A few weeks more and the holidays are in. Parties mean looking good in your suit. Whatever your body weight is, if you’re confident with it, there’s no problem. Case closed. But if you think you won’t look good in your new suit with that flabby body, there’s still time to shed that excess weight.
How can you do this when you have barely a month is a good question. Shedding those unwanted pounds overnight is just impossible. But when you’re patient and consistent enough, you can make the impossible possible.
Before you embark on your journey, you have to make a plan and find the right strategies that can help you achieve your health goals effectively. Begin by uncovering the myths behind weight loss, which are bound to sabotage your weight loss goals.
Losing weight equals losing fat
People who tend to lose weight much quicker for a shorter period of time think they’re losing fat. This is farther from the truth. What they’re losing is water weight, which is different from body fat weight.
Our tissues, joints, and body cavities between cells store the excess water gained through eating too much sodium or changes in hormones. Water weight is easily lost through exercise.
Losing weight means staying away from fat
A lot of confusion stems from this belief. Our body needs fat. In fact, it’s part of our diet that our body can’t live without. It’s part of the main micronutrients along with carbohydrates and proteins.
Fats provide our bodies the essential fatty acids, make our skin healthy, help fight inflammation, and provide us with energy. We only need to know the difference between good fats and bad fats.
Good fats
The food sources of good fats are nuts, nut butter, avocados, healthy oils, and fatty fish. These are the dietary fats that come from plants and animals.
Bad fats
The ‘bad fats’ or harmful dietary fats come from saturated fats and trans fats.
Saturated fats
Saturated fats come mainly from animal food sources like red meat, poultry, and full-fat dairy products, and are likely to raise cholesterol levels, leading to poor health conditions.
Trans fats
Trans fats usually come from processed foods, french fries, cakes, chocolates, ice cream, and others. It’s advisable to consume these kinds of fats in moderation. Consuming more of these fats while failing to burn them is likely to lead to obesity. So, the first step you should do is consume less bad fats if you can’t easily eliminate them.
Consume daily more of the good fats because they also aid in weight loss. They increase satiety, maximize metabolism, speed nutrient absorption, improve fat-soluble vitamin uptake. The top foods containing healthy fats are coconut, whole eggs, greek yogurt, wild salmon, olive oil, canola oil, tuna, cheese, and chia seeds.
The process of eating the right kind of fats is losing unwanted weight in itself.
Losing weight is much quicker with an intense workout
Weight loss doesn’t have to leave you having a sore body due to heavy workouts. Low-intensity exercises such as casual walking, stretching, yoga, tai chi or bike riding can also give you the kind of benefits you get with intense physical workouts. These exercises are found to lower your bodily cortisol levels and stress hormones.
There’s nothing wrong with hitting the gym if that suits you. But if you’re not the type who wants to sweat it out, then find the low-intensity fitness regimen that suits you best.
Losing weight means tossing the yolk away
This myth may have come from the fact that egg yolks contain higher calories than the whites. While this is true you should also know that yolks contain choline which is essential for cells and liver function, healthy brain development, muscle movement, the nervous system, and metabolism.
If you want to prevent a higher calorie intake in your diet, consuming an egg a day might do it without losing a key nutrient your body needs.
Losing weight is the same for everyone
You heard it often said, no one shoe fits all. These words apply to your weight loss journey too. Your friend’s fitness and diet may have amazed you for losing their weight faster than expected. You might be tempted to eat what they eat and exercise the way they exercise. Don’t do this, yet. You might end up feeling disappointed.
Our bodies aren’t created equal. We have different metabolisms, hormones, and muscle mass. Some bodies may respond to a particular fitness and diet regimen more effectively while some don’t. Your body might be one of those who takes a longer time to shed the extra pounds. You’ll be lucky if not. Patience is key. Just continue and, as much as possible, don’t compare.
Losing weight slowly is more effective
While it’s true that you can’t shed pounds overnight, this doesn’t mean to take it slow and steady. If you can do it fast, the better, especially when there’s a target date you set for yourself in attaining your desired weight.
A team of researchers from Australia shared an amazing study. They pick up volunteers and divided them into two groups of dieters. They assigned the first group a rapid weight loss of 12 weeks, while the second group was on a gradual plan of 36 weeks.
After losing the weight, the dieters were put on the same maintenance plan. Surprisingly, they fared about the same in terms of gaining their weight back. The researchers concluded that losing weight slowly or quickly are both equally effective.
Losing weight quickly means regaining weight quickly
Don’t be fooled into believing the quicker you lose weight, the quicker you’ll regain it back. This can only happen when what you’re losing is water weight. When you eat foods that trigger your body to store excess water, this is likely to occur.
But there are just people who can lose weight much quicker because of their metabolism. You might be one of them. Don’t be alarmed when this happens. To ensure you lose weight forever, apply these effective strategies:
Avoid fad diets
Avoid fad dietsThey’re only effective for a short term.
Do interval and strength training
They can help you replace flab with hard, sexy muscle.
Avoid eating when you’re not hungry
Stress, anxiety, and anger trigger you to crave for food. Watch yourself when these situations come up.
Eat healthy foods more often
Eating every three or four hours keeps your metabolism going, preventing you from getting too hungry.
