throw out all of your junk food, start exercising an hour a day five days a week, and quit drinking soda. You may have a lot of motivation to start out strong in the beginning but that motivation can quickly turn into procrastination. Start out slow, because making smaller changes over a longer period time makes it more likely for your new habits to become regular ones.
Keep a food journal: I may stress keeping a food journal quite a bit, but it really makes a difference. People may not realize just how many calories they are eating and keeping a food journal is a great way to see how much you are eating. You don't necessarily need to count calories when you first start your journal, but it's a good starting point to monitor how many calories you are eating versus how many you should be eating.
Cut out sugary drinks: Soda, energy drinks, frappuccinos, they may be tasty or perk you up but they add a lot of unnecessary calories. You don't have to completely cut them out right away, but try and slowly ween yourself off of them. Even only drinking one less soda a week is starting somewhere. As far as what you could be drinking, try water with a splash of lemon juice, or if it's the carbonation you crave try flavored club soda, no calories with the same bubbly feel.
Get in exercise any way you can: Parking further away from the store, taking the stairs, or if you have limited mobility, just sitting down and using weights can help burn extra calories. It may seem like starting out slow doesn't make a difference, but every movement counts whether you realize it or not. Just because you can't do a push-up or run a mile now doesn't mean you won't be able to in the future.
Create goals: Whether you want to do a pull up or be able to walk around the block always have a goal and challenge yourself. Even when you become more advanced in your fitness level set goals, it will keep you on track and help you to realize that even though you have come this far, you can push yourself farther.
Find a reward system: Food may seem like a great reward system, but that often feeds into binging and a bad relationship with food. Instead of food you can reward yourself with a new dress,or Even better try to make your rewards fitness related. Buy a new yoga mat or dumbbells.
Brace yourself for plateaus: You've been consistently losing weight over the past couple of weeks and all of a sudden the scale just won't budge. Stay calm and be patient. It can be frustrating with all your hard work to see a standstill on your progress but there are many reasons why the number on the scale isn't going down. You may need to eat fewer calories, add in more exercise or even eat more calories. Sometimes it can be a lot of trial and error, but if you stick with it and find why you aren't losing weight it will pay off. Also remember that the number on the scale isn't the only way to measure progress. Measure yourself, you could be putting on muscle and losing inches. Remember while weighing and measuring yourself can be a good way to keep yourself on track, it isn't the number but the way you feel. If your clothes fit you and you feel happy in your body, that is a better indicator of your health than any number on a scale.
I hope this has helped. If you have any feedback questions or suggestions for other blog posts please leave a comment.
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