long time no post! Its been awhile but just in case you're wondering I haven't fallen off my horse with my healthy eating and exercise I'm still going even though I did take some breaks, but I'm back and I have so much to talk about.
As you can tell by the title, today's blog is going to be about beginning a weight loss journey. It is now the new year and I know for sure how losing weight is the typical new years resolution part many people's plans. So what better way to begin the new year with this post than to talk about how to begin.
Starting a weight loss plan can be exciting yet daunting at the same time as it can get pretty confusing as to how you are going to start.
Here are some of my tips.
1. Don't go on a diet, Focus on a lifestyle change.
A diet is generally known as something you do for a short period than going back to the way you ate before, also known as one offs. Don't do that.You must not do that because you will not get good results as in you may lose the weight but when you stop dieting and go back to your old habits you will gain everything back. You want to keep your weight off for good. Stick to a healthy diet that you can live with everyday for the rest of your life that will keep you from gaining weight so then you don't have to worry about it again next year. In order to maintain a healthy lean body you must maintain healthy eating. A diet won't help you maintain anything.
2. Don't start too quickly or start with everything all at once.
Take things a step at a time. Developing a healthy life style takes time. Starting everything all at once can get way too overwhelming. For example lets say you start the first few weeks by drinking eight glasses of water a day and choosing healthier groceries at the supermarket that will allow you to cook healthier meals. Then once you have adapted to that think of an exercise that you will love doing or have the time to do, you could join a zumba class or a martial arts class or yoga or you might prefer to invest in some home workout DVDs.
3. Start with a workout that is suitable for your level of fitness.
Don't do workouts that are too hard, not only will it be difficult, it will also be easy to give up. Start with something that is doable then as you get better, you will be able to do workouts that are harder.
4. Keep a food diary.
A food diary will help you keep track of how well you are doing. A great place to start is a website called www.myfitnesspal.com. I mentioned this website before but it is a great place to log in what you ate and how many calories you had in a day.
5. Don't cut out anything essential to your nutritional needs.
What I mean by this is that you must not cut out carbs or fats in your diet. remember there are certain fats that are good for you and there are certain carbs that are good for you. Let me brake things down for you to make things a little easier.
Carbohydrates
There are two types of carbohydrates. Simple carbs and complex carbs.
Complex carbs are foods such as fruits, vegetables, wholegrain breads and wholegrain pasta.
Simple carbs are foods such as cookies, doughnuts, white bread, refined sugar, white pasta, potato chips and cake.
How do I eat carbs? and which group do I eat most?
As you can tell from what I've written above Complex carbs sounds like the healthiest group. Well that's because it is. Eat complex carbs on a regular basis. As for simple carbs eat them occasionally. Eating simple carbs on a regular basis can give you really bad cravings as they are very addictive because of all the refined sugar. When I started my journey I found that the less I ate simple carbs, I didn't crave them as much as I use to.
Read this post to find out more about cravings.
http://myweightlossexprience.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/cravings.html
Keep these simple rules in mind.
- Stay away from anything that is white as in no white sugar and no white bread.
- Have 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day in every meal including snacks.
- Don't cut carbs out of your diet or go low carb. This is very bad for your energy!
Fats
Its so sad how fats just like carbs get such a bad rep. There are so many fats that are very essential to your health, but of course there are ones that you should steer clear of or have less of.
Which ones are good or ok to have some of?
Monounsaturated fats
Polyunsaturated fats
These are the fats that you will find mostly in foods such as nuts and peanuts (peanuts are not a nut they are a legume). You also find them in beans, avocados and oils such as olive oil, These fats are very good for your metabolism.
Saturated fats
Saturated fats are not too bad for you. A little bit is fine like maybe less than 10 grams is ideal depending on your own individual intake. They are also good for your health as recent studies have stated that they are good for your brain. These fats you find in full cream dairy products, coconut oil and fatty meats. You just have to be careful that you don't have too much.
Omega 3
Omega 3 is a very healthy fat you will find in fish and other types of seafood that's why it is highly recommended to eat fish on a regular basis however if you are like me and you hate eating fish. Chia seeds and flax seeds are a great option so opt for that if you don't like seafood.
Which ones do I stay away from the most?
Trans fats
These fats are a big "no no" to have on a regular basis. They are very bad for your heart. These fats are found mostly in margarine spreads (not all kinds) vegetable shortening and hydrogenated oils. Always check food labels for this one make sure its less than 1 gram.
here is an article that explains it better.
http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/healthy-eating/fats/Pages/trans-fats.aspx
Protein
Definitely keep protein in your diet as your muscles really need it but don't go overboard with it! Just like carbs and fats there is still an ideal amount you should have. Lots of people think they need to have tons and tons in order to build muscle and lose weight when really you still can't have too much.
Please watch this video by these two lovely people, it gives a great explanation about protein and protein shakes. (their channel is called fitnessblender and they make great workout videos!)
I'm a vegetarian what do I do?!?
