Weight Loss For Lazy People

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

Little Ways To Be Happier

Hi

I know that sometimes it can be hard to stay happy and it's easy to get stuck in a rut. I thought I would compile a list of things that I personally do that make me a lot happier just in case it works for anyone else who may need a little boost!

Don’t Take Things Too Seriously

Have a little fun with what you’re doing. The older you get the faster life seems to go by and let me tell you: life is far too short to take everything seriously.

Laugh At Yourself

Life is so much easier when you know how to laugh at yourself. Have you ever had one of those moments where you have completely humiliated yourself in front of someone or even a lot of people and you stand there wishing that if there was any time for the aliens to show themselves and take you away now would we be the time? Because I have had many of those. But these situations can be eased slightly, if you can see the funny side and laugh at your mistakes, chances are other people will laugh along too. 

Cuddle Your Pet

To your pet you are their whole world. They may only be a short part of your life but to them you are everything. Your pets do not care what embarrassing thing you did, the mistake you made at work, the fact that you’ve been putting off doing washing for over a month. They love you no matter what is going on in your life or anything you have done. Just a little cuddle, hold or pat to them means the world. Once you truly realise this a little pat, hold or cuddle with your pet will mean the world to you too. Nothing is more comforting to me than cuddling my little ball of fluff!

Exercise

I can almost hear the internal groans of “ergh, shut up, I’ve heard it before”. Believe me I am the most lazy person you have ever met, I would fake injury notes in school to get out of PE (Physical Education) and I never thought I would encourage people to exercise BUT you do feel better for it. I find the only way I enjoy exercise is to listen to my ipod while I do it and imagine I’m the most beautiful, fit person in the world. I’m also usually a great singer in my imagination. Exercise gives me a sense of accomplishment and it’s so nice to eventually be able to do more and more physical things with ease.

Do Something Productive

When I say ‘something productive’ it doesn’t necessarily mean some big task that will take all day. Just something little like return that email you’ve been putting off, do the dishes, get the food shop out of the way, make a start on that assignment, anything small that will make you feel a sense of accomplishment. If you do one small productive thing every day, soon you’ll slowly get on top of things and that is the best feeling.

Set Some Time For You

One afternoon a week (you can organise more or less, up to you!) set aside some time to do whatever you want – guilt free. Now, I’m one to always put off important things and watch my favourite tv shows instead but I can never properly enjoy them because of the guilt in the back of my mind telling me that I SHOULD be doing something else instead. But if you set aside some time for absolutely nothing else but yourself to do whatever you want whether that’s taking a nap, reading, watching a movie, going for a walk, drawing, going to the gym, knitting, practicing model poses in the mirror – whatever you want, you will find yourself feeling a little more rejuvenated.

Plan Something To Look Forward To

Day-to-day life can get quite boring when all you feel like you’re doing is going through the motions of work and/or study then sleeping and starting all over again. One way to make the grind of work, University or school a little more bearable is to plan something to look forward to. This can be anything, depending on your situation. It can be a small holiday away, a big holiday away, a pamper day at home doing whatever you want, a trip to the zoo, whatever it is you want! Half the fun of doing these things is the excitement of the lead up to them!

Tidy

Another thing I never thought I would be the one to encourage. I hate cleaning. It’s a lot of effort and things only end up messy again. But I find when my house or room is cluttered, clothes are everywhere and I’m falling over things as I walk to my bed that I’m a lot more stressed. Probably because cleaning it up is one more thing on my mind that I have to do at some point. Although I dislike doing it once I have tidied my room or my house (it doesn’t have to be immaculate- just tidy) I feel a lot better. I’m a lot calmer and somehow my mood just lifts – even if sometimes it’s only slightly. But just today I did a tidy up and It’s put me in quite a good mood! Accomplishment achieved.

