How to lose weight - for real!

           Hello & welcome! I have been working towards getting in shape, eating healthy & exercising now for three years & have learned a lot in the process. I am sharing this informational treasure with you in hopes that it will help to propel you into a new world of happiness, healthiness & longevity. Now for the good stuff…

Almost everyone, at some point or another, tries to find information on how to lose weight. Many people hunt for information, diets & exercises like there's one big secret to it. Others get ideas from well intentioned family or friends & decide to give it a try. Many times, the family or friends are just relaying information they heard or things that worked for someone else they knew. While this may work out once in a while, everyone is different & what works for one person may not for another. Others will go sign-up at a gym with full intentions of getting in shape-but then only go 2 or 3 times and give up.

            So what's the big secret to it all? There's a few actually.

Secret # 1: Practice good diet & exercise habits all (or at least most) of the time.

            With eating, it's important to make sure you are eating healthy foods in the right portions, as well as eating as often as you should & not eating to late in the day. Plenty of water is necessary in any healthy diet also. 

With exercise, the situation is similar. It's important to make sure not to over do it to much or you may injure yourself. & don't exercise to lightly or you may not get the results you want. You have to find balance. Try to work out the right amount per session, often enough but not to often & make sure you do exercises that you can at least enjoy. Your least favorite exercise is probably not the one to base your whole routine around. 

Over time, you'll develop your own routine to follow. Until then, it's trial & error. It's better to start out slow & easy to give you a chance to figure out how much & how often to exercise with less chance of injury.

Secret # 2: There is no one big secret to success.  The secret is it's all of the little things.

            This secret can be used again & again throughout your life to bring about big changes from little changes. The power is in change. Many little changes over time are much easier to deal with than a few big ones. 

Big changes are hard to stick with. They often put people so far out of their comfort zone that they end up giving up. Little changes spread out over time are the most comfortable, pleasurable & least stressful way to make things how you want them. 

Little changes can work against you just as easily if you let them. This is why people sometimes realize one day that they're extremely out of shape. Maybe he started eating fast food because of a busy schedule. Or maybe she decided to have an extra pop at work every day. Or, maybe several little things changed little by little that made them end up this way. 

 

At the end of this guide, I'll give some helpful ideas on some little changes that can help a lot. Always remember, little changes are your power tools for living the life you want.

Secret # 3: Never give up. 

If you insist to persist, reality will eventually cease to resist. This one key factor will ultimately determine whether you succeed or not, no matter what your plan is. If you keep on trying, I can almost guarantee you'll eventually succeed. Just make sure to keep adapting to the situation as necessary. 

The instant you give up, you have failed. Unless you begin to try again, the goals are not achieved & the plan has failed. This is probably the hardest thing for most people to overcome.

Many people decide to make changes at times like new years. Then a few days or weeks later, those goals are already history. What really didn't work was the persons' persistence. It's almost like a muscle itself. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. Give it a try.

Tip 1: Assess your situation. 

     Pay attention to what, how much, how often & when you eat & drink. Also, how much activity or exercise you get. You won't get anywhere if you don't figure out where to start.

Tip 2: Reduce or eliminate your intake of unhealthy foods & drinks.

      Things such as pop, white bread, potatoes, chips, candy & sweets & pretty much anything with high carbohydrates (carbs) or high fat content.

    
     
 

Tip 3: Find alternatives to your favorite unhealthy foods & drinks. 

     Have the real stuff once in a while. But try to find healthy alternatives to have most of the time. The urge to have a snack can't always be avoided & sometimes the cravings get the better of you. Don't beat yourself up over it & don't give up. Everyone has setbacks from time to time. You can't let that stop you from achieving your goals.

            Some healthy drink alternatives are sobe life water, crystal lite pure fitness, unsweetened almond milk, ovaltine, green tea & last but not least some good old fashioned water. Using stevia instead of other sweetners is a good idea also since its all natural.

            Some healthy food alternatives are most vegetarian foods, fresh fruits and vegetables, low carb/calorie bread, healthy butter alternatives, microwavable broccoli & cheese, nuts & berries, multigrain rice, wheat pasta, 

            Some healthy snacks alternatives include granola bars, cocoavia products, jello. low carb chips, Low carb crackers, low carb  pretzels, low carb ice cream & other low carb snacks. ( By the way did I mention low carbs?)

Tip 4: Find exercises you enjoy. 

     Everyone has some workouts, exercises & physical activities they like & some that they dislike. It's best in the beginning to focus on exercises you can enjoy. You don't like exercising at all you say? Then try riding a bike. Or swimming. Or at least walking. You have to start somewhere if you want success, there's no getting around it. All you can do is try to make it as enjoyable as possible.

When I started working out, for the first six months, I did not want to have to lay down on the floor to exercise…so I didn't. I found other exercises to do that didn't involve getting onto the floor. So what happened? I made progress. In fact, at some point I got excited about my progress & decided to add some laying down exercises to my routine to further my progress. If I would have began with laying down exercises, I may have given up. Finding exercises & activities that you enjoy will make it feel less like work & more like fun.

    

    

Tip 5: Slow & steady wins the race. 

     I'm not saying you should do long boring workouts. In fact, interval training (such as sprinting 30 seconds, then walking 45 seconds, then repeating) gives you the ability to get a better workout in a shorter amount of time. What I am saying will be slow & steady is your progress (or at least it should be.)

            Depending on your current physical condition, to start yourself a health program, you may have to make several little changes to what, when & how much you eat & drink on a normal basis. You'll also have to increase your activity levels & find time for it. It doesn't have to be extremely difficult to change your lifestyle if you take small steps over a reasonable period of time.

Tip 6: Timing is everything. 

     Here are my suggestions on timing. Eat 5-6 smalls meals or snacks through the day. Eat every 2-3 hours. Don’t drink water within 1 hour before or after eating. Try to workout 3-5 times a week for 30 minutes to 1 hour. See? Timing, timing, timing.

Tip 7: Keep up on information. 

     The more you learn the easier it will be to make progress. We're in the information age. If you don't want to pick up a book, listen to an audio book. Or check out my upcoming articles. Or watch a youtube video on weight loss, dieting, getting in shape, exercise or something similar.

I hope this has been very informative. In my upcoming articles, I'll get into more detail about dieting, exercise, finding the right mentality & much more. Until  then…

Live long, & healthy