So I went on a bit of a Twitter rant a while back in response to some poor advice I’ve been seeing around weightloss, diet and exercise.
While I am not a dietitian, personal trainer or weightloss “expert” I did manage to lose 90lbs over the course of a year and learned a lot along the way. So while I don’t have a fancy degree I do have some experience and I do normally stay at Holiday Inn so I figured I’d share what worked for me…
- Working out is not an excuse to eat poorly. A proper diet will do more for weight loss than exercise will.
- A reward is just that, something special for accomplishing a goal. Just because you made it to the gym today isn’t worthy of a reward.
- Diets are temporary. The only viable long term solution is a lifestyle change.
- Cold turkey is extremely difficult. Small changes, over time, leading to permanent changes is the best approach.
- If a diet or weightloss “expert” starts by trying to sell you something (shakes, DVDs, books) turn around and walk away.
- Eat more greens, less meats, even less sugars, starches and grains.
- Body weight is only one factor in weight loss. As you exercise you’ll gain muscle so there might be times the number on the scale notches up, don’t worry and don’t give up!
There is a great book called Food Rules that I reviewed here a while back. In my experience the one that made the biggest impact was this one…
If it comes from a plant, eat it. If it was made in a plant, don’t eat it.
It’s pretty simple. Lastly it’s important to know that the first 30 days of any change will be the hardest. You will fall off the wagon. Don’t feel guilty if you eat something you “shouldn’t”. Get back on the wagon and continue making those changes. A year from now and a whole lot of pounds later you’ll look back and realize how easy it really is!
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