Tips on losing weight and getting fit.
It's long but worth the read if you want to shed some pounds!
I am not a doctor, a personal trainer, or an expert.
These are just things that worked with me and helped me to lose over 100lbs.
I hope that they can help others. Any questions please ask or email :)
Tips on how I became the bombshell I am today:
1) It starts in the kitchen. Something I had to realize early
on. The hour long workout at the gym is so easily null and void if you are
still feeding your body junk. Losing weight and getting healthy requires clean
eating. 80% nutrition. 20% exercise. If you remember that you will get far.
There are people who lose weight by just eating right. No physical activity
what so ever. I maintained my weight for the most part 6 months last year with
just eating right. No exercise whatsoever. I was working 2 damn near full jobs.
I had no time.
2) Get Physical. You can lose weight by just eating right BUT –
always a but – if you want to get fit and strong you need to workout. Hit the
gym. In the beginning of my weight loss journey I lost about 50lbs just eating
right and working out on my Wii with Wii Fit. For me at the time, it was a hard
workout. I mean I was obese and out of shape. Wii fit is a great starting point
for those that are out of shape. Or any of those other workout games! I have done some much to stay physical. Wii
fit, joined LA Fitness (which allowed me to do spinning, Zumba, kickboxing,
pilates, yoga, etc), belly dancing, P90x, joined a bootcamp, running, and now
Insanity. Get it in! Fit is the new skinny J
3) The gym isn’t for everybody. This is true. People get bored.
So a good thing to do is find a physical activity that you enjoy doing and
think of less of it as exercise. For me I like dancing, so when I do my belly
dancing classes it’s all for fun and not for a workout!
4) Back to the food. Remember these are things that worked for
me. And for me I am a strong believer that you have to count calories. I know I
know – it’s a lot of work. When in actuality you people are just lazy and it’s
quite simple these days with all this fabulous technology with have. To be
honest after a few weeks it becomes second nature. You get to the point where
you can eyeball how many calories is in something. And trust me once you find
out how many calories is in your beloved – insert guilty pleasure here – you
might think twice about it. Like for instance I love cinnamon rolls – I love
sweets in general you will soon find out if you keep following the blog– but did you know that one scrumptious classic cinnabon from
Cinnabon is 880 calories. Yowzweersss! For most people that is like half their
daily calorie intake. Or when you’re trying to lose weight that could be a
third. Ridiculous isn’t it? Ridiculously delicious! I know! But ridiculous! Now
I’m not saying give them up – because I still eat cinnabons I mean come on their
to good not too – but I am way more conscious and I usually get the minibon (350
calories) now or share the regular sized one with friends. Sharing is caring
especially when it’s calories J
So yes count those calories. With an app like MyFitnessPal it’s a breeze and
you can add me on there: ohsophresh
5) Continuing with our beloved food. Meal prep. This is
something I just started last year and it really makes eating healthy easier.
On the weekends I plan out my meals for the coming week, grocery shop, and prep
certain things. I might cook some turkey burgers and baked chicken on Sunday
night and then freeze them so that they are easy to grab throughout the week. I
might cook some veggies and store them in Tupperware for quick meals to make
for my lunch. I always have mixed greens for a salad on hand. Simple things
like that. Some people do salads in a jar! I want to try this. Google it. Also
other ideas include cutting up veggies like bell peppers and onions so that
they are easy to use if you make a omelet or something for breakfast. I also
sometime boil a few eggs. They are great for quick protein snacks throughout
the week. Oh and egg muffins! They are little muffins with egg, spinach, other
veggies, and turkey bacon or sausage. So good. I will post the recipe! But yeah
prep your meals. It will save you time and when you know you can easily grab
something healthy out of the refrigerator, you will less lightly order Pizza or
pick up some McDonald’s on the way home.
6) Piggybacking off of that. Plan your meals out for the week
on Saturday or Sunday. If you
fail to plan, you plan to fail! It makes it so much easier to know what I’m
having so that I won’t be tempted to eat unhealthy and on that weekly calendar
I also put in my cheat meals. Usually two for the week.
7) Water. Drink it like your life depends on it. Because it
does. You need to drink at MINIMUM half your weight in water. So if you weigh
200lbs you need to be drinking 100oz of water a day – not including the water
you drink while working out. Water has so many amazing benefits for your health
and skin! Drink it! Get water wasted!
