Hi guys! Like many of us we want to keep that weight loss goal in 2013 right? I've been getting questions on IG and Twitter on how to lose weight and what you can change about your diet to start shedding those unwanted pounds off. First off let me say, I'm not a professional "trainer" or nutritionist, I go by what I've learned on my own and have personally experienced and seen. Losing weight is a long and hard journey and it can only be done if YOU work hard for it. I'll tell you what my Herbalife coach told me:
"The only way you can lose weight is if you get off your lazy ass and work for it."
Hahaha and honestly that's the best quote I've heard about weight loss so far because it's true. So now I'm going to give you guys the first five tips in my opinion on what you should do to start your workout, diet, & start seeing results:
♡ 1: KEEP A FOOD DIARY! Whether it's a notebook or an app like MyFitnessPal always keep track of what you eat. One of the common reasons we gain weight or never lose any is because we eat more calories in a day than we should. I've used MyFitnessPal for the times I've worked out and now I've made a new one to keep track of my weightloss for my birthday! It's a free app for both iPhones and Androids and I love it.
I love how it has a scan feature so you're not searching for everything and take years finding it and you can change your calorie intake as well. Use this site to see how many calories you should eat for your weight loss journey to enter it into your MyFitnessPal.
http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
Also it's going to ask you for your current weight and you can enter when you lost weight but HUGE TIP, avoid the scale everyday. You can stress yourself out if you don't see a difference in the scale (and you don't want to be stressed when you're trying to lose weight) but remember a pound is a pound is a pound. A pound of muscle and fat weighs the same but muscle takes up less space so don't pay too much attention to the scale. Weigh yourself every 1-2 weeks and take your measurements instead. A fun thing to do is take a before photo and one every month to see the difference in photographs. If you rely on the scale to tell you if you lost weight I guarantee you will get unmotivated. If your body is like mine, you'll lose inches before you start seeing pounds drop.
♡ 2. DRINK WATER. H2O! That 8 glasses a day saying is true, you always want to drink 2 liters a day, if you can't, start slowly and get to that point. You need water in your body since 60% of it is water and when you work out you get dehydrated. It's very essential for weight loss, so that mean whenever you crave a soda or juice, challenge yourself and replace it with a glass of water instead. Remember 2 liters! (Hint: Smart Water & Fiji have 1 liter bottles, buy one and drink two of those a day. Refill and drink.) also, make green tea your best friend, it does wonders for your skin and metabolism.
♡ 3. COOK YOUR OWN MEALS! ABS START IN THE KITCHEN, NOT THE GYM! Eating out has it's goods and bads, sure the food's delicious (unless you have a deathwish I have to say don't eat out too much) but if you do the math, it's also expensive, plus you keep track of whats in your food when you cook. Avoid the frozen, processed and high fructose corn syrup junk, yuck. Eat organic instead.
I know some of us get lazy to cook or maybe we just don't have time or maybe you just hate being in the kitchen. I know when I was a teenager I hated being in the kitchen and cooking but I grew out of it once I noticed a difference from my stomach. When I moved back from Mexico I gained all the weight I had lost back from eating alot of fast food (blast you freshmen 15 and living on campus -___-) and OMG do I regret it and wish I knew better (i was almost a size 3 ; ___ ; ). From eating a lot of fast/junk food, drinking a lot of Monsters and lattes, and no exercise I was diagnosed with a horrible kidney infection which luckily was caught before it was worse and since I don't have health insurance, shit cost us more than $500 to get better, Rick literally saved my life. Since then I've been cooking my own meals filled with protein, eating alot more vegetables (WHICH IS IMPORTANT BTW EAT ALOT OF FRUITS AS WELL), drinking nothing but water & green tea, I've shed 20 pounds so far. I only eat fast food once or twice a week. You don't want clinic or hospital bills, strive to be healthy so when you're older you won't have to worry about some illness F'ing you up.
p.s. ALWAYS EAT BREAKFAST, A LIGHT LUNCH, AND A PROTEIN DINNER WITH TWO SMALL SNACKS IN BETWEEN! NEVER STARVE YOURSELF! PEOPLE WHO DO THINK YOU'LL LOSE WEIGHT IF YOU EAT NOTHING AT ALL BUT ITS FALSE, YOU'LL GAIN MORE WEIGHT BACK!!! FOOD IS FUEL FOR YOUR BODY, HELPS YOU FOR YOUR WORKOUTS AND GIVES YOU THE VITAMINS AND NUTRITION YOU NEED! AS BROOKE DAVIS FROM ONE TREE HILL SAID "ANOREXIA IS A DISEASE; NOT A FASHION STATEMENT".
♡ 4. WORKOUT FOR AN HOUR A DAY! Whether it's playing a sport, cardio, yoga, pilates, boxing, walking, running. Get your heart pumping! I always start out my workout routines with an hour of jogging/running and this small workout I found on Tumblr to warm me up.
(take it slowly and be safe, it is a hard thing to get started on)
I'm also a huge fan of TaeBo videos, Billy Blanks is amazing! When I was working out in mexico as a teenager I lost a lot of weight from doing his videos for an hour a day combined with running for another hour. His heavy cardio routines and motivation is amazing and he gets you so into your workout! I recently bought a new one that left me dead after finishing it. It's called TaeBo: Cardio Inferno! I highly recommend it, it was only $14.99 at Barnes and Noble. I trust no other videos than TaeBo. The average time to complete his videos is about 45 minutes which is perfect to see a difference in your body along with the running and workout above.
♡ 5. REWARD & MOTIVATE YOURSELF. You are your own worst enemy when it comes to changing your body. I couldn't tell you how many times I've cried and felt like I was never going to get my body back. And to be honest I'm scared of ending up in the hospital again because of my damn kidneys. Have faith and motivate yourself into your workouts. Take it one small step at a time and tell yourself you WILL get there. Healthy weight loss takes a long time and when you burn something off you can keep it off. Try to reward yourself when you reach a new weight goal. One small thing I'm doing is buying MYSELF a small little present at every goal I have written. (For example: when I reach 115 pounds, I'm going on a Victoria's Secret shopping spree! I don't care if I blow a whole paycheck on it LMAO) Always believe in yourself, you will get there. Anybody can lose weight! I'll be here for those who needs more help or whatever else you can do to expand your workout. These tips work for both guys and gals, especially if you've stopped working out for a while.
So if you have anymore questions, comment below, ask me on Twitter @KittenStarrr_, and ask me on ask.fm/kittenstarrr! Work hard! Keep it ugly ~
xx,
A. ♡
