One of the biggest challenges with getting fit and losing weight it getting started. Many people dread the thought of it and keep putting it off. Others go full steam ahead and then burn out very quickly.
It's been said a thousand times before dieting is not the answer for long term success. You need to change your lifestyle and that can take time. Even now, as someone who regularly exercises, if I suddenly increase the level of intensity and the number of time a week I train it can hit me hard. The same if I suddenly drastically change my eating habits. My body isn't used to it and I can feel ill.
Psychologically, to suddenly deprive yourself from food you enjoy can make healthy eating difficult, creating a feeling that you are punishing yourself, suffering or going without. This article will give you some tips for how to ease yourself into a change in habits and lifestyle from which you can continue to make improvements and start achieving your goals.
So how to get started? Here are a couple of top tips to make the transition into a healthier lifestyle.
1. Understand your body and habits.
Educating yourself about you body, the food you consume and the calories you burn is important. There are plenty of tools out there that can help you track what you are eating and understand the calories and nutrients your individual body needs. In the UK most food packaging recommends around 2000 calories for the average female and 2500 for men. I am a female and for my height and weight my body needs 1400 calories to function per day. On a normal day in the office, excluding exercise, my watch records that I have burn around 1600 - 1700. If I ate 2000 calories per day I'd gain weight.
An app like MyFitnessPal will help you understand what is in the food you are eating and how that relates to what you need. Log EVERYTHING, often its not the main meals that let people down its the chocolate bar here, the crisps there, the biscuit or two with your brew, eating the cake mix, etc. Also log your exercise so you can see how many calories you burn with each activity. Garmin and MyFtnessPal work well together and can share data between them.
2. Move more
Moving more can make you feel invigorated and energised , it also increases the calories you burn, even just a little. In the early days you don't need to doing high intensity training session, you just need to move. Start off by taking the stairs instead of the lift - even if you just get out one floor lower to start off with. Go for walks, again you can start off with a short walk and build up to longer, faster walks and then on to more intensive exercise..
3. Don't drastically change your diet over night.
Suddenly significantly reducing the amount of food you eat or completely changing the food you eat can shock your body. This can cause your body to start storing fat and not react as your intend to the new food. Start by swapping meals for healthier options. If you have been tracking your meals with an app like MyFitnessPal, you will see where you are eating overly, fatty foods or what is causing your carbohydrate to be too high. You may choose to start swapping snacks for healthier options or slightly reducing portion sizes.
4. Drink more water
People can mistake thirst for hunger and fluids can be used to help you reduce your appetite. When you are tracking your intake make sure you include drinks. In the early days, try to increase the amount of water you drink and ideally swap sugary or fizzy drinks for water. Try to drink regularly throughout the day and especially before you eat.
5. Eat effectively
Slow the pace at which you eat your food and concentrate on eating it! Have you ever eaten something and realised that you barely even registered eating it? When you eat something, take the time to taste it! When you are sitting down to a meal, chew you food an extra few times and don't pick up the next mouthful until you have finished the last one.
6. Start to recondition your mind
Use the food tracking to educate yourself on what foods are not good for you - high saturated, high calories, high salt, etc. Think about what these foods do to your body - clogging arteries, creating greasy skin, add weight, etc. When you eat some thing healthy, think about the benefits to your body - the nutrients you are getting the improvements to your skin, etc. Make sure you find healthy foods you enjoy and focus on enjoying them while you are eating them. Then when you think about healthy eating don't focus on what you are "giving up" focus on the good you are doing your body, the fresh, crisp tastes you will enjoy and how it will make you feel to realise you goals.