8) Get rid of those “empty calories”. Soda and juice needs to
be abolished. Like seriously, if you drink half your weight in water, you will
not have much space for juice or soda! I personally don’t drink anything else
other than water and tea. I mean where can I really fit in anything else when I
drink on average 90oz a day? I just recently tried almond milk so I might use
that from time to time in smoothies as well as this completely natural orange
juice I can get from the farmers market but also for my smoothies. It is a very
rare occasion to catch me drinking something besides water. Okay, I have a
glass of wine on occasions! (Vino is good for you, no?) Giving up soda and juice
were the easiest things for me. Even though I was a lowkey Pepsi addict. I know
for others it won’t be easy but trust me getting rid of these toxins will do
wonders for your body. You can even be like me and become a water connoisseur.
I’m not saying you have to go cold turkey over night but slowly remove juice
and soda from your life. Maybe start out with instead of two glasses of soda
for dinner you have one glass of water and one glass of soda. Slowly eliminate
the empty calories. Best thing ever. Your body will thank you and you’ll have
more calories to use for filling things like actual food!
9) Still on the water train. Drink a glass before eating a
meal. It will help you to not stuff yourself. Don’t eat to be stuffed, eat to
satisfy your hunger. There is a difference. When you are full, stop eating.
Save it for later. I know I know… that steamed broccoli is just so good you
must have another bite … but no. Stop. Gluttony is a sin!
10) Reward yourself – just not with food. You know people be like "Oh I worked out so hard this week I'm going to enjoy those dozen of donuts". o_O. No. Please don't. Your cheat meals
should not be a reward. It’s okay to indulge. I think it’s necessary. But never
over do it. Don’t let it ruin your hard work. How I rewarded myself was with
CLOTHES! I love fashion and when I was overweight, I couldn’t wear any of the
clothes I loved seeing in the stores. I loved to shop but it was always
disappointing not being able to fit into things. So my rewards were mini
shopping sprees. It is such an amazing feeling to get into smaller size clothes
or just clothes in general comfortable. Not having to pray every time I step
into the fitting room that something would fit. So find something you love
whether it’s clothes, shoes, accessories, video games, traveling, etc and set
goals. When I lose X amount of pounds/inches/body fat I will reward myself with
– insert awesome reward here -. I also rewarded myself with spa days. Ahh
relaxing.
11) I don’t believe in depriving myself. I am not on a diet. I
am changing my eating habits. I can eat whatever I want but I chose to make healthier
choices. It’s my decision. Therefore when I do want junk I will eat it.
Moderation is key. I don’t eat junk food like I use too. I use to go through a
thing of Oreos in a day or two. Or go get a dozen of krispy kreme donuts and
devour them bad boys. I don’t do that anymore but I also don’t deprive myself.
I am one of those people that if you tell me I can’t have something, I’m going
to want it more and then I’m probably going to have it. That’s why I dislike
when my friends or someone says to me “You're dieting, you CAN’T have this,
right?” I can have what I want! I hate the word diet by the way. So my advice
is don’t deprive yourself. Learn to eat things in moderation.
12) With moderation comes willpower. My willpower has
strengthened tremendously. If your willpower sucks, then don’t have things in
your house that will cause you to fail. Yes I said don’t deprive yourself but
don’t tempt yourself either. Clean out your kitchen and pantry of the junk.
There are certain things I can have in my house and still only eat on occasions
because my willpower is strong but there are other things I prefer to keep out
of reach and buy them only when I really want them and then I won’t buy a large
package of it. For instance, I love Oreos. If I buy Oreos (which is now rare) I
buy them from the vending machine. The package of 6. That way I satisfy my
craving and don’t have to worry about eating more than I should. You know how
much willpower you have, don’t keep things within reach that will ruin your
healthy eating lifestyle. With time willpower comes.
13) I live by the 85/15 rule. I try to eat healthy at least 85%
of the time. Some weeks are better than others of course. I’m human but it’s a
good rule to follow.
14) Cheat meals. That 15% of the 85/15 rule is for my cheat
meals. I plan them out. Like I said earlier plan out your meals for the entire
week. That way you already know what you’re eating. When you have to guess or
think, you tend to eat unhealthy. Cheat
meals does not mean go all out and order that large pizza and eat the whole
things with a basket of Popeye’s chicken on the side. Oh and a couple biscuits.
Ah NO. That will result in you being disappointed in yourself. Yeah I bet it
taste delicious but was it worth those now 2+ pounds you gained? Maybe so but
you can’t do that every week. Obviously. A cheat meal is for you to enjoy your
favorite foods but not overindulge. Still eat smart. Think portion control
still. Have one not overly large slice of pie not the whole pie! Savor the meal
and then get back to your healthy eating for the week / day! I usually do cheat
meals (either breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack) and occasionally I will do
cheat days. My cheat days usually happen
when I’m out of town. It’s so hard eating healthy when you’re out of your environment
but my tip for that is to always have healthy snacks.