Don't worry I am too! Remember there are tons of options and at the end of the day you can't have too much anyway.
Here is a list of vegan sources of protein.
Nuts: almonds, walnuts, hazel nuts, pine nuts, Brazilian nuts pecans, and macadamia nuts.
Legumes: Peanuts, chick peas, lentils, kidney beans, black beans, soy beans, hemp, butter beans, peas and canelinni beans.
Grains: Oatmeal, quinoa and brown rice
I know the videos I shared doesn't recommend protein shakes too much but you can give vegan protein shakes a go and see how it works for you.
Here are some lacto ovo vegetarian sources of protein.
Eggs
Milk
cheese
yoghurt
Keep in mind my fellow vegetarians.
- Just because you are vegetarian doesn't mean you must eat meat to lose weight or build muscle (I don't eat meat and lost weight anyway plus there are even vegan bodybuilders and athletes)
- If you are lacto ovo vegetarian opt for low fat or skim dairy products(low fat is better) opt for something that is not over 10 grams of saturated fat or opt for something that is low GI. I highly recommend greek yoghurt.
http://myweightlossexprience.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/how-to-lose-weight-and-eat-properly-on.html
also all recipes I share on this blog are lacto ovo vegetarian but some are vegan.
I love meat! Can't give it up! what meats are good?
Well I'm not telling you to go vegetarian, You can still have meat but don't go overboard. Too much protein from it can be very detrimental to your health. Don't believe me? read this article.
http://www.daveywaveyfitness.com/nutrition/8-side-effects-of-too-much-protein
The reason I say be careful is because meat has the widest source of protein compared to other foods.
If you must have meat then opt for lean meats. Here is a list of lean meats which I've heard are good.
Chicken
Turkey
lean steak
You can also have seafood that has protein!
I can't help you too much with that one because I don't like the taste of it and might have forgotten some of the tastes as I became a vegetarian 10 years ago, I don't know how to cook it, I don't know which ones are the best.(I know you meat lovers are making fun of me now, yes haha! very funny!) Every recipe I post here is vegetarian and I can only give tips on how to make the meal an omnivore meal. The best thing you can do is google recipes on the internet on healthy meat recipes.
I am very sorry that I can't share any good meat recipes aside from maybe stir fries and salads and side dishes that can be eaten with meat. I can however recommend this one lady on youtube who also lost a lot of weight. her channel is called figure friendly foodie and a lot of the meals she shares are mostly non vegetarian. here is the link to her channel.
http://www.youtube.com/user/FigureFriendlyFoodie/videos
You can also go on amazon or ebay and find cookbooks that are designed for omnivores trying to lose weight. There are actually more options out there for meat eaters compared to vegetarians. (another reason I created this blog)
One thing I should say to you omnivores is never forget to eat your vegetables, They are very important so have a nice salad instead of fries with your stake or your chicken drumstick. Make nice healthy Asian chicken stir fries with veggies instead. Be open to other healthy foods too. Don't just eat meat alone add some colour to your diet. Its important to eat lots vegetables when you try to lose weight, whether you eat meat or not. Remember your 5 a day fruit 'n veg!
DO NOT LEAVE A RUDE COMMENT ABOUT MY VEGETARIAN LIFESTYLE. IF YOU DO SO I WILL DELETE IT. RESPECT OTHER PEOPLE'S CHOICES PLEASE AND PLEASE DON'T JUDGE!
Sodium
Sodium is salt. Having too much salt will make you retain water that leads to weight gain which is why too much salt is bad, however you still need to have some salt in your diet, just like everything else you can't go overboard with it.
To put everything in a nutshell you can't have too much or too little of something whether it is protein, fat, carbs or sodium.
So how much of what is ideal?
Your food diary will help you with that. using myfitnesspal.com will lay out how much you need to have it will also calculate how much calories that are ideal for you in a day. Go visit that website and add in your weight, height, age and physical life style and it will calculate everything for you.
Don't expect results too quickly once you start.
Losing weight takes a lot of time. It took me over a year to lose 30 kilos. You need to be patient when you go on a weight loss journey. It takes weeks before any noticeable results show up. Focus more on what you need to do in order to drop kilos. check your weight, but don't do it everyday, do it once a month. The reason you must not expect results too quickly is because it will lead you to give up and it will throw you into wrong mindset where you think you are not capable of losing weight.
Be positive.
Don't doubt yourself, you must tell yourself that you can do this if you really set your mind to it. Never give up any hope and trust me you will get there. If you don't see results after your first day don't worry just keep going.
Set realistic goals.
Don't set goals like this:
I will lose 5 kilos in one day
I will lose 30 kilos in a month
This is not a realistic way of thinking. This is more realistic:
I will aim to lose 4 or 5 kilos in a month.
I will aim lose 1 kilo a week.
Well those are all my tips on how to start a weight loss journey. I hope you found this to be helpful and good luck to you if you are starting your own journey. Hope it all goes well for you and happy new year!
love
Alice
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