There is a very common misconception that weight loss has to be painful, uncomfortable and hard. Now, while I don’t want to make little of the difficulties involved, it is clear that for many people, this misconception makes the whole process harder.
Over the years I’ve seen many people facing the same challenges and problems. In most cases, all it took was for them to change the way they approached the problem. Health, fitness and weight loss shouldn’t ever be a short-term thing. It should be a fundamental lifestyle change that benefits you for years to come.
Here are the 3 crucial factors which will help you on the road to long term fitness and health:
1. You Don’t Have to Eat Less!
When most people set out to lose weight the first thing they do is cut down on how much food they eat each day. Now, although this will often result in short term weight loss, it will also make you hungry and low on energy. In most cases this results in you reverting back to old habits after only a few weeks.
A much better approach is to eat more of the right things. Green vegetables, beans, pulses and protein sources will all help give you the energy you need without giving your body the sugars and fast release carbohydrates that most processed foods will give. This way you won’t be hungry, will have lots of energy and lose weight over a much longer period. The best thing about this approach is that you will actually keep their weight off once you’ve lost it!
2. Don’t Avoid Fat
Fat isn’t always bad. There are many different types of fat. If you are looking to lose weight and improve your health then you should try and avoid ‘saturated fats’. However, there are also many ‘good’ natural fats which you should still eat (in moderation). These fats make sure that your body maintains its ability to process fat and will also help your skin and bones to stay healthy. You will find natural fats in most meat and nuts.
3. Create HabitsÂ
If you are serious about changing your lifestyle in the long term you need to replace your old ‘bad’ habits with new ‘good’ habits. Most people think that habits take years to create. In reality, you can make something a habit in only a few weeks, once it has become a habit it then takes years to reinforce.
To make a start, focus on eradicating one bad habit each week and replacing it with one good one. Start with something simple, like starting the day with a glass of water. Over time, all your bad habits will eventually get replaced with healthy, good habits and you will start feeling the benefits.
Don’t fall into the trap of following the latest crash diet. If you are serious about changing the way you look and feel, commit to achieving long term results. If you’re not sure where to start, just follow these three easy steps and take it from there.
Some really useful advice. Can I add that using hypnosis can help as well. It can change the way that your subconscious thinks and make the weight loss even easier.
There are some great points in this article! It’s true that you don’t eat less, but it is crucial to make sure that you eat less calories. You can do this, as the author said, by making healthier choices which have less calories. For example; you could eat a chocolate bar or a whole chicken breast and they would have similar amounts of calories. Losing weight is simply calories in vs calories out, and it’s important to count them. Another good article, thanks for this!
Thanks!