Top 3 Weight Loss Ideas

Yesterday on social media, I announced that I was drawing a line in the sand. Several medications that I was put on several years ago (which were very needed) have had the side effect of added fatigue and weight gain, among other things. 

Several days ago, I decided to actually do something about it. When I let the world know, I invited everyone who might have similar goal to join me as we travel into wellness together. I received quite a large response, both publicly and privately, and I'm excited. 

Each day on the podcast, I'll be listing what I did that day to push forward my fitness goals, including if I DIDN'T follow through. Complete truth is the M.O. here and I want to be engaged with you the entire way. This won't comprise the whole episode, but it will be added onto the end, so those who wish to can track along with me. We can do this together...

When I saw what many people were discussing doing to work out or, more often, what their obstacles were for training, I decided to dedicate this evening's time to talking about a few simple ideas that have been given to me that I've found to work in a situation like this. I'll definitely be employing them  myself.

* Side note, I'm not a doctor, nor do I pretend to be. Don't do anything dumb and make sure to check with your doctor before beginning a new exercise or diet regimen. 

Here they are:
1) Don't do too much at once - Do you think that you will go vegan and hit the gym seven days a week stating tomorrow? As much as I don't like to be discouraging to people, chances are that you'll last a week, if that. It has nothing to do you, it's all about human behavioral traits. We can't assimilate too much change at once. A step by step approach is needed. 

The best method to use (based on advice from trainers and coaches, as well as my own training in NLP), is to focus your energy on building one habit for 30 to 45 days. Then you can add others, one at a time. When they add up together, they can create a powerful downhill momentum that will really make a difference in the long term. 

What you should you most likely start first?

2) Diet Is 70% 
Look, whomever told you that you have to burn calories in the gym didn't know what they were talking about. Seriously. It's about diet. Losing weight isn't actually hard, it just takes getting a few things straight and then setting up systems in your world that make them effortless for you to stay disciplined with. 

For instance, I am currently engaging with an intermittent fasting diet plan, However, looking at my constitution and the wear and tear of my daily schedule, I have determined that eating a large meal of protein, fresh veggies, and legumes during the mid-day is what works best for me.

The meals usually looks like two to three chicken breasts, a huge salad with balsamic vinegar as dressing, kidney beans and water. It's not too hard to skip breakfast up to that meal because I drink black coffee and sparkling water to cull my food cravings. Afterwards, I'm usually so full that I don't feel the need to eat. It provides me with energy to finish the day with strength and, if I'm really hungry in the evening, I can eat an apple or a spoonful of peanut butter. Easy. 

My deal with myself is that, should I start shaking or going into some sort of "shutdown", I will eat without concern. It's not about being dogmatic, but about consistent and sustained effort over time. 

Also, to keep myself from going crazy, I incorporate a cheat day into each week, usually on Saturdays, which I usually spend with friends. 

3) Simply Easy and Fun
Getting in shape doesn't have to suck. In many ways, it's about finding new things to have fun with physically. For me yoga, weights, and so on are great fun. As I connect more with my body, other things usually begin appealing to me, like learning the tango, and on. 

Like going for a walk? Great! Go for a walk? Want to stretch a bit? Perfect, do that. Get your body to wake up..do what is fun. Play. We often get so boring as adults that we forget that we too can have fun! This is where you can do it. 

There you have it, my three basic ideas for weight loss. I'm not an expert, like I said, but these ideas are the ones that I have culled from the real experts, am employing themselves now, and have used them with success in the past. Hopefully, you find them useful as you continue down your own fitness journey. 

So, what did I do today?
This morning, I woke up at 4:30 and performed 25 minutes of yoga followed by twenty minutes of meditation. From there, I had coffee and water before heading to school. Having not brought my meal today, I was forced to wait until I returned home to eat, which made me tired and lethargic. Well, that and the insane day at school. 

The fatigue setting in as I got home reminded me of another very powerful axiom: willpower sucks and doesn't work. So, here's my solution: I am packing a workout bag this evening, which will allow me to hit the gym immediately after school and get to my Wednesday evening meeting at 6 pm. This, plus the prepackaged meal for lunch tomorrow, should yield massive results. Tonight, I am having chicken breasts, a few eggs, salad, and balsamic with a large glass of ice water. Then, I will stretch again, meditate, and be in bed by the boring time of 9:30 pm.