It’s becoming beach season and everyone is getting excited
about being outside. As my friends always say, “sun’s out, guns out!” or “sky’s
out, thighs out!”
It’s pretty popular to start losing weight at this point in
the year. Coming off of a pretty brutal winter can make starting a new diet
much more difficult. This post aims to prepare you to properly make decisions
on how you want to feel, eat, look, and be this Summer.
The first component to losing weight (no surprise here) is
the diet. Most will change the contents of their grocery carts while others
will simply cut back on what they are eating. My honest opinion to diet’s role
in weight loss is that it is used best when it is a maintenance tool. Having a
healthy diet that incorporates fruits and vegetables whenever possible (it’s
not hard to eat fruit for breakfast and incorporate a salad into lunch or
dinner!) is what I’d recommend. Without question, this diet will have more
fiber and less calories just by incorporating as many fruits and veggies as
possible. Technically, eating less calories, regardless of source, can lead to
weight loss. I’ve talked to enough friends and family to understand that diet alone
can only get weight down to a certain point. It can become really difficult to
lose weight without an exercise component.
So exercise, how do you balance it with diet? The biggest
mistake I see with those who are ready to make habitual changes to lose weight
is that they feel great about their exercising and reward it with…more food.
The excess calories consumed, even though you exercised and got all sweaty,
could still cancel out all the calories burned and still lead to weight gains. It’s
smart to eat after exercise because your body will need to refuel, but make
that food you eat post-work out a well portioned, protein and carbohydrate
containing food (like a PB&J or glass of milk).
The gimmicks out on the internet and the pills that claim to
help weight loss need to be questioned. What do I mean by that? Ask questions!
Do not just read their product or listen to their spokespeople and determine if
the product will work. Here’s an example: many “lose weight fast” pills contain
a multitude of interesting vitamins, minerals, oils, or anything else they feel
(raspberry ketones?!?). Wouldn’t it make sense for a pill like this to also
have something like caffeine in it? That caffeine gives you a nice bolt in mood
and energy but with all these other things you don’t need driving up the price.
So why not try having a cup of coffee before throwing non-regulated marketing
schemes down the throat? Always remember, a regular diet including fruits,
vegetables, proteins, and grains in proper proportions will provide you with
all the nutrients you need at the cheapest cost.
So remember, losing weight is simple, make the little changes you know you need to make and pretty soon you'll be seeing results!
