5 Tips For Healthy Weight Loss

08:34 Simply Shrinking 244 Comments

In the midst of all my job applications and the Christmas rush, I'm trying to keep my blog as active as I can because of all the positive things people have said about it. Hello if you're a prospective employer having a snoop after seeing this on my resume! I promise you'll love employing me! 
This week is about the 5 things that helped me achieve healthy and sustainable weight loss which I feel might help other people overcome what may possibly be hindering their hard work. I'm not going to ever give out meal plans or workout routines because I don't hold the relevant qualifications so I think it would be morally wrong but I'm more than happy to share generic guidance.




1. Planning

I know for me I just laze around if I don't have some kind of schedule or regime planned for myself and I think lots of people can benefit from planning their time effectively. I'm not saying you need to be super strict and allocate your time down to the last minute but a rough idea of what you need to do each day might help and lessen the likelihood of excuses being made. 

You can find really nice and inexpensive planners that stick to your wall or a diary you can keep in your room so there's no need to spend a lot on a planner specifically designed for fitness. Even a quick Google search here brings up lots of printables you can have for free or buy. There is a wealth of workout routines online already planned out whether it be Blogilates or from Body Building but please be mindful of whether the routine you have found is suitable for you and is made by someone that knows what they're talking about. 

Planning out your meals can take away some of the effort when it comes to thinking what to eat that evening and reaching for junk food as well as saving you money. It saves you money because you might buy less food on the go or not waste food in your refrigerator that you may have forgotten about. Meal planning is handy if you struggle to eat the correct amount and need a bit more guidance so you can divide your daily requirements up into extra snacks to keep you feel, larger or smaller portion sizes etc. This meal plan can then be turned into a shopping list and so you'll always have everything you need as well as letting you work in cheat meals or cheat days so you know that you're having them in moderation. 

2. Maintaining Motivation

Basically everyone that has tried to lose weight feels that huge rush of motivation, you do all your workouts, eat great for a few days but then it starts to fade away and your bed is much more appealing than a workout but nobody is going to workout and eat well for you. 

There aren't any magic words for motivation but finding out what drives you can help. I gave myself a reward system for every 5 lbs I lost where I would buy something like a new DVD, nail varnish, clothes etc. You could also put money in a pot and then use it to buy new clothes when you get towards your target weight. 

On my bedroom wall, I had a piece of paper with numbers counting down from my start weight to my goal weight and I would cross them off every time I lost a pound. Next to this was my workout schedule and both acted as a form of accountability so I was reminded of what I was trying to achieve every single day. 

Creating a social media profile such as blogspot, tumblr or instagram means you can document your journey and progress whilst talking to other people who have either achieved what you want or are at the same stage as you. Having my tumblr helped me immensely not only in terms of accountability but making friends who supported me along the way and being able to look back at my old photos to see how I had changed. 

3. Be Realistic

On numerous occasions I've spoken to people that give up losing weight because they aren't losing it fast enough or the exercise they do is hard. Lots of people feel that way about things when they don't get results quickly but we have to remember that it doesn't take a day to gain weight and it won't take a day to lose it. 

Sustainable weight loss is 1-2 lbs a week, depending on your current body fat percentage, and unfortunately we see lots of magazines with huge titles saying "lose 15 lbs in 15 days" etc. that make us think we're supposed to lose weight fast.

I'm also a strong believer in not adding time goals to weight loss. By all means think 2 years down the line but don't say "i'm going to lose 5 lbs this week" or "lose 15 lbs this month" because you're only rushing yourself and you will get disheartened when you don't hit those targets. Weight loss is more of a marathon than a race and you probably won't lose weight at a steady rate anyway so give yourself time. 


4. Measure Yourself

I've spoken about natural weight fluctuation before but I think it is so important to know how much the numbers on the scales can change without you gaining any actual weight. The only real way to better understand what your body is doing is to periodically take your  key measurements or have your body fat percentage measured. 

I measured my upper arms, under my bust, waist, tummy, thighs and calves every few weeks or so. My weight would sometimes stay the same or even go up due to natural fluctuations but my measurements would show that I was in fact physically smaller. Your weight can go up or remain the same when you gain muscle but because it is much denser than fat it will take up less small on your body but your body fat percentage has decreased. 

There are online calculators for measuring your body fat percentage but I wouldn't be one to quote on their reliability because they work of different equations. Some gyms and doctors will be able to measure it for you using a caliper or an electronic device but I'm assuming they're not suitable for people like me with heart implants! 

