This post starts a series of posts on losing and maintaining weight in a realistic, sustainable way.
First off, I should say that I am not a nutrition or fitness professional. All my tips and knowledge come strictly from my personal experience and my research. I am going to share what worked for me, and I hope that some of this information will be useful to you as well!
A little bit of history: I reached my “ideal” weight about three years ago. When I say “ideal”, I mean the weight that I am most comfortable with. I have been able to maintain it throughout these years, which included having my fourth baby who is now 14 months old. I have a huge sweet tooth and love carbs. All my life I hated exercising. And I don’t have a “thin” gene: women in my family tend to be on the heavier side. Basically, I was a magnet for extra pounds– the pounds that just didn’t make feel my best.
Which brings me to a very important point: losing a few pounds is not the ultimate goal. What matters to me is the feeling of being in the best physical shape: strong, flexible, energized, and healthy. That’s exactly how I feel when follow my “healthy lifestyle” routine.
Now on to the tips. There are quite a few changes I made to my lifestyle, and I will be sharing them in several posts. The good news: losing weight (even after having a baby), and maintaining it without any diet or pill is entirely possible!! The bad news: there is no magic button or magic food. There is no secret formula. You have to put effort in it.
Wait! Did I just lose you right there? It is not as bad as it sounds! You can do it without starving and depriving yourself. No need for complicated and expensive exercise routines either.
OK, here goes:
Tip 1: Set realistic and doable goals. Then stick to them!
Three years ago I was reading an article in a January issue of some magazine. January is when you see a lot of fitness related articles because a lot of people make New Year’s resolutions to work out and hit the gym (to quit after a couple of months). One thing in the article struck and inspired me: set manageable micro-goals and stick to them. It can be as simple as “today I will walk to my mailbox”. Doesn’t get more simple than that, does it? The trick is to do it consistently for a set amount of time until they become a habit. You decide the level of simplicity and the duration of your first commitment. The trick is to not resolve to jog 30 minutes every day, etc.– you will most surely get burned out in a few days and that will be the end of it.
I encourage you to go ahead and set a realistic and easy (!) goal and commit to it for at least a week! Can you walk (that’s what I started with– more on that in future posts), swim, ride your bicycle, or maybe zumba for ten or even 5 minutes three times a week?
Be sure to check this page of my blog often– I have many more tips to share with you!
[…] but surely easing into an exercising routine. The key was to start slow (slow and steady wins the race:) ), and figure out what type of physical activity I hate the least […]