New Year. New You?
Every year millions of people make millions of resolutions with the most popular being to lose weight. The corporate gyms salivate at this time of year hoping to lure in people looking for the magic secret of weight loss. This blog is now going to be a dream crusher because unfortunately there is no “magic secret.” It won’t be easy to lose weight, but all you really need is the determination and consistency. If you have that then you will accomplish it. While the journey may be difficult, the actual things you should do are simple: eat right and exercise.
Why?
No one wants to be trapped in a body that they are uncomfortable in. Believe me, I get that. I lived with a body that had my abdominal muscles split down the middle and pulled over my ribcage. Think about living and moving without core muscles… talk about uncomfortable! When I was shot, one of the bullets landed in my stomach; so not only did I have surgeries to extract it and repair damage, the doctors left my stomach “open” for easy access to repair subsequent issues. To recreate my stomach, they took skin from my thigh to cover my organs. I remained that way for over 9 months. I wore a Velcro band around my stomach at all times to give my core and organs support since I didn’t have abdominal muscles. In those days it was difficult for me to look at my body. I couldn’t believe it was mine. When I looked in the mirror, I didn’t know whose body it was and it gave me a pretty bad personal image. There were times that I cried looking at pictures of what used to be my “normal” stomach, and I vowed that when I was able I would make sure I wasn’t trapped in a body I didn’t want. No matter what our situations are, we can make the right choices to change our bodies for the better. Do not ever feel trapped in your body.
Eat Right?!
What does it that even mean??? Low carb, high carb, low fat, more fat?!!? Relax. It’s not all that difficult. Unless you have very specific goals i.e. a marathon, bodybuilding competition, Spartan race, you do not need to overcomplicate it. To begin a weight loss journey, get a simple calorie calculator app on your phone to assess how much you’re eating everyday right now. Try this for a week. Once you calculate that, then do a Google search on how many calories you should eat based on your weight and activity level to lose weight. Start your journey by just doing that- eat only the amount of calories necessary to lose weight. If you are committed, you will see results. If you mess up one day, it’s not OVER! This should be a lifestyle change, not just a diet. Diet is a bad word because it simply means that after “x” amount of time you’ll go back to your bad habits. Just remember that those bad habits got you to a point that you’re not happy with in the first place.
I personally try to “eat clean.” If you’re interested in that, comment below and I’ll blog about what that means to me. I prepare my meals for the week on Sundays and sometimes again on Wednesdays, which helps take out the daily guess work as well as the temptation to cheat. It’s easier to refuse a pizza when I know I have a chicken breast with rice and veggies at home. And from a monetary standpoint, I already spent the money on that meal at my house, which will be wasted if I give in to pizza. Not too mention large amounts of protein and complex carbs (sweet potatoes, rice, even green veggies) make your meals much less expensive.
Exercise
TRX, Cross Fit, Yoga, Spinning, Weights, Cardio…what should I do?? To get started, just pick what you enjoy the most, or experiment with a few to figure it out. Once you pick, start with at least 30 minutes a day. This has been shown in studies to be the necessary time to see results. I know people are busy, but thirty minutes of a twenty-four hour day is SO small. In combination with eating the correct number of calories you will get your new body on the way. I like to hit the elliptical and lift weights. It’s a combination that works for me, but experiment with your body.
Don’t Forget
Missing a workout or eating too much for one day is NOT going to kill you, but make sure it doesn’t derail you from your goals. I’ve spoken with numerous people who give up on diets and exercise because of “bad days.” I’ve had my share of bad days (think wings, cheese fries, and everything awful for weight loss) but I didn’t let that one day stop me. Once the day ends, it’s over. Forget about it and move on with your plan to succeed. Once you get it into your head that this is what you want then you will create a habit to help you succeed. For now, just keep it simple and get started!