Friday 3 January 2014

3 Things you can do to start losing weight right NOW.




Weight loss is a huge issue for most people and as a personal trainer, one of the top requests I get from clients. It is such a complicated issue that I will be taking a Nutrition & Weight Loss (NWL) Specialist certification class from CanFitPro in February.  Here are some simple steps you can take to get on the right track. I hate to be a downer or come across as a tough guy with this but really, just do this and no messing around! For some this will be the hardest task, but well worth it!

1.     Food Journal. 
Start a food journal RIGHT NOW. I would love to hear you started this as you were reading this sentence. Write down EVERYTHING that passes your lips for a week. Then a month. Water, gum, one potato chip EVERYTHING.  Here is a very short article that can give you instructions and even print out a template to record your findings. http://www.realsimple.com/health/nutrition-diet/healthy-eating/keep-food-journal-10000000965749/
I do this because when I ask about diet, most people say, “I eat pretty healthy.” Lets quantify that and evaluate!
What is a portion size? Use this to estimate it.

If your thumb is an ounce of cheese, just by looking at Canada’s food guide;
How many of you have sat down and eaten 8 servings of cheese in one sitting BEFORE a meal.

A food journal makes you GET REAL AND HONEST about your relationship to food.

2.     10,000 Steps a day.
You may have seen this before. Easy way to start losing weight is to become physically active in your everyday activities. This web page has some great tips. http://www.thewalkingsite.com/10000steps.html
Can’t find a parking space close to the grocery store, good!  A pedometer is a great way to keep you honest and quantify your activity. Most people find that the fist time they wear a pedometer, they are less active than they think. Walking is a great way to become more active and can even lower stress.

3.     Stop drinking soda and reduce alcohol consumption.

Full stop. No diet soda, don’t think low carb beer is that much better.  Nothing can sabotage your weight loss like soda and alcohol. There is nothing of benefit for you in a can of soda. If you intend to get rid of weight and consume soda, your progress will be hampered. Sports drinks are mostly sugar. Real food and water are always better. Commercials telling you that you have to squirt things in water to make you be a professional athlete are just trying to sell you stuff. Need some more energy? Have some black coffee and a piece of fruit. Also look at evaluate that latté.  Liquid calories are mostly useless and do not fill you up. So you will ingest calories like a meal, but not get full. Liquid calories will sabotage you every time.

Hopefully, you have noticed that other than possibly buying a pedometer, all of these tips are free and might actually SAVE YOU MONEY!  You can use that money to hire a personal trainer… ok sorry, had to do that. I am not saying this is easy, but could possibly be the most important three steps to weight loss.


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