If you don't want to measure or weigh yourself, you can also take comparison photos to compare after a few months. I know that I didn't see any changes when I looked in the mirror every day because I was used to what I saw but I was shocked when I compared myself in photos. Seriously! Go take some now if you haven't! I wish that I had taken mine sooner so I could better see how my body has changed. Nobody is going to see them and you don't have to show them to anybody if you don't want to but I just think they're the best way to motivate yourself and see progress. 

5. Stay Hydrated

It's totally normal to confuse hunger with thirst, it happens to lots of people, and the way to combat this is to learn the difference and stay hydrated. Our bodies require water for so many basic bodily functions to work properly and if you're going to workout then you will need to drink more water to counter what you lose through sweat.

Drinking adequate amounts of water can help clear up your skin, regulate your digestive system and help you lose water weight/bloating which may make you appear slimmer. The general recommended amount of water varies but from what I have seen it is about 1.5 to 2 litres a day but it is worth giving this webMD page a read to decide for yourself. 

Apps can help you track your water intake, these include Myfitnesspal or iDrated. I think iDrated is more useful because it works based upon your vita statistics and can be set to tell you when you need to have another drink. If you don't have access to these, figuring out your needs then dividing it up into glasses throughout the day, such as with every meal or certain times, and tracking your daily intake in your fitness planner/diary can help you stay on track. 



Once again thank you for reading and for your suggestions! I would still love some more! 


xoxo

244 comments:

«Oldest   ‹Older     Newer›   Newest»
«Oldest ‹Older     Newer› Newest»

5 Weight Loss Myths

06:14 Simply Shrinking 6 Comments

Blogspot Lead Image

This week I will be talking about the 5 main weight loss myths that I get asked about or see mentioned a lot on fitness social media. They show that we should always do our own research and not just believe what we see written on a post floating around the internet or fall for clever marketing tricks. I'm going to cover the basics but it is great to do your own research from a variety of accredited sources. These myths can be really harmful to peoples' physical and mental health and their relationship with their body or foods so don't always trust the words of someone that is a fitness "expert" just because they want to make money, got paid to promote a product or didn't do their own research properly! 

1 - Detoxes & Detox Teas

We've all seen the pictures with the cute tea cups next to brightly coloured packaging on Instagram and Tumblr advertising the amazing property of detox teas and how you can get a flat belly in 14 days! Sadly this is all wrong and can be very dangerous. 

There is no such thing as a detox or cleanse. The word has been warped and abused by those wishing to make money from it. The claims of these companies is that your body will be rid of toxins but their blurbs are always very vague and never actually detail what toxins they will actually rid you of? That's because these is no credible or scientific evidence to confirm that these detox kits or teas will remove these so-called "toxins". 

Unfortunately I have read posts on people reviewing these teas who have had experience of the dangerous side affects. Many people claim that the colon is what needs to be "cleansed" because we build up "mucoid plaque" which we need to be rid of immediately. "Mucoid plaque" does not exist. So to cleanse to your body of this scary nonexistent plaque and other apparent toxins, some of the teas are packed with laxatives. Yes these may be natural ingredients (such as senna) but can still be dangerous. You'll certainly get a flat stomach because you'll spend your time on the toilet pooping (maybe even diarrhea) and unable to eat which may cause permanent damage to your digestive system. Within one review I read, the author unfortunately had menstrual issues because she had to poo excessively which in turn messed with her contraceptive pill. 

 The posts and websites advertising these detoxes will use buzz words (i.e. skinny, organic, fat shrinking, non-GMO, antioxidants, toxin cleansing etc.) to make them sound more credible but surely something like that would have to be thoroughly tested and accredited. 

If the teas do not contain natural laxatives then they're just regular fruit tea in a fancy package with clever branding which is wasting a lot of your money. 75 pence for 20 tea bags in Tesco or £30 for a 30 day "cleanse" from a company with little reputation? You're better off just drinking more water to reduce natural bloating, saving your money and your health. 

You can always find pictures on instagram of the beautiful girls holding their cups of tea next to their toned abs but they've gotten that product for a reason. They've been sent that product to promote because they have a large number of followers and that's how advertising works; we make the connection between the tea and the abs so we think "if I drink the tea, I get the abs!". They attained that body because they're naturally slim or they work very hard to maintain it. No tea is going to make you look like Candice Swaenpol on an average day! If anyone ever recommends a detox or cleanse to you, no matter how long or short, you would do very well to question their credibility and any other information they have given you. 

