After you read this blog entry please take a few minutes over the course of the next few months to look back over blog entries. This will help keep you motivated and keep information refreshed into your mind.
This entry is dedicated to anyone who wants to lose weight and improve their health. I am going to give specifics on how I lost weight and got myself 100 times healthier. I hope by documenting my specifics, this can enable you to get started or modify what you are doing to help build a strong foundation on your journey.
To begin with your weight loss journey you have to know that this is not easy. Lying on the couch, watching movies, drinking soda, and eating pizza is easy. This is not. When first starting out and truly dedicating yourself to your diet and exercise, depending upon how heavy you are and your body fat percentage, you may drop up to 5 pounds a week. That will get you excited and keep your determination hot. BUT realistically, this will stop. You should NOT except to lose that much weight every week. Losing weight and truly getting yourself to where you want to be takes a long time.
I get a lot of people telling me they want to lose weight but lose motivation after a couple of weeks because they are not seeing the results they feel like they deserve. If I gave up every time I felt like that, I will still weigh 270 pounds. I can not keep you 100% motivated – nor can anyone else. The resolution to this issue is simple. You cannot give up. This is about so much more than losing weight. Not only are you making your body stronger but mentally you are making yourself stronger. You have to push yourself. It is that simple. You are responsible for your own results. No matter what amazing Personal Trainer you have or Nutritionist, you are still responsible for your results and all of the hard work. Do not depend on other people. That is the first step into changing your life and losing the weight. Step 1.) Mentally prepare yourself to lose weight. Strengthen your mind and fill it with hope and determination.
One of my breaking points with being obese was taking showers with the lights off so I would not have to see my reflection in the full length bathroom mirror. I decided to go to see my Primary Care doctor due to the depression I was experiencing over my weight. Upon entering my appointment I had to get my weight taken. Nearly a 100 pound weight gain in the course of 2 years. It was astonishing and heartbreaking. I knew right then and there in that doctor’s office September 6th, 2008 at 2:46 PM that it was not medicine I needed to help my depression, it was a life change. A little pill does not change your life but taking control and making your own change does. Over the course of the next few weeks I did an abundance of research. I was constantly looking at videos online of different exercises, looking at different recipes and health tips, and reading up on different weight loss stories. The truth is that the best way to find out what will work with you on losing weight is trial and error. I had notebooks upon notebooks of notes from topics on health that I was researching. Every Personal Trainer and Nutritionist you talk to will tell you to do something different. There are so many different ways to lose weight and different things you can help do to accelerate your journey. They are usually all correct but may not work for your. Try different things, like I say, this is a journey. Step 2.) Do your research.
Every doctor, trainer, and Nutritionist I have ever met agreed on one specific thing: losing weight is 60% diet and 40% exercise. For me personally that has 100% without a doubt been the absolute hardest part for me on losing my weight. I love and enjoy working out at the gym more than anything in this world and could do it 4 hours a day. Keeping a strict and clean eating habit can be very hard on me at times. Especially because of the way I was raised. I was raised in the heart of the south with a mother that can make the best biscuits and cakes from scratch and tea that could never been too sweet. I know a lot of my friends can relate to this. These habits are hard to break but not impossible. If you keep your mind strong and teach yourself better eating habits, the pleasure of indulging extremely fattening and high calorie foods can be cut. One thing I have instilled in my mind is: the “good food” is only pleasure when you’re eating it. Afterwards you feel ashamed, bloated, and tell yourself “it wasn’t worth it”. Healthy eating, though it may not be quite as pleasurable as the deep dish extra cheese and pepperoni pizza, but afterwards the pleasure of knowing you picked the better choice and kept yourself on track is so much more rewarding. Enjoy your food and modify your eating to where you live with eating healthy all the time. Do not make your diet so miserable that as soon as you’ve dieted for a month and lost 10 pounds you go right back to your old eating habits. If you do that you will gain what you have lost and probably more. Then a few days after you will be fed up with the weight gain and go right back on a strict diet. This is called “Yo-yoing” and is not good for your metabolism and health. Step 3.) Healthy eating should not be a diet. It should be a lifestyle.
~ PROTEIN DOES NOT MAKE YOU “BIG”. It will not give you big muscles. Ladies, do not cut protein out of your diet. Protein is essential to weight loss and I eat a ton of it. The proteins I eat are: almonds, chicken breasts, extra lean turkey bacon, greek yogust, cheeses, sirloin and lean ground beef in moderation, almond butter, whey protein powder, and black beans. You can also add tuna, tilapia, and other fishes in your diet because I do not eat seafood.