Look After Yourself

This seems simple and anyone reading this is probably thinking ‘well isn’t that just the most obvious thing I’ve ever seen’. But not looking after themselves is something a lot of people are guilty of even if they don’t realise it (including me). What I mean by this is go to bed a little earlier, make sure you’re getting enough sleep! It sounds simple, but so many of us try to run on so little sleep and we end up feeling terrible for it. Rest when you need it, eat when you need it, take a break when you need it, try to have all three meals, and be kind to yourself. Too many times something will go wrong and we will be so horribly harsh on ourselves. You are just a person, people make mistakes and that’s okay.

Change Your Mindset

You’ve probably heard it before but happiness is a choice. I don’t think anyone wakes up and is just constantly happy without making even a slight effort to be. Of course, some people are just naturally more energetic or bubbly but it always takes a conscious effort to be happy. No one can be happy all the time, so by this I don’t mean that whenever you feel sad you have to push those sad feelings down and ignore them while trying desperately not to cry. It’s okay to feel sad occasionally and let yourself work through it. By changing your mindset I just mean to sit and think: “Everything is not perfect, but I do have some good things in my life and I want to be happy. Today I’m going to make the best of things”. Go into the day with the mindset that it could be a good day if given the chance to be!

Be Nice To Others – They’ll Be Nice Back

The way you treat others (as I’m sure you know) as a huge impact on how they will treat you. You can’t be mean, moody, inattentive or uninterested and expect other people to engage with you in a really happy, positive way. Mostly because they’ll feel like you don’t want to engage with them. The nicer and friendlier you are the more likely other people will treat you the same back. Nothing makes my day more than talking to someone who is lovely and seems to want to talk to me, even if it’s only a brief encounter at the petrol station. It’s not to say that 100% of people will be nice to you if you’re nice to them, I wish it was that way but some people are just going through a rough time or are in a bad mood and don’t always respond in the way you deserve if you’re being kind to them. But don’t let that discourage you because most of the time it will have good results and even if it doesn’t it’s nothing to do with you it’s just something they’re personally going through. Not too long ago I did a little post on kindness with some quotes, if you want to check that out click here!

Have Breakfast

I know that everyone everywhere says breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I’m not saying that (It might be, I don’t know, I haven’t looked into it). What I’m saying is that you will feel so much more energetic and just… prepared for the day if you have breakfast. I was always one to skip breakfast, I had places to be and I would much rather an extra half an hour of sleep than to be up making food. But in the last few months I’ve been making a huge effort to have breakfast because when I do my days go so much better. I find I feel less tired, I don’t get as many headaches and I feel less nauseas by the afternoon. I actually look forward to my coffee and toast every morning now.

No One Is Happy All The Time

This is very important and something I personally have only just come to truly realise. Of course it seems obvious but a lot of the time we don’t really let it sink in.  Whenever I would feel sad I would try desperately to snap out of it because it wasn’t a pleasant feeling, everyone else was happy and having fun and I wanted to be like that too. But it is okay to be sad. Sometimes something happens in our lives that makes us sad and sometimes we’re sad and not even that sure why. But that’s okay, we need to feel sadness to feel happiness. Everyone, no matter who they are or how happy they always seem will be sad sometimes. Let yourself be sad, give yourself some time, listen to some music, mope around – whatever you need. But know when to try to pick yourself up again. 

It’s Not The End Of The World

Often things will happen, these can be quite big things like failing school or university, getting fired from work, anything. And sometimes it can be smaller things that feel like a big deal or just happen to mean an awful lot to you. One thing to remind yourself is that no matter what happens or how much it feels like everything is falling apart and you’ll never get back on your feet: It’s not the end of the world. More specifically it’s not the end of your world. It may feel like it is and that’s understandable, especially when it’s a huge part of your life or something you’ve been working towards for a very long time. But sometimes things aren’t meant to be. Sometimes we just need to try again and sometimes we need to let it go.  Your world will keep turning, you will pick yourself up again and may even end up in an even better place than you had first imagined. As long as you keep trying you will be okay.

I hope that some of these have been of even a little help to you. Chin up and have a lovely day!

x