15) Find healthy snacks you love! Almonds are great snacks,
though high in calorie they are a good source of the good fats our body need.
My favorite healthy snacks include Larabars, KIND Bars, Nature Valley Crunch Granola Bars (a little
high in sugar) , Raisins, Dried Fruit (though be careful because can be high in
sugar), my homemade trail mix (will post the recipe), dark chocolate goji
berries, and all types of fruit. Love me some frozen grapes!
16) Get in the habit of reading food labels! Especially the serving size.
Something can seem like it’s not to bad but then it’s per serving and there usually are more than one. Case in point. The 6 pack of Oreos. It says 160 calories, 7g fat, 210mg sodium, 24g carbs, 2g of protein.
Now you might think okay, as you eat the entire 6 cookies but you missed
reading the serving size which is 3 cookies. So that means you really just ate
320 calories, 14g of fat, etc. Read labels. Look at serving size. Your best bet
is to stick to eating the serving size. It is usually a good portion.
17) Portion control is important. Simple as that. Learn how to
eat the right portion sizes. I don’t use big plates when I eat. I use small to
medium size plates so that I won’t eat more than I should!
18) Now if you’re trying to lose weight temporary and don’t care
if you gain the weight back - you can skip this part. If not, then read on.
Find your motivation. What is your reason for losing weight? It shouldn’t be to
get into your wedding dress or look good on your birthday or some simple
temporary reason. You need a reason so that your weight loss won’t be
temporary. My reasoning is that I don’t want to end up like half my family with
medical problems because of their weight. Diabetes runs on my dad’s side of the
family and I want to avoid that. I want to live healthy and be fit. I want to
be in shape and inspire people to do the same.
19) Create daily mantras. I started this last year. I say all or some of them every morning while
looking at myself in the mirror. I have some on sticky notes stuck to my
mirror. So great to do. Some of mine that you may use as well (but I encourage
you to create your own) include:
- If it’s important to you, you will find a way, if not, you will find an excuse
- Remember to push yourself that 1 degree
- You can do this!
- Think of your goal weight and how it will make you feel. Amazing!
- Food is fuel. I chose to put in my body things that will fuel it and not tear it down and run it out of gas.
- I chose to be healthy.
- Healthy is happy.
- I love my body, myself, and my spirit.
- Today I will inspire others to be fit and healthy.
- Fearless (my word of the year)
20) Depend on no one but yourself. It’s great to have a buddy to
workout with and motivate or be motivated by but at the end of the day, your health
depends on no one but you. You can’t wait around for others. This is your life.
Your body. Your health. Motivate and push yourself.
21) Slow progress IS PROGRESS. That is all. Progress is progress be happy!
22) Change your mindset. Don’t make excuses. You can’t make
excuses if you want change. If it’s important to you, you will find a way if
not you will find an excuse! Don’t find excuses! Find ways to make that change.
The voice in your head that tells your not to workout, ignore it and go
workout. That voice that tells you it’s alright to eat those cookies, ignore it
and drink some water and go for a walk. You are the only one that holds
yourself back from losing weight and being healthy. Don’t let anyone or
anything stop your from reaching your goals. I had to really change my mindset
and not just SAY I wanted to lose weight. I had being saying it for years but
once I really set my mind to it and realized this was something I truly wanted
and needed to do. I made the change and lost the weight and you can too. Good
luck on your journey.
23) Remember even once you reach your goal weight, you have to
stay active and continue to eat right. Maintaining the weight is harder than
losing the weight.
24) Don't get discouraged! You may have set backs. You may get stuck. Plateaus happen! They are a pain but they happen! I experienced my first one this year! I was at the same weight for 5 weeks! It's disheartening but one thing I had to remind myself was I know I'm working out like I normally do. I'm eating correctly so I just need to find out how to give my body that push it needs to get back into play. Never give up. As long as you do what you are suppose to do the weight will come off!
25) Take Measurements! As well as your body fat! Sometimes your hard work doesn't show on the scale but it will show through measurements. As well as new clothes ... I would know that. I can't wait to get to the point where I am ready to ditch the scale! :)
Here’s a video that someone brought to my attention. Watch
it and I guarantee afterwards you’ll be glad you did. You must always remember
to push yourself that 1 degree. Don’t cheat yourself of the body you deserve!
Any questions, email me: thecoilybombshell@gmail.com
Out of all of this the most important thing is to ENJOY LIFE!! Don't be so obsessed with eating right, working out, losing weight, etc that you forget to LIVE!
