How Can I Lose Weight? One of those questions that appears to endure, generation after generation. It seems as though society is trending towards adults who are becoming more work-driven, while becoming more and more sedentary. With the advent of the computer and the internet, people are just able to get things done more quickly. You think that would free up more time for things like exercise. Strangely enough, though, it’s resulted in a never-ending feedback loop to squeeze every bit of productivity that you can out of your work day. The fast food choices don’t help much either: juicy KFC chicken drumsticks, crispy, golden, deliciously fattening McDonald’s fries, a smooth, soft-frozen, sweet spoonful of a Wendy’s frosty. With so many things in your environment that are contribute to an obese lifestyle, are you doomed? Is attempting to lose weight a lost cause? ABSOLUTELY………..NOT!!!!!!!
Losing weight seems like the impossible dream for so many people. Why? Because gaining weight is just so easy to do. It’s the path of least resistance. It’s incredibly easy to sit in front of a television set and eat foods that make palate smile: salty foods, sugary foods, fattening foods. But if losing weight is truly something you want to do, I want to let you know that you CAN do it! It’s not rocket science, and to be honest it’s not as hard as you think it is.
I know someone reading this is simply diet-jaded. You’ve gotten so busy that you don’t really have time to research everything yourself. You’ve tried diet after diet after diet only to find that either a) you got no results at all or b) the results didn’t last long. Someone out there reading this gets a bit morose after looking at those high school photos of not just being thin, but being athletic: you were an athlete, a cheerleader, a wrestler. When you look at these photos you ask yourself what happened. It happens to so many of us…I’ve been there, too. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
So, How do we actually go about losing the weight? This may sound a bit cliche, but bear with me. There are three foci I want you to consider: 1) Your diet, 2) exercise, 3) supplementation, and 4) your mindset.
1. Diet
If you have a constant craving for fast food, it’s going to be hard to lose weight. I propose that breaking the addiction to all things tasty, fattening and sweet doesn’t have to be so bad. Try making just one healthy meal for yourself per week, and see if you can scale up. I still give myself a day where I go hog wild and eat pizza, chocolate, whatever the hell I want. My eating regimen makes that free day so much sweeter when it happens.
What’s a healthy meal? I think of a healthy meal as a protein (chicken, fish, turkey, etc.)and a good carbohydrate (sweet potatoes, brown rice, nothing processed).
2. Exercise
If you’ve been sedentary for a while, just hearing the word exercise, might make you cringe. But it REALLY doesn’t have to be like that. If you don’t like traditional exercise, find so type of exercise you do like, and start. That’s the key, just start. You don’t have to go hard, go at a pace that’s right for you, that you can enjoy.
I remember being at my heaviest weight. I looked in mirror one day and I just didn’t like what I saw…it wasn’t me anymore. It was enough to make me try…something. I adopted the “something is better than nothing approach” to exercise. No joke, I was so heavy that running put incredible strain on my back and my knees so I walked until I was able to run. I would run until my back muscle would get sore. The pain only lasted for a short while and my body started to adjust, I started to feel good, and got to a point where I could actually run a full ten miles without stopping (I used that Nike ipod Software to track my progress).
3. Supplementation
I’m not a big believer in overloading on supplements, because it’s not necessary. Truth be told, my biggest weight loss happened when I wasn’t taking anything at all, but my diet was truly on point. The biggest thing I can recommend if you’re just starting out, is a simple whey protein. I sometimes like to add creatine for more explosive strength, but a simple whey protein, to help meet your daily protein dosage is a great start.
4. Mindset
Often the answer to the question of “How To Lose Weight” lies in how you think. Have you ever heard that quote by ? It goes something like this “If you think you’re defeated, If you think you’re a winner, you’re probably right.” Set your goal and don’t let anything stop you.
For many of you, your body is capable of being thin. It’s highly likely that some of you reading this, at some point in your lives, were once quite slim. Maybe it’s the pressure of a highly stressful job that’s driving you to eat poorly and not exercise. My answer to that is to put things in perspective. Work is important, but so are you. Make time for yourself. Hell, you’re worth it!
What if you’ve always been a tad overweight? Is it hopeless? NO WAY! You have just as much right as anybody else to have the body your want, and there’s no time like the present to completely change things.
When I started to fall into that pattern of stress and hopelessness. You’d be surprised at how changing just a little bit of your weekly routine can be the first steps to completely changing your body and ultimately, your life.
DO NOT GIVE UP! LOSING WEIGHT IS A TOTALLY ACHIEVABLE GOAL!
