Many see the idea on how to get fit when overweight intimidating.
I, for one understand how it feels like.
I have always enjoyed eating.
There is something profoundly satisfying when it comes to eating, especially if it’s a good meal.
It has then been equally a luxury and also a ‘curse’.
I was then an overweight throughout my teen’s life.
It wasn’t so much of the external ‘threat’ I get, but the inner hunches I personally feel for myself inside; constantly worrying about my own health and individual well-being.
Following my first heartbreak, it was there and then that I decided to turn my life around.
How in only a few short months I was able to drop 73 pounds with these simple changes.
Don’t think it’s possible?
Take a look at these success stories of real people:
These 10 women lost a total of 555 pounds! Read their stories and check out their incredible before-and-after photos.
16 Fitness Experts Who Used to Be Overweight. Find out how these trainers transformed their bodies and their lives!
Incredible success story of father, 53, and son, 32, turning their beer bellies into six-pack abs after a phenomenal weight loss journey over six months.
These examples show not only that results aren’t insignificant – they are massive and life changing!
If you think getting fit is all about looking good, you’re missing out on the bigger life and health benefits that come along with it.
Getting fit, regardless if you’re overweight today can help you create a better life for you and your loved ones for many years to come – talk about massive confidence surge you’ll start having.
If you’re willing to put in a bit of work, that is, and make some small life-changing changes that I’m about to break it down for you below.
In this post, I’m going to share with you everything that I’ve took to make it happen, and how you can do it too.
Start implementing them in your life and you’ll notice gradual fat reduction happening.
Small steps lead to big results
You don’t gain weight over night and quite frankly, losing weight won’t happen either.
The one thing I’ve learnt when it comes to drastic weight lost is that over time, your odds of gaining them back higher.
When you deliberately alter your diet, you are radically altering your body’s metabolism.
Your body is sending signals to your brain, projecting a state of starvation you are bound on entering which leads to higher chances of rebound weight gain.
The real challenge when it comes to effective weight loss is not so much about how much you get to lose weight over time but in how sustainable you can be in maintaining so.
I’ve seen so many, completely switching their diet over that instant; going from a fast food diet straight to a diet where you abstain from everything that is considered bad for you and only focus on eating clean.
That’s a big hurdle and the chances of you failing, feeling demotivated and totally falling short of your initial weight loss plan is high.
It’s not a race.
Take it easy.
Don’t work on too much at one time.
Set small goals and manage your goal lines progressively.
If you haven’t quite exercised before, don’t sign on a gym membership just because you believe that will help you in staying committed – trust me, it’ll never work.
Instead, go for a walk around the block, even for 20 minutes itself every day.
Even moderate walks can cause an eightfold increase in calorie burning.
The commitment you give in realizing daily small goals can lead to an accumulated sense of accomplishment, building a sustaining habit, which then allows for bigger task for your undertaking – like getting that gym membership this time.
It’s a slow progress, nevertheless, but I guarantee, it’s going to improve your chances of pulling through.
Give your body time to burn away the fat
The reason you become fat is because most of us never give the body any time to actually burn away the fat that has been accumulated all these years.
As mentioned above, it’s about taking small, progressive steps and that includes burning away fats and also time to recover.
The best type of exercise for burning fat is not spending hours and hours, day after day on the treadmill doing cardiovascular exercises.
That is only going to be over demanding for your body.
One of the big reasons why most people fail to lose weight is that they lack of consistency – that includes having rest period.
Giving yourself a day of rest.
Work out on Monday and rest on Tuesday, work out on Wednesday and rest of Thursday etc.
Just remember, don’t cheat yourself.
When you take that walk, or get in the gym, give it all that you’ve got while you’re there.
Make every minute count.
Staying committed for 3 weeks
Why 3 weeks?
Because research has shown that it takes approximately 21 days for you to develop a new habit.
When I first started, trying to implement a new habit into my life, I’ve looked at it in an unmanageable light.
Because of this, new healthy habits never get off the ground because instead of focusing on just 21 days, I’ve sabotaged my goals with the mindset that this is something I’ll have to sacrifice forever.
I’ve understood so and for you, instead of starting out with thoughts of making a new habit for life, you can make it a lot easier simply by telling yourself that you are going to ‘try’ implementing healthier alternatives to life for just 21 days.
