My list of DOs and DON"Ts

Hello!

Here I am back again!

I want to share with you my list of dos and don'ts for when you are on weight loss journey. I shall start with the dos.

1. Drink your water!
Yes I know this is cliche and that every source will tell you this same thing but trust me it makes a BIG difference. I found that when I drank my daily 8 glasses of water it really helped control my cravings for bad food. It also cleared my skin and gave me less breakouts.

2.Weigh yourself once a month.
Weigh yourself first thing in the morning after you have been to the toilet. weighing yourself too often can lead you to become too impatient and losing weight takes time, which brings me to the next one.

3. Be patient.
Patience truly is a virtue when it comes to weight loss. Changes don't happen overnight. Being impatient can lead you to give up so please stop losing your patience. I understand that its easy to get impatient as I've been down that road myself so what I did was I kept telling myself to be patient and the more I told myself that the more I excepted that and the more patient I became. Being patient has really helped me get through my journey.

4. Get creative in the kitchen!
One thing about losing weight is it allows you to be creative in the kitchen. For example if you hate salad but you love those restaurant type of salads like Caesar Salad or any salad that uses a mayo based dressing think of how you can make a healthy version for example you can make a garlic sauce/dressing out of fat free Greek yogurt or regular plain yogurt with fresh garlic and parsley or you can add chives or spring onions a long with a tiny touch of sea salt. You can make delicious veggie casseroles etc. You can also search online for delicious low calorie recipes. You can even buy cookbooks that teach how to cook guilt free meals even that will help you become more creative!

5. Count your calories.
This is something I didn't do in the beginning of my journey but up until I came across this website it just made my life easier its called myfitnesspal www.myfitnesspal.com
This website helps you track how much calories you consumed in a day. It calculates how much calories you must consume in a day based on your age, height and weight as well as how active your lifestyle is.

6.If you have a dog, then take it for walks!
I myself have a dog and I always take him for his walks. I consider my dog AJ my minnie work out buddy and I really enjoy taking my precious moogy for his walkies (sorry I'm sounding weird but I just love talking like that about my dog!)

I love my workout buddy so much, he is so precious! Even though he drives me insane sometimes!

7.Believe in yourself and Stay positive 
As I mentioned before in one of my previous posts. The key to successful weight loss is having a positive mentality. I know its hard but if you keep telling yourself "I can do this, I know I can" you will succeed trust me. I found that when I did this I became successful. Fill your mind with positive thoughts. One I recommend is to tell yourself everyday is "IT NOT IMPOSSIBLE" which is true it isn't so start by telling yourself that. Always repeat positive mantras to yourself everyday. Yes I know what you are thinking it sounds lame, it sounds stupid. But if you keep a negative mind I'm sorry but you will fail. Telling yourself "I can't do it" will just push you back to your old bad habits.

8. Make permanent gradual lifestyle changes. 
When you begin your journey, you have to sacrifice a lot of habits that cause you to gain weight for example constant splurging on junk food everyday that is something that needs to stop. I know I'm sounding mean but this is whats causing your problem. However to stop that from happening don't stop all at once because that will make it very hard for you, slowly start by drinking 8 glasses of water instead of diet coke because artificial sweeteners have something in them that make you crave sweet things more which can lead you to eat more sweet things like candy or chocolate etc. And start with an exercise routine that's easy for your level of fitness I personally recommend walking as a start, I also recommend Pilates because Pilates is not strenuous and its suitable for all fitness levels. Adding small changes likes these will help you come a long way. But you must start slowly to a point where it become a healthy habit this will help you to keep the weight off permanently.

9. Eat your breakfast.
Always eat your breakfast! You must! I know I'm sounding cliche again but its true. Back in my teenage years when I had a lack of knowledge about eating healthy I would skip breakfast and that left me feeling very weak and my brain just wouldn't function to a point where I couldn't concentrate well at school. I would do this again in later years but not on purpose and it upset my metabolism which was one of my culprits to the access weight that I gained and later on I would eat breakfast to a point where my metabolism began to function properly. If you are a teen and you are reading this please think about it you are young, your body is changing and you have to make sure you give it the nutrients it needs so your body can develop more properly. Everyone needs to eat breakfast whether your a girl, guy whatever. Breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day as they say. Make sure however that it is a healthy breakfast also another important thing to remember, eating your healthy breakfast will help control your cravings. I found that when I used to skip breakfast I would always grab the chocolate, chip, cookies and pig out on them to a point where I just ate too much. So eat your breakfast!