~ LOW CARB DIETS ARE NOT HEALTHY NOR ARE THE RESULTS LONG LASTING. I never cut carbs out of my diet, ever. Some days if I were not exercising my intake would be lower but carbs are not only essential for your body but for your brains health. What I do to help assist with my weight loss is to keep my carbs low at night. I finish my work out at approximately 7:30 PM on the week nights. When I get home to have my dinner I will only eat a very small portion of carbs. I get plenty of protein for my last meal and after my work out, but keep the carbs at a minimum. Most of my carbs come early and during the day which I have found to be amazing with weight loss. Examples of “good carbs” that I eat are: sweet and red potatoes, lightly sweetened oatmeal, grits, and organic cereals, wheat pasta, light wheat breads, different types of beans (which are great in Fiber), and fresh fruits.
~ Eat a ton of vegetables. Vegetables help me feel fuller. I eat 1-2 cups of vegetables with 3-4 of my meals daily. I may not always enjoy it but it truly helps. Do not buy cannced vegetables, buy fresh or frozen. I steam mine. I eat a lot of vegetables, especially the greens: broccoli, peas, spinach, lettuce, and green beans.
~ Incorporate lots of fiber in your diet.
~ I take a multi-vitamin daily.
A healthy diet gets fat off and the weight down. You also need to tone your body, keep yourself active, and keep that metabolism going. Exercise and healthy eating are partners. Because I love sports and physical activity this has truly helped with my weight loss. I exercise all the time, which is great for my weight loss journey but I also do it because of how mentally happy it makes me feel. There is a not a pill or medicine in the world that could give me the happiness exercise does. You will come to find that exercise is the best way to relief your stress from your job, marriage, children, or whatever issue you have. Exercise has made me believe in myself. There has been so many times where I have wanted to give up because it was too hard.
I am on that tredmill running. I am on that StairMaster and the steps are fast. I am on that Elliptical and that crossramp is high. I am on that bike and I pushing my distance. My heart is pounding, sweat is dripping off of me and I still have 5 more minutes to go. It’s tough and it hurts. I am getting mad at myself because I feel like I should not be feeling this tired already. I feel like jumping off and saying “forget it” because it is too tough and I feel like I am not doing as good as I should be. Giving up would be so easy. But I don’t. I tell myself to “GO” and not give up and that every step taken is a step closer to my goal and a step stronger. I finally get to that finish line of 5 minutes and I do 5 more just to push myself. That is what I love about exercise. Not only has it improved my self-esteem and image in the mirror because it has truly gave me something to hope for and taught me how to believe in myself.
~ LIFTING WEIGHTS DOES NOT MAKE BIG HUGE MUSCLES. Women, do not be afraid to lift weights. Just because you lift weights does not mean you will obtain muscles the size of Bodybuilders. They key is to use lighter weight and do more reps. Lifting weights burns more calories than doing cardio alone. Lifting weight continues to burn calories even when your body is at rest, unlike cardio such as the Elliptical or tredmill. What I do is do a “full-body” weight circuit 3 times a week. I use every muscle group and do not do the same specific exercise twice during the week. To help keep your heart rate high through your exercise you can add 30 seconds of cardio after every set of repetitions. For instance: I do 3 sets of 15 repetitions for my exercise. I will do biceps, chest, triceps, back, and shoulders. Once I finish my first 15 reps of biceps I can do 30 seconds of jumping jacks. Then do the next 15 reps and follow it when 30 seconds of jump squats. Finish with my last 15 reps and do 30 seconds of jumping jacks again. Then proceed to the next muscle group. However, you do not have to add cardio with your weight lifting. At first, that may be a little over whelming for some. Instead, you can 20 minutes of cardio to begin, do your weight circuit, then finish with another 20-40 minutes of cardio. Normally that is what I opt to do.
~ Twice a week I try to do High Intensity Interval Training. This is also known as “H.I.I.T”. What I do for this is a 5 mintues warm up walk on the tredmill at the speed of 3.8 MPH. Depending upon your height and weight you can go faster or slower. After my 5 minute warm up, I sprint for 40 seconds then walk for 80 seconds. I sprint at the speed of 8.5 MPH and follow that with walking on 3.6 MPH. I do that for 45 minutes and end with a 5 minute cool-down walk on the speed of 3.6 MPH. This not only strengthens your cardiovascular system tremendously but also burns a ton of calories because you are constantly changing your heart rate which causes it to work harder. You can do H.I.I.T on any type of cardio machine.
~ “Fasted cardio” or “Morning cardio”. I find this to be a “secret weapon”. This has helped me drop weight a lot – doing cardio first thing in the morning 30-45 minutes on an empty stomach. I do it 3-4 times a week. I do a steady motion to where my heartbeat is not pounding, but I am working myself. This burns a lot of fat, give a little kick start to your metabolism, helps curb appetite throughout the day, improves my mood, and works off food that processed over the night. I can not say enough great things about doing cardio first thing in the morning.
