Category: Exercise and weight loss

Lose Weight For Good By Creating A Healthy Lifestyle

Have you struggled with losing weight, staying on a diet, or sticking to an exercise program? If the answer is yes, you are not alone. Forty five million Americans diet each year. We spend a whopping $1-2 billion per year on weight loss programs. Yet, Americans are still struggling to lose weight and keep it off for good.

A 95% Failure Rate!

 

So why aren’t these weight loss plans working? The answer is simple. Diets have a 95% failure rate and new research is telling us that exercise without nutritional intervention shows minimal to no weight loss either.

I am not here to discourage you. However, I want you to know the truth because the media tries to sell you a bunch of garbage and hype around health and fitness on a daily basis.

Now for the good news!

 

The way you lose weight and keep it off for good is by creating a healthy lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle is created by adopting a healthy habit one step at a time. Once a habit becomes as natural as brushing your teeth, it has become a part of your lifestyle and is very hard to break. It’s simple. However, it does take effort.

The top habits for weight loss and a healthy lifestyle!

 

1) Baby Steps.  It’s important to remember that this is a journey for life and not a sprint. Be conservative when setting weight loss goals.  Under-promise and over-deliver to yourself. One habit will lead to another, which leads to weight loss and management you couldn’t even imagine existed. To learn more about setting successful weight loss goals, read Baby Steps Lead to Permanent Weight Loss.

2) Meal Plan.  If you want to guarantee your success and remove the stress, then plan! In the beginning you may think you just don’t have time. Meal planning will save you time and is a critical part of successful weight loss. Not sure how to meal plan for weight loss? Refer to Meal Planning Helps You Lose Weight for  an easy step by step guide.

3)  Eat Out Smart. I encourage you to eat out and enjoy a great meal. Unfortunately, eating out often can sabotage your weight loss efforts! The average American eats out 4-5 times per week. Eating out this often can add an additional 670 calories to your weekly consumption. That’s an extra 10 lbs per year!

Eating out used to be a treat when I was growing up. However, with today’s fast paced lifestyles and global business market, it has become a major part of our diet. If it’s impossible for you to avoid eating out you, can avoid gaining weight if you follow some simple guidelines.

Start off by using sites like healthydiningfinder.com. Type in your current location and review the nutritional information for restaurants in the area. Or, try an on line app if your restaurant is not listed. Most apps will have general guidelines for restaurant meals. Stick to lower calorie meals and beverages that have little to no calories — unless it’s a special occasion.

4) Ignore the outside chatter! Stick to what works for you. There will always be some new diet or pill, a well-meaning friend, and Lord knows the magazines waiting to tell you that your plan is not ambitious enough. Or, that their way is better. My favorite is the person posing and asking “don’t you want to look like me?”

Now, I’m not saying to be closed-minded on a better way of doing things. I’m saying you should always question if a health or fitness idea fits into your life and values.

5)  Speak Success! Tell your body what you want, not what you don’t want. When you look in the mirror, use phrases like “I am losing weight,” or “I have a flat stomach.”  In the beginning this can be tough. You tend to think “you are lying.” However, you are not. In my favorite success book, The Bible, it says “speak as if it is already.” This is called faith my friend! You are believing you can accomplish your goals!

Negative thoughts will enter your mind. That’s normal. You’re human! Just don’t let them leave your lips. Replace each negative thought with a positive statement. If that’s tough in the beginning, use one of my favorite personal quotes. If you don’t have anything nice to say about yourself, don’t say anything at all. You wouldn’t say something that mean to a friend, so why say it to yourself?

Leave notes around the house as reminders to speak positively about yourself. This will help you build the mental muscles you will need to make success talk a habit.

6)  Don’t Quit! One of the number one reasons people fail is they give up. They don’t see results fast enough so they quit. Consistency is key. Use your “baby steps” to create healthy habits that you are able to maintain long term.

These really are the secrets to my clients‘ and my own personal success with personal weight loss. As you can see, there is nothing exceptional about them. You just have to get started and stick to it. I believe in you and I know you can do it!

Have a question or healthy habit you’d like to share? Please leave a comment below. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

With love,

Jennifer

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baby Steps Lead To Permanent Weight Loss

Don’t Let Overwhelm Sabotage Your Weight Loss Goals

 

Losing weight can seem overwhelming when you’re first getting started. Dropping pounds and keeping them off for good requires lifestyle changes. It takes time to create new habits and discover what works for you.

I recommend starting off with baby steps. Avoid biting off more than you can chew as  this can result in failure and lead to depression.

Five Tips to Banish Weight-loss Overwhelm:

 

1)  Get Started! Pick one thing you know you can implement right away. For example, one of my relatives set a goal to stop eating at fast food restaurants. She lost 20 pounds without exercise!

Research is showing that being consistent with one healthy habit creates a desire to do more healthy things for our bodies. This creates a snowball effect. Before you know it, you’ve lost weight without even trying!