10. Exercise.
If you have time try to find time to exercise, it will really help make a big difference to your body. You will burn calories, You'll get toned the list goes on. Yeah I know another cliche tip! But yeah you get what I'm saying it helps! You can go to the gym, use workout DVDs/Games and you can go on YouTube and find workout videos. But start with an exercise that's easy than as you get more fit pick harder ones.

So that's it for the DOs now for the DON'Ts.

1.Don't starve yourself
Never, I repeat NEVER starve yourself! This is very bad for your metabolism. You stop eating your metabolism stops, you get sick, you get undernourished, you get headaches you faint and then you go back to eating again and the metabolism is all tired and can't work fast because is was put to sleep, then soon the kilos pile up and plus you gain more than what you started! You do NOT want that to happen! Not only that but starving yourself really sucks I don't know about you but I hate starving myself. I don't think you would like either to either SO DON'T DO IT! ITS BAD FOR YOU!

2. Don't go on weird diets or crash diets.
There is always trends when it comes to diets. Like that lemon maple syrup with cayanne pepper which Beyonce did or that cabbage soup diet, basically any crazy diet that doesn't allow you to eat enough. Just because a celebrity does it doesn't mean you should do it and no I am not trying to demean Beyonce or any other celebrities (I love Beyonce and I am against tabloids btw) but its the same with other people too just because your friend or you mom or whoever does it doesn't mean you should. Yes you may lose weight with these kind of diets but they can cause some serious health problems and can really hamper your metabolism. Before you decide to go on any new discovered diet, do your research first to see if the diet is safe. Always take things with a grain of salt.

3. Don't use weight loss pills or any  kind of weird weight loss products.
Some products can be dangerous like for example the weight loss pill. But here is a tip for you if you come across a product then do your research on it and look at reviews online to see if its safe or ask your doctor because some products can have nasty side effects. Also with stuff like diet shakes some will have way too much sugar added to them. There will also be items that may have laxatives in them and that is something you want to avoid. Be very careful and take everything you read on the packaging or ads with a grain of salt. If something sounds too good to be true then it probably is. 

5. Don't fall for those silly workout gadgets and other ridiculous products.
There are so many cringe worthy infomercials out there with these stupid exercise machines like that belt machine thing you put around your waist and it shakes! oh god I'm laughing about it now that does not burn calories sorry to break that to you if you bought something like this. And don't get me started on that silly machine that shakes while you stand on it or that horse riding fitness machine or that stupid weight that shakes or that ab king whatever its called. And as for other ridiculous products I remember there used to be this ad about this jelly ice like substance you place around your jiggly bits and its supposed to make that area shrink I don't remember the name of it but if you see that ad please don't fall for it! There is also this type of jewelry that also is said to help you lose weight don't fall for that one either! I wish I could share some sources with you guys but I just can't remember the names of all these gadgets but I do plan on doing a whole entry on those things. but anyway before I say this I know I'm sounding like a broken record but If something sounds too good to be true than it probably is. Here are some examples below. Please buy an exercise DVD, go for a walk/run or  get a gym membership because these machines are a waste of money!

6. Don't down talk yourself or think negatively.
What I mean by that is never tell yourself "This is too hard", "It's impossible", "I can't achieve this", "Maybe I'm destined to be this way", "I am such a loser", "I don't deserve a slim figure because I'm not worthy of it", "I'll never be as successful as this person" All these constant negative thoughts are destroying your plans. When you think this way, not only do you destroy your plans but you are also giving yourself more reasons to be depressed and that is another thing you want to get rid of. I've said this a thousand times in this blog already and I shall repeat The key to successful weight loss is a positive mentality. Again sorry if I am sounding like a broken record but if you just so happen to be one of those people who constantly thinks like this, it really needs to stop. You need to tell that little annoying condescending voice in your head to bugger off and get lost. You don't need that voice heck that voice is useless, its not just only bad for losing weight but its also bad for everything in life too. Each time you say something hurtful to yourself  you also are pushing yourself down and creating shame. What you are really doing is making yourself feel ashamed instead of trying to solve your problems. Drowning in shame is not going to help you it will just make you feel worse. This is why there are people who fall off their horse because they simply thought they couldn't do it. This has happened to me too, I personally struggled for years and years trying to lose weight and every time I fell off my horse it was always because I didn't keep that positive mind. I kept telling myself "Oh this is going to be tough its Easter now there goes my plans"  but to this day I tell myself "I am not letting Easter get in the way of my plans I will eat my chocolate sparingly and I will still lose weight! because I am a fighter!" This actually worked because yes I did eat my chocolate and yes I DID lose weight! I strongly encourage you to fill your mind with positive thoughts. It WILL make a difference in your life. You probably don't believe me but try it, give it a go and see for yourself how it works. It may seem lame but how do you think you feel when you speak negative to yourself? do you cry? or do you feel like breaking down a wall? and ask yourself "Is this how I want to feel for the rest of my life?" Think about it.

