Lets get a few things out of the way first:
Yes, I am a Beachbody Coach
Yes, I would love to help you change your life.
No, I’m not going to sell you anything in this post.
Ok now on to business.
I want you to take a moment to think about why you want to lose weight? Is it for the health benefits? More energy? To improve how you feel about yourself/confidence? Dive into the reason, not the number and then focus on that to achieve your goals. Here is my why:
If all you do is a starvation diet, hit your goal weight and go back to your old habits, its not going to work. The weight will creep back up, maybe not right away, maybe not even for a year or two, but it will. If you dig deep find your why and approach it from that perspective, you have something you can build into a lifestyle.
Looking for some advice? Here is my non expert opinion:
If you looking to change you eating habits, focus on real food, not processed boxes, You can’t bring frozen dinners, fat free ice cream or cans of soup into a restaurant. However if you know to focus on real food (veggies, protein, fats and healthy carbs) not fillers you will know how to survive in the real world.
On that note if your not sure where to start, start with veggies! Work on increasing your intake drastically (unless you already eat 10 per day) and work on non-starchy vegetables. Eating large amounts of veggies not only helps your body by increasing the amount of nutrients you take in but the shear act of increasing your consumption of veggies leaves less room for junk! Remember we are talking about fueling your body not filling it. Want a really terrible example (meaning a starchy vegetable vs a completely worthless potato chip) here you go:
Even this ‘not as healthy’ vegetable is exponentially better than a potato chip.
There are studies coming out the all to prevalent calorie teachings saying that as long as you stick to x,xxx number of calories per day it doesn’t matter what those calories are made of. Recent research proves this untrue, we are destroying out bodies ability to take care of itself when we don’t give it the proper nutrition.
“Changes in specific dietary factors may have big impact on long-term weight gain: Weight-loss Strategy to Only ‘Eat Less, Exercise More” May be Overly Simplistic’”
Need more proof read this overview of a 2012 Journal of the American Medical Association publication on WebMD.
So there you have it. My unsolicited advice on weight loss goals. Don’t do it for the numbers on a scale, its not a good or accurate measurement anyway, if your truly getting stronger you will be adding lean muscle and even though you will look completely different, your number on a scale will probably be higher than your ‘goal.’ Generally speaking people set them selves up for a skinny weight, not a healthy weight.
Have questions, comments? Let me know I love hearing from you!