30kg's difference!
I have had a lot of people ask me how I lost weight. So I tell them. The next thing I am asked is how have I kept it off? Ahhh, yes…how many times have we heard it? The crash diet to lose weight, only to put it all and sometimes more back on! Well here are my tips to losing weight and keeping it off, it doesn’t matter if you’re wanting to simply be healthier, just starting out, already at your goal weight or somewhere in between, this is a lifestyle that anyone can adopt if they want it enough. So here I go…all my tips, hints and suggestions rolled into one place!
1. Get inspired
This is crucial. You can want it, but what will keep you moving toward your goals when your alarm goes off at 5:00 in the morning for that before work training session? Create an inspiration board for yourself. It can be quotes, pictures or symbols. Make sure they are important to you. This is your space, your place to come when things get tough.
My inspiration board
Check them out. These have really helped to motivate and inspire me to be the best I can be:
http://reasonstobefit.tumblr.com/listofreasons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo3wHRR_xWE&feature=player_embedded
Get onto pinterest and or instagram and follow real people. People who live this lifestyle everyday and share it with the world. Check out the amazing Kate Beck, a super inspirational young woman!
http://cocogirlbutter.blogspot.com.au/
2. WANT IT!
You gotta want it bad! It sounds so simple yet this is where a lot of people stumble, myself included. In the years leading up to me deciding I truly wanted to lose weight, I would stumble at the very first hurdle. I would say that I wanted to lose the weight, but when faced with temptation, I would always give in. You have to want it so much, no amount of ice cream can deter you from your goals. You have to let that goal fill you up, let it take over your mind and make you determined. Because guess what? If you don’t want it badly enough, you will never achieve it.
3. It is a lifestyle. Start slowly.
I have never thought that I was on a diet. I have always simply, been changing my lifestyle. I started very slowly and I think this is what helped my to stay on track when it was hardest in the beginning. My first aim was to cut fast food out of my diet. The second goal, was to start walking every day…can you see how I did it? Don’t even consider yourself to be on a ‘diet’ because you are setting yourself up to fail. Diets eventually end, lifestyles don’t. Start now. How many times have you told yourself you will start on Monday? What are you waiting for? Just do it, why not NOW?
4. Make a plan and set some goals.
Yep, you don’t have to have a plan set perfectly in place to start. Make that plan and GET ORGANISED! Get your diary out and write down EVERYTHING! Don’t leave anything out. Write down when you are going to train, when you are going to cook and when you will be dining out. This way you are prepared, there will be no surprises. Once it is in the diary, it has to happen. Think of your training as meetings with yourself. Bosses don’t cancel!
Goals. Make them smart. Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time based. Yep, this pretty much sums it up. For example ‘lose weight’ is the goal here. But it isn’t very specific, measurable, achievable or time based. A smarter goal would be: ‘In one month, I would like to lose 4kgs’. This is specific and measurable. Depending on your weight, build and fitness level, this may or may not be achievable. It was for me when I was just starting out, so it was realistic and time based as I put a date on the completion date. I find that my goals really help to motivate me.
5. Work for it!
Every damn day, just do it! No I’m not joking. Train 6 days a week…and GO HARD! Challenge yourself, push your own limits. If you stumble, get back up straight away. Not tomorrow or dare I say it, Monday…NOW! Falling down is a part of life; it is how we get back up that counts. Set goals and have the guts and determination to smash them. Nutrition wise, adopt the 80/20 rule. Eat clean healthy and nutritious whole foods 80% of the time and indulge 20%. This way you are not depriving yourself of anything and you are less likely to jump back into bad habits claiming it was all too hard. I’m not going to lie to you. Losing weight is hard! It’s all a mind game. If you tell yourself you can’t, then you won’t. Similarly, if you tell yourself you can and you will!
You’ve got this. I know you have. Have faith in yourself and you will.
Liz Xox
No comments:
Post a Comment