I currently have 20 people participating in a weight loss challenge. Those that know me, know how crazy that sounds. Not everyone in the challenge knows me, so I thought I’d write an intro blog.
First, why do I dislike weight loss challenges? I am really all about the healthy lifestyle. Weight loss challenges focus too much on the scale, one little indicator of health. I’m not a believer that you should get a trophy just for participating in a team sport. This is your life and not a game though. So, win or not, you need a positive take away.
One important thing, this is a six week challenge that should hopefully kick start forever changes. Better portion control, more activity, and healthier food choices.
Many of you work out, several even with me. It is important to remember that you can’t out-exercise a bad diet. Exercise will help encourage you to make better food choices. Exercise will build muscle , which is denser and uses more calories than fat. Exercise will also help tone as you lose weight, which helps with the loose and saggy excess skin. Adding exercise to your current diet will not create long term weight loss.
Food logs work! My fitness pal, fat secret, the eatery, lose it, and spark people; weight watchers; and good old pen and paper. What is best? Whichever one you will actually complete. Even better, record feelings, so you can see your correlation with eating habits. Ultimate goal, create and follow a meal plan. The meal plan should not be perfect or complicated.
To make your meal plan realistic and simple, set guidelines for yourself. Positive and small changes, like eat a fruit or veggie at every meal. Find a lifestyle diet you can follow for the immediate future. You can always change along the way. If you like more structure, look into paleo and carb cycling for healthy foods, or weight watchers for portion control.
Remember you are on a journey. You won’t magically love yourself at some magical weight, love yourself today.
What can you do to win the competition that you may not be doing now? Make time to exercise more. Instead of boot camp 4 days a week, add some extra walks through out the week. If you are under doc orders to not work out, find what kind of activity is allowed. I can even help create a program for you with the information. If your problem is eating too many calories, incorporate a couple salads a day to help fill you up and clean you out. If you only eat 1 or 2 times a day, you need more calories to effectively lose weight, so eat more frequently. Be sure to eat protein, carbs, and healthy fats at each meal/snack. Take a B12 (B complex works too) at lunch. Include fish oil, or krill oil, at meals and snacks that don’t contain enough fat. Know that fruits and vegetables are in fact carbohydrates. Pick up some Tonalin CLA and liquid carnatine for an extra kick. Eat dinner off a salad plate. Change your post dinner routine from sitting on the couch mindlessly snacking. Only weigh once a week. Reach out for help if you are not seeing changes, or need more accountability. Post your meal plan where your whole family can see. Define what healthy is to you, and why you want to be healthy. Along the way, discover why you weigh more than you would like. Take small steps in making changes and keep changing, or overhaul without overwhelming. Check out recipes at BeckasBootCamp.com/recipes.html