You can do 21 days, right?
There is a science behind how we develop habits and research has shown that it takes approximately 21 days to develop them, and to break old ones along the way.
After 21 days, it’ll be relatively simple to convince yourself to avoid those bad habits of the past, ensuring that you’ll lose weight effectively and keep it for life.
Be sure to download your 15 FREE high quality instructional home-workout videos by clicking on this link or entering your information below.
Drinking enough water
Many are guilty of this and I for one am too.
But it is very important that you drink adequate amounts of water every day as it is an essential part when it comes to losing weight.
If you don’t drink enough water, you simply will not get the full weight loss benefits that you’re after.
It’s that serious.
Water helps your kidney work at full capacity.
When your kidneys aren’t working at full capacity, the liver needs to help out.
When your liver is helping out the kidneys, it can’t do its job at full capacity as far as metabolizing the fat we need to burn.
My advice is to drink at least 8 – 10 glasses of water every single day.
That amounts to about half gallon of water which you need to intentional drink.
Once you begin drinking this much water, you will find that your body will not retain water, but will instead use it to flush your system – keeping it clean and functioning right.
Consume more proteins
Proteins are the foundation of your body’s cells, tissues and organs.
A diet adequate in protein is essential for you to lose excess body fat.
When you consume protein, it not only increases fat oxidation, it has the ability to spare lean body mass.
A very important point to understand is that the loss of lean body mass virtually guarantees the regain of any fat loss.
When you lose lean mass, your metabolic rate slows down and that is the primer for ‘yo-yo’ dieting and the exact reason for the high failure rate experienced by many.
Where do you get your proteins?
- Spinach 49% protein
- Kale 45% protein
- Broccoli 45% protein
- Cauliflower 40% protein
- Mushrooms 38% protein
- Parsley 34% protein
- Cucumbers 24% protein
- Green pepper 22% protein
- Cabbage 22% protein
- Tomatoes 18% protein
- Beef 25.8% protein
- Chicken 23% protein
- Eggs 12% protein
Exercising – that includes lifting weights
We all know exercising is important but how really is it?
Exercise boosts metabolism and burns fat.
In addition to all the calorie and fat-burning effects, exercise also has the remarkable ability to stimulate fat tissue by increasing blood flow to your fat cells.
This makes for easier fat mobilization, which is especially important to the stubborn fat areas like your hips, thighs, belly and buttocks, where insufficient blood flow is believed to be the cause of ‘stubborn body fat’.
And for ladies who still think that higher protein and weight training will cause bulky muscles, rest assured.
Bulking up requires a significant amount of calories, a much more stringent weight training regimen and some hormone treatment before you ever look like those female bodybuilders you are trying not to look like.
So, lose that thought and start working out.
Putting your goals on paper
Write down your weight loss goal.
Then, write down the steps you will need to take to attain it.
Studies have shown that writing down a goal gives you a better chance of attaining it.
Here is an example of my goal when I first started out:
"I will wake up at 6 in the morning every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and walk for 30 minutes around."
"I will eat protein with every meal."
"I will follow my workout schedule no matter what or how busy my day gets."
Try not to include negative-command goals such as:
"Stop eating chips."
"Stop sitting waking up late."
Record your thoughts and experiences
I’ve learnt that keeping a journal of my daily accomplishments has helped me unload my brain and take a look back at how far I’ve come; even if it means putting it down in a few sentences each day.
I would write how I felt during certain workouts and how my body responded to the overall regimen.
Day after day, I did this.
I was able to look back at workouts and then pick and choose different sets if I had a day when I wanted a faster, more intense workout.
Keep a journal.
Note down your experiences you are having with your thoughts, diet and workout.
Write down if certain foods don’t sit right with your system.
Write down if a certain workout doesn’t seem right or if it’s not giving you results.
By writing it down, your brain is free to release this from storage and to process the things it needs to.
Keep things in perspective and make it fun
Don’t look at dieting as a chore.
Make it fun.
On this diet, you will find yourself eating less and, in turn, you’ll have more time to do other things. Use that time wisely.
Make the diet fun by changing up recipes.
Don’t look at it negatively or it will always be on your mind and could result in failure.
Remember, every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.
