Hey everyone!
Today’s topic is a serious one. I want to talk about this because I know that there are so many people who are using this time to be the best version of themselves. It truly is a great time to work on your eating habits and exercise routines. However, it can also be daunting and difficult.
I want to explain some things you need to know before starting a healthy lifestyle. These are things I really wish someone would have taught me before starting the journey and I want to share them with you.
I am going to university right now to become a board-certified health coach with a focus on nutrition. I have learned so much and want to share it with you gals out there looking to lose weight and be healthy!
This 7 Day Detox Program by Christina Carlyle (aff link) really helped me get started on my fitness journey this year. It helped me lose excess water weight of 7 lbs… it also helped me to reduce sugar cravings and get into the habit of eating fresh healthy food!
Distinguish your ‘why’ and your goal
When you first start, please try your best and determine your why for your weight loss. And please remember number 2, its not all about looks. There are many reasons why people want to lose weight or better yet achieve a healthier lifestyle.
Take out a piece of paper and write down your deepest reason for WHY you want to lose weight other than aesthetic reasons. We will talk about that next.
It’s not all about the looks
Having a healthy lifestyle and wanting to lose weight is NOT all about the looks. I realized this late in the game when I kept restricting myself and being upset when I couldn’t “stay” on my “diet”. Instead, I started to let go of an idealistic standard for what I should look like and instead focused on what I want to feel like which is more motivating to me to keep up with. Which also means, assess your goal.
Love yourself now, no matter what. Once you can accept who you are right now, you will be happy to continue the journey. You will be proud of yourself and happy no matter what.
Its all about calories in vs calories out
I know no one wants to hear this, but this is 100% true. This reason right here will allow you to be able to fit treats, pizza, and even drinks into your diet. If you calculate your macros properly, you can determine your caloric intake and be able to fit that cookie in your day.
The reason why this is an important thing is that if you eat more than you burn, you will gain weight. With a sedentary lifestyle, and highly palatable foods its way to easy to overeat. Here are some ways you can figure out your expenditures.
You can find out how much your body is burning by this: equation, TDEE calculator
There is an equation you can do to calculate this properly. Sometimes calculators are super off! I like using an equation but that is overwhelming. I can make a post about it.
You can figure out how much you need to eat here: Macro Calculator
Assess your BMI & hip to waist ratio to determine fat distribution here: BMI, Hip to Waist Ratio
Also, Fitness Pal is my all-time favorite calorie tracker. It’s free and really easy to use. I have been thinking about purchasing the full version. If you guys want me to leave a review, please comment down below.
RELATED: Weight Loss foods To keep you Full on a Diet
It’s a journey, not a finish line
Ah yes. Many people want results and they want them now! I am GUILTY of this… I have done many fad diets in the past all in hopes to lose weight fast. But the question I came to be was this,
“Why do I want to lose weight fast? What’s truly the rush?”
It’s a lifestyle not a race. You do not need to lose weight super quick BECAUSE, you will gain it back AND you will ruin your BMR. BMR is how you burn calories in a day. If you keep on and off dieting, you will make this lower and it will be harder to burn calories.
It is important to Go Slooowww and Start Small 😊
Pro Tip:
Write out 3 small goals. Practice them this week. Keep doing them every week. You will notice a big difference!
Examples of goals you could try:
- Drink 64 oz of water a day
- No dairy for a week
- Get 7.5 hours of sleep a night
RELATED: Underrated Weight Loss Tips from Reddit Users
Supplements are unnecessary (sometimes…)
Do not be fooled by gimmicks out there that say you can lose weight fast by taking a pill or drinking a tea. These are diuretics or laxatives that can send people to the hospital. The only supplements to take are those your doctor says are okay, probiotics, coffee, and that’s pretty much it. I do take a pre workout supplement but have really decreased usage for this.
I also really like Hum Nutrition for supplements but just know supplements aren’t regulated by the FDA and some can have scary ingredients not included on the label. Please be careful when buying supplements online 😊
Here is a video on Supplements
What You Need to Know about Buying Supplements
Fad diets DON’T work
*sigh* Yes I am looking at you Keto. There are TONS of fad diets that are flooding the market claiming to help people lose 25+ pounds. Please don’t give in to this scheme. It is just a way to make money…
Most of the time, these are very restrictive and hard to sustain long term. Refer back to “it’s a journey not a finish line” These “diets” are just that, a diet that is short term and will NOT give you long-lasting results.
Again, they could damage your BMR and make you end up gaining a lot more weight after coming off of it. Not only that, it takes months to get rid of real body fat. Most of the time people are only losing water weight when on these diets.
RELATED: 12 Easy & Healthy Vegan Instant Pot Recipes
Fitness isn’t all about weight lifting and forcing yourself to run
Fitness can be a multitude of activities! Don’t force yourself to do an activity you f**king hate. You will never enjoy exercise and the MANY benefits it has for you.