~ Be sure to rest your body. I have a very hard time with this and I have made myself extremely sick before. When your body is aching, not sore, but aching or your extremely tired, let your body rest. Do not cheat yourself – do not take the day off because you are a “little sore” or “do not feel like working out”. Be true to yourself to know when you feel extremely achy and not sore.
~ Switch your cardio up. For example, run on the beach. The sand adds a ton of resistance to your run which helps burn even more calories than you would on the street or tredmill. Swim laps, go hiking, run trails, play sports – anything that keeps you moving and your heart rate up is cardio.
~ Always stretch before and after exercise.
Above I have listed the top tips of what is essential on my weight loss. It is still a journey and it is still challenging to dedicate to everyday. I hope that what I have listed can help you start your foundation and your journey to losing weight and feeling better about yourself. This journey that you are choosing to take is so much more than just obtaining a better body. You will learn so much about yourself and hopefully in return gain a new hobby and lifestyle. If you questions about anything I have listed pertaining to you specifically please do not Facebook message me but send an e-mail to: liztaylorfitness@yahoo.com.
Below is an interview with IFPA Figure Pro Competitor, Nicole Gray. She is not only a great friend to me but an huge inspiration. Find out what keeps her going, challenges her, and what it’s like in her life.
1.) How did you decide you wanted to Figure Compete?
It was a slow process really. I was insecure and out of shape so I joined the gym and tightened up my diet to get fit and feel good about myself. Over time, as I started to make progress, a lot of people started encouraging me to enter a competition. I was definitely scared and intimidated to take the leap but after a verbal kick in the ass from my brother I decided to go for it and I was hooked!
2.) What is your ultimate goal in Fitness?
As simple as it sounds, my goal is to just continue to improve my physique. Each time I take the stage I want to present my best package EVER! If you want my ‘ultimate’ goal…it would be to win the overall for Pro Figure at the IFPA Yorton Cup! Hey, a girl’s gotta dream big :)
3.) What is your favorite kind of cardio to do?
I am definitely not a fan of cardio but it’s a necessary evil to get into show shape. My cardio of choice is HIIT…Intense and exhausting. Ideally, I take it out to the track and run sprints but if I have to bring it indoors, I opt for the spin bike.
4.) What is your favorite body part to train?
Back and Hamstrings! My back is one of my strongest features on stage and I love training it. Deadlift variations and any kind of heavy rows set it off for me.
5.) What is your favorite thing to snack on?
Right now I am hooked on Greek yogurt! I mix it with some sugar-free chocolate syrup and top it with crushed pecans…Healthy and Delicious!
6.) What is the hardest part of Figure Competing?
The most difficult thing for me is balance. When I am prepping, I have my blinders on to everything but that show date so finding time for family/friends and life in general can be a bit tough. Between weight training, cardio, posing practice and prepping/preparing my meals some days it’s hard to fit other things in. But, I am finding that with each show, it gets a little easier.
7.) What advice would you offer someone who wants to lose a lot of weight?
My advice would be to set small goals. Wanting to lose 30, 40, 50lbs etc…can be overwhelming and with the finish line to a large goal so far away, it’s easier to lose motivation to continue. For myself, setting small/obtainable goals is the best way to keep going. Aiming to lose just 10lbs or sticking to my plan for one month, is an easier way to keep pushing forward…the success is motivating and before you know it not only did you crush your small goals but you are well on your way to tackling the large ones.
It's a slow process and it's going to take time but as long as you are consistent you WILL get results.
8.) What is your favorite thing to eat when you allow yourself a cheat meal?
Oooh…any kind of dessert! Ice cream, brownies, cupcakes…I love it all :)
***WEIGHT LOSS CONTEST***
To help motivate all of my amazing friends, I wanted to hold a contest. This contest will begin January 15th, 2011 and will end April 15th, 2011 . This gives you 12 weeks to work hard to see how much weight you can lose.
First place winner gets a $200.00 Gift Card to Victoria’s Secret and a 1 year subscription to “Oxygen” magazine.
Second place winner gets a $50.00 Gift Card to Victoria’s Secret.
To enter, it is simple.
You must enter by January 14th at 11:59 PM EST.
E-mail: liztaylorfitness@yahoo.com
1.) Current weight
2.) Picture of you currently in a 2 piece bathing suit
3.) Current measurements in inches of: arms (around the bicep area), chest, stomach, hips, and thighs.
On April 15th, 2011, to finalize your entry in the contest I will need the exact same information but updated with your new weight, measurements, and pictures. All finalized entries must be sent by 11:59 PM on April 15th, 2011.
*All pictures will be kept in confidentiality and will only be shown to the judges of the contest.
*If a male wins the contest the gift card will be to Macy’s and the subscription to “Men’s Health”.
**A special thank you goes to Nicole Gray for her interview and Matt Harrington for all of his help in the building of my website. I wish everyone and happy, healthy, and amazing year in 2011. It is what you make of it.
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