There are so many ways to get fit and shed those extra layers of unwanted body fat. Unfortunately, it takes an orchestrated amount of work (commitment and dedication) to lose the excess weight and achieve your dream body. Before you begin a weight loss program, you should know a few very important facts about weight loss.
Take Responsibility
The first step is to take responsibility for your actions. How did you get yourself in this predicament in the first place?
Will you do whatever it takes to create a great-looking and healthy body?
Start by acknowledging that your body is just a physical vehicle for your spiritual soul and when you feel stressed or depressed you will not use food as a buffer to alleviate uncomfortable emotions. When those negative feelings do arise, be aware that it’s your soul which needs nourishing, it’s that inner emptiness that needs to be filled with love and self-recognition, not your body, but you keep stuffing that emptiness with food.
Realize that food is…… just a temporary relief to that inner emptiness.
Stop repeating the same vicious cycle of emotional eating. If not, the body begins to express itself as overweight, even though it’s not a problem of the body, but rather an emotional problem. Remember, that if it took years to get into this predicament then don’t expect changes to take place overnight
So instead, feed your soul, and nourish it with love and self-appreciation.
Create Healthy Objectives
Next, take care of your body through safe and effective means to improve your health. Protect the health of your body and mind by staying away from unrealistic goals or extreme weight-loss strategies.
Care more about your health and well-being than the numbers on your scale. Research has shown much better long-term weight loss in individuals who are motivated by good health and well-being.
Ask yourself why you want to lose weight and how it’s going to make you feel when you do reach your target goal. Find a comfortable, quiet place, and take few minutes to visualize yourself at your ideal body weight. Create “intention” statements and repeat them out loud to yourself as often as possible to keep yourself motivated and excited about achieving that goal. You’ll feel better as the negative thoughts slowly disappear!
Remember: life by the inch is a cinch; by the yard is pretty hard!
The third step is to create an image board. Cut out pictures of how you would like your body to look and paste a headshot of yourself on them. Pictures of how you would look like in a bathing suit on the beach, or wearing that beautiful tight-fitting dress or those jeans that you haven’t worn in years. Post these pictures where you’ll see them often so your subconscious mind gets the message that you mean business!
Know Your Body
It’s also important to learn the physiology of your body when it comes to how we react to what we eat. A combination of a healthy diet, exercise, and positive intention statements laced with a series of daily visualizations all work together to elicit successful, life-long weight loss.
Understand Metabolism and Carbohydrates
Metabolism is the process by which the body converts food into energy and other useful compounds. Energy metabolism includes all the ways the body obtains and spends energy from food:
– Carbohydrates are converted to glucose
– Fats are converted to glycerol and fatty acids
– Protein is converted to amino acids
Metabolism, then, is the engine that burns calories and is the scale that regulates energy needs. Weight changes are due to energy imbalances consuming more or less calories than the body uses.
Good carbs
Ever heard of the expressions “good” and “bad” carbs? What are these? Good carbs are foods that are still in their natural state, or they are still similar to their natural state. They have not been processed or altered by people or machines. These foods include vegetables, fruits, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds, whole grain breads, cereals and pastas and some dairy products.
Bad Carbs
“Bad” carbs are those which have been refined and processed and are no longer in their natural state. Most of the nutritional value has been removed from these kinds of food. They are generally loaded with additives, including coloring, flavors, and preservatives. Examples of bad carbs are candy, baked goods with refined white flour, white pastas, and sodas. Eating these foods regularly usually leads to unhealthy weight gain.
Lose Weight Fast
The most effective weight loss programs involve a combination of a decrease in caloric intake (diet) and an increase in caloric expenditure (exercise.) The most appropriate and safest way is to ensure that the difference of energy intake and expenditure totals 500 to 1,000 calories per day. Decreasing more 1,000 calories per day may lead to loss of muscle mass, which is not a desirable result.
Most diets to lose weight are difficult, boring, and almost always guarantee failure. As many know from past experience, dieting doesn’t work. Trying to starve the body without the necessary caloric intake for proper functioning, the body will slowly go into self-preservation mode, trying to protect itself from extinction. The body quickly stops utilizing fats as an energy source and begins to break down proteins and other nutrients to maintain the metabolic functioning of the cells.
When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at begin to change!
Change the way you see your body- your self-image- only then will your body begin to change.
Create a healthy lifestyle. Live right, Eat right, Feel right.
Get up and start moving.
There are a variety of exercise routines that you can choose from: walking, dancing, jogging, biking, skipping rope, etc. Pick one which is most enjoyable and fitting for you, or pick a few! Be sure you can stick with it for some time, and repeat it (or them) 3 to 5 days each week. Exercise sessions should last 30 to 60 minutes. Combine this with a bit of weight training. Studies have shown that just 3 days per week of resistance training can help raise your metabolism and help burn more calories while maintaining strength, and keeping muscles toned.
If you are a novice, always consult with your physician before you start an exercise program.
You’ll have more energy and look more fit as you move toward your goal. Using a combination of healthy eating habits, and a sound exercise program, all laced in with daily visualization and intention statements will guide you towards safe and quick weight loss to last a lifetime.
Looking good and feeling better naturally is now just a phone call away. Try nycfitliving now for a FREE, no-obligation 30-minute consultation. Call us now to get started today: