18 Ways to Melt Pounds Faster
Brilliant Health TipsAs you reach for your goals, you may find that you are changing many of your current behaviors. It sometimes can be challenging to adopt new behaviors and different barriers can block you from your good intentions to exercise and eat healthy. It is important to identify these barriers and create a plan for your success.
1. SET REALISTIC GOALS WITH PURPOSE
Your purpose is to have a better life. You realize the need to exercise and eat a balanced diet and to make some lifestyle changes. That really is step number one. You have a purpose and it is a good one: to live happy and healthy.
2. REALITY
Ask yourself: Why do I want a better life? Why do I want my life to be different than it is? While you are answering those questions remain in the here and now. Not in the glory days of the past. When I was in high school….. I remember playing football in college….. Life is happening right now, right as you read these words. It is important for you to live for today, not the glorious past or the prosperous future.
3. BE SPECIFIC
Cardio activity - 30 minutes Weight Toning
Monday Zumba at Results Health and Fitness Weight Training Arms
Wednesday Step Aerobics at Results Health and Fitness
Thursday Walking with friend Full Body Circuit
Friday Complete day of rest.
Saturday Yoga at Results Health and Fitness
Sunday Family bike ride
I will eat a balanced diet and journal everything I eat, taste, lick, swallow or drink.
Take the focus off the inches, pounds and body fat percent and exchange the focus to movement. Dance, climb, swim, swing, hang, run, skip, leap, hop, throw, skate, ski, cha cha, mambo. The bottom-line is your body is designed to move so what ever you choose, you’ve gotta love it! Because more than anything “healthy” requires commitment, determination, planning, consistency and intensity.
5. SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE PRIZE
It takes the brain approximately 20 minutes to inform the rest of the hunger system to stop eating so if you wait until you are famished to gobble your food, you are more than likely going to over eat. When participants in a current study were instructed to eat slowly, take small bites, chew thoroughly they consumed 70 fewer calories than their counterparts for each meal monitored.
6. TAKE FURLOUGH FROM SUGAR
Pure and white, sugar innocently makes it way into so much of our food at the rate of 149 pounds per person. Sugar upsets your body chemistry and devastates the endocrine and immune systems. Ditch anything white – rice, pasta, bread, table sugar.
7. FRESHEN UP YOUR WORKOUTS: MIX IT UP
This is not new news however exercise is probably the single most important factor of successful weight loss and long term maintenance. Keeping your mind in the game is another major factor so it is important to try new activities, intensity of workouts, speed and pace.
Your workouts should consist of cardiovascular activity, weight training for all major muscle groups, flexibility work, balance as well as rhythm, speed and agility.
8. GET YOU’RE ZZZZZ:
Poor rest habits affect moods as well as cognitive and motor performance.
Sleep deprived folks do not think clearly, eat right or exercise consistently, which continues to cause a truckload of other problems such as depletion of energy, strength and desire, robs the immune system and in general creates bad habits. The Good News-it is easy to fix. Just close those eyes and sleep baby sleep.
9. HYDRATION
The body converts fat into energy and releases water. Your body fights disease in water. All bodily functions occur in water. Therefore it seems necessary to drink water as it will increase energy level, help you feel refreshed and can curb you appetite.
10. INTENSITY
You are stronger than you think. Go for the additional rep, run the extra mile, and extend past self imposed limits. Achieve those goals and get what your desire.
11. LOG WORKOUTS: JOURNAL
Research shows that planning and keeping track of your daily workout routines help keep you on track, focused and motivated. Keep the journals simple and write down every morsel, track calories and mood.12. NUTRITION
Food will contribute to half of your success so eat well and eat often. Schedule and plan your meals: 4 – 6 meals equally dispersed through out the day. Balance lean protein, fruits and veggies, monounsaturated and poly unsaturated fatty acids and grains.
13. SCALE DOWN
Your scale is your friend and it is a simple monitoring tool. Weigh weekly at the same time, naked, first thing upon waking. Additionally, as you begin to decrease your scale weight, you should decrease the number of calories consumed so you keep the plateaus at bay.
14. SCHEDULE YOUR WORKOUTSPut them on your calendar just as you would your doctor appointment or your hairdresser. This habit helps to create accountability as well as consistency. Remember your fitness improves over time and taking prolonged breaks circumvents improvements and forward momentum.
15. STAY MOTIVATED
It is far more difficult to break a promise that you have made publicly and to people you care about. Create a healthy environment around you by engaging in conversations concerning your workouts, healthy eating as well as your struggles. Most people are happy to help as 93% of the population needs to increase their physical fitness level and eat a more balanced diet.
16. READ LABELS
This is a time when “KISS”, Keep It Simple Silly really comes into play. Rice is rice and an apple is just an apple so if the label has more than 5 ingredients and 3 of them are words you have never heard of and can not pronounce, don’t eat it.17. WARM UP
The first seven – ten minutes of your workout should consist of slow and fluid movement. Light cardio such as walking, gentle ride on the bike simply to increase joint fluid movement and prepare the body for up coming events.
18. EAT WITH A PURPOSE
With hectic schedules and frantic deadlines so many people are doing work share with their lunch. Nibbling while your focus is else where makes it difficult to recognize when you are satisfied and to calculate caloric intake. Step away from your desk, enjoy your meal and return to work refreshed and energized.
Tammi Jacobs, Health and Wellness Expert