If you don’t like running, don’t run. If you love going for walks, hikes, swimming, dancing, do those instead.
Its also okay to switch it up whenever you want! There are NO RULES :D, In fact, it will be more fun and you will experience more benefits by trying new things.
RELATED: 5 FREE AMAZING Workout Videos You can Do at Home!
Stress, sleep, and hydration also affect weight loss
Wow. I cannot stress this one enough.
Water is so important to flush toxins and build up out of your body. It also keeps your body clean, feeling tight, eliminates bloat, decreases cravings, clears up your skin, makes you feel fuller, and of course keeps your bodily functions working.
Sleep is essential for regulating your hormones and diminishing stress through the body. A great night’s sleep will help you feel energized and refreshed. If you sleep less than 6 hours, you are more prone to obesity and dangerous diseases like heart disease.
Stress is beyond important to control. If you need some help with this, I have a post on it where you can learn more. Long story short, stress induces cravings for junk food leading to weight gain. It also affects the cortisol hormone to stay elevated which can wreak havoc on your body!
Get rid of trigger foods
Sometimes, you do need to cut things out of your diet. If you are addicted to sugar, get it out of your diet. This is a hard pill to swallow but getting rid of trigger foods will help you live a healthier lifestyle! Getting rid of these foods will decrease your chances of a binge or overeating.
Not buying junk foods will save you money and help you hit your goals!
RELATED: 10 Healthy Sweet Snacks to Satisfy the Sweet Tooth
Discipline is more than motivation
Do not focus on motivation to help you get your eating habits and exercise routine in check. BUT, having discipline on the other hand, can seriously help you achieve your goals. Discipline can be hard to achieve but you can do it with practice.
It is so hard to say no to cupcakes, but that’s why discipline is more important than motivation. Where is that motivation when cupcakes are in the room? Yeah that flew out the window!
Focus on small things to be discipline with and practice it. It doesn’t have to be hard. It can something as simple as not giving in to buying a candy bar while at the store. After you do this, pat yourself on the back and act as a victory!
Make time for hobbies and fun activities
This will help you get your mind off food and weight loss and focus on doing something more creative. It is always so fun to work on fun activities for hours! It will keep your brain feeling good, your stress will diminish, and you are being loads more positive and self-caring!
Examples of hobbies:
- Card games
- Drawing
- Bullet journaling
- Coloring
- Listening to music and dancing!
- Cleaning
- Walking dogs
- Grooming your animals
- Playing with makeup & hair
- Organizing your drawers, closet, kitchen
- Gratitude journaling
- Journaling
- Bible reading
- Reading
RELATED: 10 Fitness Items from Amazon you Didn’t Know you Needed!
Don’t beat yourself up (failure is okay!!)
Look, we don’t learn unless we fail. Failure is okay, getting back up and realizing what you need to change is most important. In fact, if you fail at a diet, it just means you need to change a couple of things. Not beat yourself up, give up, and eat a bunch of cake.
Instead, journal about it and look up some new recipes, workouts, or even talk to a friend about it. These will help you feel better.
Practice self-care and be positive
Take care of yourself, set time for yourself. This is so important because we tend to care about getting the most amount of work done possible and then not focusing on yourself. Practicing gratitude will increase positivity and happiness in your day.
RELATED: 14 Ways to Reduce Stress
Mindfulness is crucial
Being mindful allows you to establish purpose.
If you are eating or doing something that is not meaningful, why are you eating it? Say to yourself:
“Why am I eating this”
before eating something and it will create more mindfulness with snacking. Even while you eat, don’t be distracted and slow down when you eat.
Don’t focus on what others are eating
I focused on this a little too much when starting my journey because I wanted to look like a certain YouTuber or Instagrammer. If you struggle with this, delete the apps or unfollow YouTubers and the grammers.
You will start having more peace over your food because it is your choice
Remember number 2… It’s not all about the looks, but about you.
Eat for you and what you want to eat that will bring you to your why/ goal. Once you establish your main goal, it can be easy to make a meal plan for yourself.
RELATED: Why the Meditteranean diet works for Weight Loss
Thanks everyone for sticking through this post. I am sorry if it’s long but I had to spit some truth here. I hate when I see lots of fad diet posts that promote fast weight loss… and yes I am admitting that I am guilty of posting about this too. This was before I learned the truth! Haha.
I hope you all are sticking with your goals or find this helpful for starting your own fitness journey! It can be hard but once you start it, you can do anything!
Try out Christina’s awesome 7 Day Reset Cleanse to feel great this summer.
Do you have any advice from your fitness journey? are you just getting started? I would love to hear how it’s going! Comment down below ☺☺
XOXO,
DACIA
Joshua 1:9
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