7.Don't listen to people who are negative about weight loss.
I'm talking about those type of people who constantly say things like "Well I came from a family of fat people so I was meant to be fat" or "Well that's life I'm fat I can't eat salads for the rest of my life I need real food and if it makes me fat so be it!" or "Who has time to exercise and eat nothing but salad?" Please don't listen to those kinds of people. People like that have no clue what they are talking about. People like that have no knowledge about what proper weight loss is, they are also the type of people who either love being fat or they could be people who are just in the wrong mind set. The reason why those type of people are obese or overweight is because they think and say things like that. Don't take what they say seriously and remember what I said earlier in "Don't" number six balded in blue The key........ finish the sentence for me! Basically don't let anything they say upset you. They will always say its impossible and that is NOT true at all. Take what they say with a grain of salt.

8. Don't do "1 offs"
To lose weight you have to make permanent changes. You must never do things like go on a diet until you lose the weight and go back to eating how you ate before because you will just gain your weight back again. Of course if you eat too much junk every day you will pile the kilos regardless of losing it earlier. I'm pretty much talking about yo yo dieting or any other diet that's similar like detoxing which I myself did in the past. When I was 16 I did this detox diet for 1 week and I lost the weight however when I stopped I gained all my weight back and sadly all that weight I lost was NOT fat it was water weight and the sad thing is I would attempt it again and it was the same story all over again. I also did this shake diet that didn't work either and that was a "1 off" too but I didn't really lose any weight when I did it. But it was still a "1 off". The only thing that should be a "1 off'" is a day where you are gonna splurge but you should still try to avoid it especially if you are in the beginning of your journey. Anyway basically you must develop healthy habits that will help you keep your weight off permanently. I will make a post later on how to keep weight off permanently so stay tuned!

9. Don't add too much salt to your cooking or eat too much salt.
Pay particular attention to your sodium intake, because consuming too much salt will make you retain too much water that makes you pile the kilos as well as dehydrate you. using Myfitnesspal.com will help you keep track of how much you've had. So try and keep your salt to a minimum but don't avoid it completely because a little bit of salt can be good for you especially if you have a cold  and you want to get rid of all that muck. I personally recommend that you use sea salt instead of table salt because sea salt has minerals in it that are good for you. If you have had too much salt keep drinking your water as that will help you to avoid water retention. Also check the nutrition facts on food packaging particularly stuff like canned soup and frozen meals because those foods mostly have lots of sodium in them especially ones that are marketed for weight loss. One benefit to avoiding salt is that it will not block out so much flavor from your cooking, as salt can be very overpowering, I find at least.
btw, I know I've been mentioning myfitnesspal a lot, but in case your wondering no, I am not sponsored by them I am only just recommending it because I found that website to be very useful and I think it will be useful for a lot of people. That's why I am mentioning them a lot.

10. Don't do the exact same exercise routine everyday.
If you do the exact same exercise every day you will get very bored of it as well as lose your motivation. Not only that but you will also begin to burn fewer calories as in you won't burn as much as you did in the beginning so do different things everyday lets say "oh today I will work on my biceps and tomorrow I'll work on my abs and the day after that I''ll work on my lower body..." So play around do a different routine. Or if you are the type of person who can't go to the gym get one of those challenge DVDs  like Ripped in 30 by Jillian Michaels. Or if you can't afford that YouTube is your friend! as there are thousands of different videos you can work from. If you walk or run make it longer or change pace and then you will burn more calories as you get more fit. Remember start with easy exercises first then do harder ones.


Okay well that's it for my dos and don'ts hope you found these tip useful. Stay healthy, positive and safe.

love
Alice