It's an ongoing battle for so many people to lose weight and even more difficult for them to keep it off. The most important advice I have ever given to anyone who asks is to not diet, but make it your "lifestyle." Exercise and good nutrition have to be a part of your life like your family and your job.
The only thing worse then trying to lose weight and getting no results is to get great results and then lose them.
So here are a few secrets that I share with my students and clients:
1) Don't go on "diets": When you go on a diet the underlying assumption is you have to eventually "go off". This is why most diets fail. By definition a diet is a temporary cut back in the food you eat. Health and fitness is not temporary, it is not a diet, it is a "lifestyle". You need to approach nutrition from a "habits" and "lifestyle" perspective.
2) Eat the same healthy foods you like consistently, all year round: Permanent fat loss is best achieved by eating mostly the same types of foods all year round. Just include a wide variety of healthy foods so you obtain the right amounts of nutrients. To lose body fat it is just a matter of eating less of those same healthy foods and exercising more. (Break a good sweat)
3) Have a plan for easing into maintenance: Usually a nutrition plan for large amounts of body fat loss needs to be more strict than usual, let's say for a bodybuilding contest, fitness contest or a transformation challenge. So the stricter your nutritional change is the slower and more discipline the transition into maintenance. Gradual transition is key to not gaining the weight back. Remember just keep a healthy "lifestyle" and control portions. Eat slow and you will fill up faster. Experts say it take 20 minutes from the time you start eating for your brain to know your stomach feels full.
4) Focus on changing daily behaviors and habits one or two at a time: Instead of making huge, multiple changes all at once, focus on changing only one or two at a time. Most experts agree that it takes 21 days to replace an old bad habit with a new positive one. As a new good habit becomes just that, like brushing your teeth, you can start focusing on the next one. If you do the math, that could be about 17 new good habits per year. Can you imagine the impact that would be on your health and your life?
Also, don't wait for new year resolution time to begin something that you should be doing on a daily basis. Start to live that healthy "lifestyle" now, you are the only one who can change your life. So take charge now and enjoy the benefits of living healthy and exercising daily. So when you see that person you haven't seen in years, they will say "Wow, you look amazing."
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