Jan172012
Trying to make a change in your diet for the better can be one of the most mentally fatiguing aspects to weight loss. Every day is an internal struggle with your conscience trying to decide what type of food to eat, but it is up to you to make sure that you stay on the course you have chosen for yourself. With each passing day you will become more disciplined and things will become easier and easier. Although the first two weeks is the most difficult part don’t worry you are in luck there are some simple ways to make your life much easier.
Before you being to take your weight loss journey you need to set some goals. Keep the goals small and simple. The biggest set back is setting a goal that’s unrealistic and it’s demoralizing, it makes people want to give up if you do not achieve it. If you set small goals that can be attained each week it will boost your confidence and allow you to set bigger goals as time goes on. For example instead of saying I want to lose 5 pounds in a week, which is unrealistic say you want to lose 1-2 pounds instead. Anyone can lose a pound in a week and seeing the number on the scale go down is more of a motivating factor than anything. Remember there is 3500 calories in a pound of fat so if you want to lose one pound in a week try to decrease your overall calorie intake by just 500 calories a day and by the end of the week you have cut back one pound of fat calories. Cutting back 500 calories is very easy to do as well its as simple as switching an apple for a snack as apposed to eating a handful of cookies. Also remember that what you do one week you will see the next week. Do not weigh yourself everyday and get discourage because you didn’t see the number change for the better. Be consistent with your weigh in’s pick a day and time and only weight yourself at those times. Being aware of your calorie intake in the beginning can become stressful and possibly annoying but if you stick to it your new change will become second nature and you wont even realize it anymore.
The next simple step is to make a food log for your self. Keep a little journal of what you eat throughout the day and keep notes on each meal. Write down why you ate what you did and how it made you feel. This will help you to understand your body and will ultimately prevent you for straying off course. By writing your food intake down it will psychologically make you eat healthier. You aren’t going to write down anything that is bad for you because when you actually see it on paper it will be more disappointing, especially if you were having a good day and then out of no where you had a moment of weakness and gave succumb to a bad habit. By writing all your meals down it will help you to understand how your body works and reacts and once you get a hold of this knowledge it will make your life much easier.
The next step is a little more tedious, but nonetheless it is an easy change to make. Most people make their eating mistakes when they are in a rush or they are eating with their eyes. An easy way to fix this problem is to start to plan your meals a head of time. If you plan each meal it will help you to avoid making bad decisions. This goes back to the food log this will help you to understand your body and find what works for you. Once you realize what foods work for you stick with it. It’s like that old saying if something isn’t broken don’t fix it, if you eat something that you enjoy and you are getting the results you want continue to use it and you watch the pounds fall off. This will help you fall into a routine and you wont have to struggle to decide what you are going to eat, you will automatically know what to go to.
The last little trick is to reward yourself for all your hard work. Give yourself a small cheat meal. No one is perfect and everyone has a moment of weakness every now and then but if you schedule it you can have control of what you’re eating without over doing it. You spent all week fighting all those bad cravings and you should get an award for it. This will also help you to satisfy those bad cravings. If you are someone who enjoys chocolate or ice cream and you avoided it all week than go treat yourself to a bite or a spoonful. Remember its just enough to satisfy your craving don’t let yourself slip and end up eating an entire bowl of ice cream or a big chocolate bar. By having a tiny bit of what you crave will help you get off the hump and drive you on into the next week. Again this reverts back to keep your goals realistic, cutting something you love completely out isn’t realistic, but if you eat it moderation it’s a win-win. You get to lose weight and still enjoy your favorite foods.
Getting a head of the mental aspect of weight loss is the most challenging part of diet and exercise, but as long as you create attainable goals that will keep you on track you will get to you end goal in no time. With each passing day not only will you become physically stronger but stronger mentally as well and this point you will be able to achieve anything that you set your mind to.
Nicholas Polizzi, Exercise Science Specialist
Nicholas has been training for over eight years and took his passion for fitness to the next level. He has been aspiring to become a top competitive bodybuilder, which is one of his specialties. He has been a multiple sport athlete his entire life and if it were not for injuries he could have played at the college level. Although he was prolonged with injuries, his perseverance lead him to become apart of division 1 nationally recognized Hofstra Cheerleading team. Hofstra has won five national titles and Nicholas was apart of two of those national championship teams. His determination to excel in his field stemmed from his injuries and he is constantly learning new techniques and is taking new courses to continue his education. Along with training clients in the gym nick trains in home clients as well as athletes. Nicholas has been a trainer for two years and is currently NFPT and USAW Olympic lifting certified. He is currently a senior at Hofstra University and is graduating this year with Bachelors in exercise science.
No comments:
Post a Comment