2 - 1200 calories is the magic number

I think the most harmful myth I have seen on numerous occasions is that of 1200 calories. Somewhere along the way, it's been hailed as the magic number to lose weight and you should stick to that so you achieve your body goals.

1200 calories is actually the number of calories the "average" woman can eat before her body starts to suffer more negative health impacts and go into starvation mode. This number will create a calorie deficit that is too low (even worse if you think you can eat that much and workout) thus causing your net calories to be below your BMR (the basic calorie needs of your body just to survive) which could lead to sickness, thinning hair, reduced bone mass, muscle loss, menstrual issues, tiredness, increased risk of digestive issues, gallstones and thyroid issues. 

 It would be very difficult to eat so little for a sustained period as your body knows it is starving and begins to crave more high energy foods, like junk foods, to get some energy and survive. In the long term, you will also be much more likely to gain back any weight you have lost because your body wants to recover and meet its basic needs.

Yes you will lose weight eating that little but at the same time you will get sick and eventually you will put the weight all back on because it is not sustainable. It looks as though some people just pluck a calorie goal out of the air or aim for what others eat without considering their own calorific needs based upon their individual statistics. If you want to figure out how much to eat then I recommend the IIFYM calculator at iifym.com. Using your own statistics and goals, it tells you how many calories to aim for on a daily basis (whether or not you're working out on that day). This is a lot more accurate than the numbers pumped out by other well known calorie intake tracking websites (naming no names) which recommend a lot of people eat 1200 calories a day. I presume there's a fault in their math somewhere along the lines. 

 Once again, I would greatly question the qualifications and motives of someone recommending you to eat 1200 calories a day. 

3 - You'll bulk up if you lift! 

I get asks on my tumblr quite frequently from girls that are scared they will bulk up as soon as they do any strength training or weights. The truth is that it is very hard for women to bulk up because as women have about 5-10% of the testosterone levels that men have. Testosterone is required to gain lean muscle so, as a woman, you would have to work so hard to bulk up. You have to lift very heavy and eat at a calorie surplus (above maintenance) to gain muscle because you cannot gain muscle whilst eating at a calorie deficit (apart from in a few situations but I won't go into that today). 

What lifting weights and strength training will do for you is allow you to maintain your muscle mass so that, when you lose fat through cardio, you will eventually have tone and definition. If you do a lot of cardio and not much strength work then you muscle mass will reduce. There are lots of fit celebrities that lift weights and do lots of strength work to maintain their shape. You can see plenty of pictures of Adriana Lima and Jessica Alba doing strength work as well as the gorgeous girls on tumblr who lift very heavy to get their peachy butts! 

4 - I gained weight overnight

Natural weight fluctuation is very normal and happens to everybody. It can be due to bloating, water retention, soreness of muscles, the mass of food in your system, hormonal changes, constipation or increased salt intake etc. You did not suddenly gain 5lbs because you ate a cheeseburger yesterday so there is no need to panic or think you need to give up these foods.

1 pound of fat is generally believed to be 3500 calories so in order to gain then you would theoretically have to eat that on top of your TDEE (the number of calories you need on a daily basis to maintain your weight). 

This is also the downside to weighing yourself frequently because natural fluctuation may be misconstrued as weight gain and thus change your relationship with weight loss in a negative way. Just go back to your usual daily routine and any weight you have "gained" won't be there next week. I think it puts a lot of people off enjoying themselves around birthdays or the holidays as they think that excess calories will actually cause permanent weight gain but calories are not fat cells in food form. It is 100% to be healthy and enjoy the things you may consider as junk foods but it is all about moderation. 


 5 - You can spot reduce 

The worst thing I see on magazine covers is "get rid of your love handles" or "crunch away your belly fat" which implies that we can pick and choose where our boy loses fat from. This is not the case at all. You can do all the crunches you want to firm up your abs but that will not make your body burn fat from that area.

Our bodies all lose fat differently and we can't change that. I myself initially lost weight from around my upper body and calves whilst my thighs and butt took a long time to catch up! There is no exercise you can do which will make you lose weight from a specific area. You can do strength moves which will target the muscles and possibly make the area look different through tone but it is really just a waiting game as to where your body will lose fat from when you do cardio exercises. That's why we need a mix of cardio and strength in our workout routines. 
Next week I will be posting my 5 main tips for healthy and sustainable weight loss, with the week after focusing on the basic equipment you need for working out and where to get it on a budget!

 Thank you very much for reading and I would really appreciate any suggestions you have for my blog and the posts I create on here or on Instagram (nkgage)
xoxo

6 comments:

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)