It drives me crazy because there are SO many different diets and fads out there! Every Nutritionist, Doctor, or Personal Trainer will tell you something different. So what are you supposed to do? What is the correct way to lose weight? It can be very frustrating! Through my certification, experience in the gym, hours and hours of research, and trial and error, I have really found ways to help me lose weight. And not just me, I have helped many, many of friends lose weight as well. So today I want to help get YOU started. Take what I write and modify it to your lifestyle. Do not be afraid to ask questions and do your own research. With my Weight Loss Contest beginning this Sunday, I felt like this was the perfect blog entry for today.
The first thing I want to say is; do not become obsessive with the scale. I cannot preach this enough. You may notice at first that you lose a lot of weight, and then it may plateau. Then some weeks you may actually gain weight. Muscle weighs more than fat. However, muscle is less mass than fat, so it does not take up as much room. When you start regularly exercising and eating healthier you will gain some muscle that will replace the fat. What I did when I started my weight loss journey is bought a pair of jeans that were 4 sizes too small. Once a week I tried on the jeans and every week they fit a little better and a little better, until they eventually fit. I recommend only weighing yourself once every week or 2 weeks.
The above picture is a perfect example of 5 pounds of muscle VS 5 pounds of fat. The muscle weighs more, but look how much more dense it is.
* Like I stated on my blog entry from January 6th; make your change gradual. Do not change your life 360 degrees when first starting out. Start by replacing sodas and a meal or two a day with a healthy alternative. Same with exercise – if you do not regularly run 3 miles a day, do not expect to get in the gym and be able to do that. Start with something lower impact, build some endurance, and work your way up! For beginners, I recommend “Zumba” and “Hip Hop” classes which are fun and keep your body moving, as well as the Elliptical, which is easy on your joints and low impact.
* Start replacing foods when grocery shopping. Examples: If you buy canned vegetables, replace with frozen or fresh. Regular white bread replace with light whole wheat bread. A 2 liter of Coke, replace with a 2 liter of Diet Coke. Regular noodles, replace with whole wheat noodles. Regular chicken nuggets, replace with MorningStar vegetarian nuggets. (I swear you cannot even tell a difference!) Instead of chips and dip, try fresh vegetables and lower calorie dip or I use organic Hummus as a dip.
* Keep your body moving. I first started working out at a gym when I was 15. My mom dropped me off every day after school and my dad picked me up every day when he get off of work. I did not know what the heck to do! But I did know that I need to keep my body moving. I started on the Elliptical and played with resistance and crossramp level and made it to where it was a challenge. The same goes for the Tredmill – try different speeds and inclines to make your exercise challenging. I also learned about the importance of weight lifting. I lift weights three times a week. I work every upper muscle group, and I never do the same exercise more than once a week. I call this my Weight Circuit. I work my biceps, chest, triceps, back, and then shoulders. I do one exercise each and do 3 sets of 15 reps. My weight days are Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Lifting weights is very important, even for women, and does not make you huge and bulky. The key is lower weight with more repetitions. If you are not a member of a gym, you can still keep your body moving!
(Fun Fact: you burn more calories lifting weights than on cardio. After you lift weights your body is still burning calories where as once you stop doing cardio, you stop burning the calories from it.)
* When you first start out, it is going to be very hard, you might be a little moody, and a litter hungrier than usual. You cannot give up when it gets hard. That is too easy and that is why so many American’s are overweight. If you find yourself a little hungrier than usual, start to teach yourself to fill up on lean protein and fresh vegetables. If you start exercising you will in fact be hungrier. That is okay and that is totally normal. Your body’s metabolism is speeding up and burning more calories, so of course you will be hungrier than before.
Furthermore, once you get adjusted to your lifestyle you will see dramatic improvements in your mood, how you sleep, your energy, the ability to focus, and just overall how you feel. I often tell people who suffer from depression like I once did, a pill will not make you better but proper nutrition and diet will!
* Drink plenty of water and stay hydrated. (At least 64 ounces).
* Write down what you eat, what exercise you did, struggles you went through, goals you want to accomplish, and something good about yourself every day. Keeping a journal was an essential tool to help keep me on track. It was amazing to see the improvements day after day, the struggles I went through and over came, and watching the weight drop, drop, and drop!
~*~Liz Taylor’s 20 minute FAT BLASTER~*~
Start off with good ole’ Jumpin’ Jacks. Do 3 sets of 1 minute. After each set take no more than a 30 second rest before starting your next set. Eventually work your way up to two minutes and so on.
Next, we will do my favorite -- Walking Lunges: 3 sets of 15. Once again, no more than a 30 second rest in between sets. You will definitely be feeling this the next morning!
By this time, you might be hurting a little. We will cool down for this exercise and do: Side Leg Lifts. These are great for your hips and glutes. 3 sets of 12 on each leg. – I even like to add some supersets to make it extra hard!
*When doing this, it is important to remember to keep both feet out in front. Do not bend of point either foot.
By this time we need to get our heart rate back up, so we continue on to: Jump Squats. Do 3 sets of 20 with no more than 30 seconds rest in between each set.
Finally we finish off with some: Mountain Climbers! With these do 3 sets of 30 seconds, and you can gradually work your way up with time. And of course, no more than 30 seconds rest in between sets.
Once you finish it is imperative to stretch. Combine this for weight lifting, walking, and other types of cardio exercises and you’re already on the track to lose weight.
The weight loss contest I am holding begins January 30th, 2011! You still have 3 more days to enter and it is super easy.
(For all the details, CLICK HERE: http://liztaylortraining.blogspot.com/2011/01/murphy-in-morning-more-website-changes.html)
I was on 107.5’s Murphy in the Morning show a few weeks ago talking about my weight loss journey. If you missed it the audio is below!
Click Here: http://www.1075kzl.com/pages/3692363.php
*Scroll down the page and it is on the right side.
*Click the Play button under “Liz Taylor Loses 100 pounds”
Scratch by: BG5
I love this song! I have been listening to it on repeat at the gym. Fun, upbeat, and energetic!
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