Let’s face it, the majority of us struggle with losing weight or even maintaining our weight.
We have all heard what we should/not eat, different workouts to do, and all the fad diets out there. It can all get really confusing with all the information floating around on the internet. But what actually works? With my years of research and my own 100lb weightloss journey, I fabricated these tips to help others looking to pursue the same journey.
Make Smarter Choices
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When starting a weight loss transformation, the first thing I tell people is to just focus on making smarter choices in the beginning. Try and eat whole foods, veggies, fruit, etc and stay away from the takeout and the bad sugary junk. Your body is a temple, treat it as such.
Try and Drink a Gallon of Water a Day
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I try and drink a gallon of water a day not only to stay adequately hydrated, but to make me feel fuller throughout the day. Usually when you think you’re hungry, your body is actually thirsty! So before eating, try and drink a good bit of water before you go for your meal. Then if you still feel hungry, then you’re actually hungry. Not only does drinking a lot of water good for feeling full, it is also great for flushing out your system, it makes your skin clearer, and it helps reduce acne.
Increase Daily Activity
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Try and hit the gym if you can at all. There are a bunch of gyms around Morgantown and the student rec center is free if you’re a student. A bunch of apartment complexes have gyms as well so please utilize them!
Cardio
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You don’t have to do hours on hours of cardio every single day. For weight loss, you shouldn’t focus your whole transformation on how much cardio you should do. With anybody transformation, nutrition is key. You can run 5 miles a day but if you eat like crap then you won’t see much results at all. There are two forms of cardio, Steady State Cardio and HIIT. Steady State Cardio is when you go for a walk or a jog, some form of cardio that gets you breathing, but still able to hold a conversation. Do this for about 30-45 minutes a day, I usually walk on a treadmill with the intensity up to feel like you’re walking up a hill. The other form, HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is only performed for 15-20 minutes a day. This is when you get your heart rate up to its max for 30 seconds, then rest for 30 seconds. My favorite form of HIIT Cardio is sprints, I try and do HIIT 2-3 times a week. HIIT is also proven to be the most effective form of cardio. Not only does it burn calories for the whole duration of the exercise, but it puts your body into a “fat burning mode” which burns calories for hours after your workout!
Increase Daily Activity Outside the Gym
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Try and be more mobile throughout the day. Instead of taking the elevator, take the stairs. Instead of parking in the front of the grocery store, park in the back to get you to walk a little more. Also, every once in awhile, just go for a walk, our bodies aren’t meant to sit as much as we do.
Track Calories
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To keep on track, I track my calories on an app called Evolve. This is just to make sure I don’t overeat throughout the day and get into a caloric surplus. You can use the TDEE Calculator to find how many calories it will take you to lose weight and plug the calories, carbs, fats, and proteins into the goals tab. Try and hit around the same amount of calories and macronutrients every single day to ensure you’re being consistent.
Make Sure You’re in a Caloric Deficit
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If you are not in a caloric deficit, then you will not lose weight. It’s simple science really! If you burn more calories then what you are consuming, then you will lose weight.
Eat High Volume, Low Calorie Foods
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This will really help if you have a big stomach like me. High volume/low calorie foods will fill your stomach up more, tricking your mind you had more calories than what you actually had.
Sacrifice
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Any major change takes sacrifice. There will be times where you will be tempted to grab that piece of cake or go out to get drinks with friends. But you must stick to your goals. Believe in yourself and avoid the temptations, it will pay off in the long run, I promise.
Don’t Lose Sight of Your Goals
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Whether you haven’t seen any progress in the mirror or have messed up on your diet, DO NOT QUIT. It’s okay to mess up on your diet and have a cheat meal every once in a while, we’re all human. Every single person in the world who has gone through a weight loss transformation has messed up a lot, including me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve messed up. But the main thing is to stay focused on your goals and keep grinding. Let your mistakes motivate you to keep working hard towards your goal, and never let them make you quit.
Destress Yourself
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Whenever you are stressed, your body releases the hormone cortisol. This hormone can stump or even reverse a weight loss diet. I know that whenever I’m stressed, I won’t make much progress. Even if I stay true to my nutrition and my gym time.
Recovery
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Sleep is one of the most important things in weight loss. Your body needs rest to recover whenever you’re trying to gain weight or lose weight.
Ease into This Process
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This isn’t the easiest process to start, you definitely want to go into this toes first. Going into this cold turkey will do nothing but set you up for failure. Ease into it, learn new things about your body every single day, and try to make healthier smarter choices every single day of your journey.
Make the Journey Sustainable
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If you force yourself to have a diet that you hate or is too hard, you will set yourself up for failure. You want this to be a challenging, but sustainable process because we want this to last for a long long time.
Enjoy the Process
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And finally, my last point is to enjoy the process. This isn’t a fast way to lose weight, it is effective and slow. To ensure you maintain the most muscle and maintain a healthy metabolism, follow these tips I’ve showed you. And don’t be discouraged whenever your weight goes up or maintains. It is healthy for your body weight to fluctuate, it’s normal and it happens to everybody. So enjoy the process and make the best out of it, it’s a long one, so buckle in.
Hopefully with these tips, you too will successfully lose weight. If you have any questions regarding this topic, please send me an email to zakariahranson@gmail.com
Happy Wednesday Everyone!
Zak
