No matter what any weight-loss commercial shows, those who are struggling to lose weight know how difficult it is! For starters, you need just the right amount of motivation. My pictures from 6 years back did the job for me. I gained around 20 pounds in two years. This lockdown, I got the time to finally change my lazy lifestyle to an active one by welcoming some healthy practices, and this helped me to lose more than 20 pounds in 5 months. There are many things which helped me in my weight loss journey, which I plan to cover in the upcoming posts, but here are the most obvious and the most important ones:
1. Set realistic goals
There’s no shortcut to weight loss. If you set unrealistic targets like losing 25-30 pounds in a month, then you are being too hard on yourself and your body. When you try to lose weight, in a way, you fight your own body along with your cravings. Your body fights to maintain the previous weight by slowing down the metabolism. This becomes a major hindrance in your weight loss journey. So give your body some time to adjust to your new weight and set your target weight accordingly.
2. Track your calorie intake
It is almost impossible to lose weight only with exercise. One of the proven strategies is to reduce your calorie intake while increasing the number of calories you burn through exercise. To lose a pound of fat, you have to burn approximately 3,500 calories. So, while keeping track of what you eat, remember to increase protein in your diet, so your body spends more energy to digest this, rather than carbs or fats.
3. Lie
As ridiculous as it may sound, one of the tricks that helped me to lose weight was lying every time I was offered any food which will increase my weight. Be it french fries, potato chips, chocolates, cakes or pastries, I lied to myself that I’m not too fond of these foods. It was tough initially for one or two months, but once I believed in my lie, I understood its negative impact on my body and switched to weight-loss-friendly foods.
4. Exercise
It goes without saying that you need to exercise to shed those extra pounds. Pick any exercise which is feasible for you, be it walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, pilates, yoga, weight training, and spend at least 30 minutes a day on this. Not only it will help in losing weight, but also it will boost your mood and enhance your overall satisfaction.
5. Prepare yourself for the lifestyle change
If you think that you are just going to give an hour every day for losing weight and are unconcerned about it the rest of the time, then let me tell you that it doesn’t work that way. For losing those extra pounds and maintaining the new weight, you have to bring some changes in your behaviour permanently. So be prepared to make some sustainable lifestyle changes and adopt healthy choices to remain active and fit.
I cannot stress enough the importance of each of these above-proven tips. This worked wonders for me. So make a fresh start, clear your mind, think positive, set goals, exercise, eat healthy foods, avoid sugary foods, drink a lot of water, get enough sleep, don’t stress yourself and be happy. Comment below if you find any of these useful.
Illustrations are from freepik.