Hi
Now, I am not someone who enjoys exercise or healthy food. I'm not active and I'm at my happiest when I'm laying in bed surrounded by pizza watching British comedies. But I'm at a point where while I'm not horribly over-weight I am also not exactly confident in how I look.
Instead of staring at myself and willing the extra pounds to vanish with the power of my mind alone I've decided to do something about it.
In the past I have gone about weight-loss the wrong way. I dramatically changed my diet and made sure I exercised to the point of suffocation every day until I was happy with my weight, then of course I decided I deserved a treat and would have pizza and I would eventually just fall back into old habits and end up exactly how I was before I started. This brings me to where I am now. This time I'm going to make a plan that is sustainable, that I won't eventually resent and I won't feel like I deserve a break from.
I find it easier (as you may have noticed) to present idea's or tips in list form. So here are my tips for sustainable weight loss for lazy people (like myself):
Food:
- Swap unhealthy things you would normally eat for a slightly more healthy option (i.e. instead of eating white bread opt for rye bread, instead of normal pasta go for wholegrain etc). By doing this you're not depriving yourself of the things you like, you're just changing them up where possible.
- Be as healthy as you can 80% of the time but allow yourself those treats that you love occasionally. That way you can still get something nice when you go out for dinner or have that dessert you love on the weekends. 80-20. Healthy 80%, treats 20%. Balance is key!
- Don't beat yourself up if you find yourself unable to resist a treat. I find I'm very guilty of this, if I've eaten well for a while and then I can't help myself and have some chocolate I will find myself really annoyed with myself and will often think "What's the point? I've already ruined my diet. Might as well quit all together." But that's not the case, in the grand scheme of things, a few pieces of chocolate aren't going to hurt.
- Don't dramatically change your diet right away. If you've gone from eating sausages for breakfast, a McDonalds burger for lunch and pizza for dinner (basically me) then suddenly start eating salad for every meal you're going to get awfully sick of your new healthy eating awfully fast. Change things slowly, start with swapping what you would normally eat for a slightly healthier option of the same thing (Rye bread instead of white bread). Slowly start swapping one meal at a time for a different healthier option and go from there. It's slower, but you're more likely to stick to it and not hate what you're eating.
- Drink water. You've heard it before and I hate being told to drink water but it's better for you than anything else out there and it helps with headaches. You may not suffer from headaches but I do and drinking water really does help. You can still have what you would regularly drink at first, perhaps just at meal times have your regular favourite drink and have water for the rest of the day. Then slowly cut back on your favourite regular drink until it's an occasional thing and you're mainly drinking water.
Exercise:
- Do it. I know, I hate it too. I find work out routines to do at home from youtube for the times I can't be bothered going to the gym.
- 30 minutes a day. Now, I do 30 minutes on the treadmill while at the gym while listening to my music and most days I love it. I create a scenario in my head where I'm a famous singer or something and get lost in it while I walk.
- Of course some days I go "nope, can't be bothered" and that's when I bring out the 'at home work out' where I do kicks, sit-ups, squats etc. Admittedly I don't do half an hours worth of these, but perhaps when I'm a little more fit I will. Riiiiight? Probably not.
- Exercise doesn't have to be intense routines or the gym. Go for a walk around the block, force your dog to go with you if you feel self conscious, then you can say you're doing it for your dog not you if anyone gives you weird looks. That's what I do!
- Vigorously clean the house - That's a work out. Anything that gets your heart-rate up for a substantial amount of time counts!
- Sometimes I do sit ups in bed while laying watching TV Shows.
- Sometimes I lift light arm weights while laying in bed watching TV shows. Who says you need to give up being lazy to tone? Not me.
- As you feel yourself getting fitter, you'll want to do more. I know people always say that and when you're heaving for breath on the treadmill after ten minutes while drowning in your own sweat you don't believe it. I know I didn't, until one day I found myself walking at the place I usually did for half an hour and hardly felt exhausted at all - Then I realised it was working and I needed to up my game!
- Try to stick at it. By that I mean make it a regular thing, but don't be upset with yourself if something comes up and you miss a day or you're exhausted from work, school, uni or what not and just want the afternoon to rest. You're human and that's fine, all your hard work won't go away because you miss a day.
- Set aside maybe the weekend where you don't HAVE to work-out, unless you're starting to love it in which case, go you! I usually have my weekend off.
Life In General:
- Don't get deflated and want to quit if you get sick or something happens and you miss a week of exercise and in that week you also fall back into your not-so-great eating habits. This is where I've just decided it's too late, not worth it and give up on the whole thing in the past. But it's not at all, a week or so isn't that long, it may take you a little bit to be back to your healthy self but don't let a set back hold you back completely!
- It's never too late to start again. If you DO decide it's too hard and give up, you can start it up again whenever you like. As long as you're trying, that's all that matters! It doesn't matter how many times you stop and start, the fact that you want it and you're still trying is better than never trying.
- You'll enjoy feeling yourself become fitter and healthier. That amazing feeling when you one day notice you've managed to carry all the shopping to the car in one go and you're not puffed is an excellent feeling.
- You'll enjoy that your clothes may start to fit a little looser. That is also an amazing feeling.
- Don't get too caught up in a vigorous exercise schedule (I tend to because it works for me to do it that way, but it doesn't for everyone), If you find that your schedule really only allows a work out three times a week then that's brilliant! That's more than you were doing before and you'll still see results.
- Be patient. Unfortunately fitness, health and weight loss aren't something we can see instant results for, which is what tends do throw me off. I walk around the block, come home, get changed and will always find myself checking for my amazingly slim and toned muscly body. I know it won't happen after one walk but I will look anyway because I am not missing out on that dream moment of happiness if it does!
- Scales are evil and you don't need them in your life. They won't tell you all that much anyway, especially not at the start. If you do have a goal weight in mind or want to check your scales, do it once when you start and then once again a few months down the track. Don't check it every day or every week. They will go up and down and all around and can really put you off if they've gone up. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing - you build muscle when you exercise which helps you lose weight. Not to say you'll be the hulk in a few months. You'll still lose weight, but the scales will fluctuate.
- If you're angry - Exercise. Whenever I'm angry I head straight for the gym (luckily, mine is 24 hour) and I just go for it. Not only do I feel less angry after, especially because I've been listening to angry music while running and also imagining all the scenarios where I say the right thing at the right time in the situation that's made me angry but because when I'm done I look down and the machine goes "you've burnt 300 calories". Yes.
I have gone on for long enough I feel. Most of what I've said here, you probably already know. None of it is ground breaking, doesn't involve a magic pill, won't happen over night and does involve a little effort. But, in my opinion, it's better than an intense diet that you'll stick to for a few weeks then end up hating and going back to all junk food all the time. Plus, it's worth the little changes. In my opinion, anyway!
I hope this helped even a little and that you're having a lovely day!
x