The most important thing to do is to choose one healthy goal and stick to it.

It’s also important to be realistic about your time when choosing what your healthy goal will be. Pick something you know you can do 5 to 6 days per week. You’re more likely to create a long term habit by walking 15 minutes per day six days a week, than if you walk for an hour two times per week.

3)  Pick things you enjoy. It’s much easier to stick to something you like. If you like to get outside, try going for a walk very day.  Like to cook?  Start replacing your traditional fare with the lower calorie version of the recipe. Do you eat out often? Get a free calorie counting app to start tracking the food in the restaurants you frequent to help make lower calorie choices.

4)  Be committed. Once you’ve determined your new goal, stick to it! It takes a minimum of 21 days to create a habit. However, after being a fitness trainer for over 22 years I’ve learned it takes about six months for it to become second nature.

Don’t be alarmed if you fall off track from time to time. It means you’re human. The trick is to get right back up again and start over! Over time your healthy habit will strengthen and falling off track will become rare.

If you find you’re continually falling off track, you may need to readjust. Ask yourself questions like:

  • Is it too lofty of a goal for this time in my life?
  • Do I like the exercise I chose?
  • Has something changed in my life?

This is a great way to evaluate the need for a goal change.  Permanent weight loss is a journey not a sprint.

The most important thing I want you to remember is to find healthy habits you can stick to. If you have to change goals it doesn’t mean you’ve failed.  It means you are being realistic!

5)  Don’t compare. This one can be tough! You are on your own personal weight loss journey. Avoid comparing yourself to others that are losing weight quicker than you. They could be using an unhealthy fad diet, using an exercise routine that’s not right for you, or simply have more time to commit to their exercise routine.

There’s no harm in asking what their secret is. But before you add anything new to your health and fitness lifestyle, make sure it’s compatible with your own personal goals and desires. Don’t allow anyone (including the media) to pressure you into how you should live and what you should look like.

We are all at different places in our journey of health and fitness. The most important thing is long term success! Slow and steady wins the race to permanent weight loss. Stick to your baby steps and you will be amazed at how far you will go!

Have a question or like to share an idea? Please leave a comment below! It’s great to hear from you!

Blessings!

Jennifer

 

 

Exercise Alone Makes It Hard To Lose Weight

Have you been exercising regularly without seeing much weight loss?  If so, you may need to make some simple adjustments to your eating plan.

Five hours a week for 12 weeks and only 1.5 lbs lost!


A recent study at the University of Texas has shown that exercise alone without adjustments to diet produces minimal weight loss.  The University studied two sedentary control groups.  One group of 50 people made no changes to their diet or activity levels at all and were monitored for 12 weeks.

The second group of 50 people exercised with a personal trainer up to five hours per week for a total of 12 weeks and made no changes to their weekly diet.  This group lost a mere 1.5 lbs in 12 weeks.  I know what you’re thinking, not that impressive.

Please understand, this DOES NOT mean you should quit exercising.  Quite the opposite!  The study reveals that exercise alone makes it hard to lose weight.  The trick to losing weight permanently is a combination of a healthy eating plan AND regular exercise.

Five Simple Diet Changes to Boost Weight Loss

 

1)  Plan your meals.  Meal planning helps you plan out your caloric intake for the day.  For tips on how to meal plan,  see Meal Planning Helps You Lose Weight.

2)  Snack wisely. A small serving of chips is about 150 calories on average. But, did you know you can eat four cups of popcorn for only 60 calories? Popcorn is way more filling, and will keep you satisfied longer. Not crazy about popcorn? Eat a piece of fruit.

3)  Limit the fast food! I realize this may be obvious to some. However, with 25% of our nation eating fast food daily, I do not like to ignore this one. Most of us picture a drive through window when we think of fast food. However fast food can be healthy take out as well. When you let someone else cook the meal, you have zero control over the calories.

Find out how many calories are in your favorite take out and decide if it meets your weight loss goals.  If not, look for lower calorie take out options. Or, have some healthy frozen food on hand and combine it with a fresh salad for a last minute dinner option.

4)  Watch the sweets! There are 196 calories in a large chocolate chip cookie. Switch to a piece of dark chocolate (60 calories), a small cookie (49 calories), or a small serving of sorbet (110 calories).

5)  Eat Breakfast! This important meal jump starts your metabolism. Once you are awake the body has already been fasting for an average of 10-12 hours depending on eating and sleeping patterns.

Skipping breakfast increases the fast to approximately 15-20 hours. This keeps the body from producing the enzymes needed to metabolize fat to lose weight. When you skip breakfast, you risk sabotaging your weight loss efforts.

Not hungry in the morning?  Start with something simple like a piece of a fruit, and have the rest of your breakfast as a mid-morning snack.

A low calorie, high volume eating plan is critical for weight loss. When you combine exercise with the right nutrition, it will be easy to lose weight and keep it off for good.

Any questions?  Please ask me in the comment section below.  I’m happy to help!

Blessings!

Jennifer