Time for Exercise
Making time for exercise can be a challenge if you have a busy schedule. This is because people think they have to change their entire schedule or get rid of other things they may enjoy. It doesn’t have to be this way it can be as simple as taking a walk at lunch time.
Fitting exercise in is important if you want to stay healthy. Exercise isn’t just about weight loss it’s about being healthy. Otherwise, you may be sorry down the road.
As mentioned above, taking a walk at lunchtime would be a great way to start an exercise routine. Another idea is walking the dog to get you going. This way you kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. All you need is three days a week for 20-30 minutes.
Playing with the kids is yet another idea. Time for exercise doesn’t have to mean going to the gym or doing something you don’t enjoy. In fact, it’s a good idea to choose something you enjoy so that you will do it more often.
You don’t have to do the same thing each time either. For example, walk the dog one day, go for a walk at lunch the next and on the third day play volleyball or tag with the kids.
It can be anything you want it to be as long as it’s activity. Consider a team sport, cycling, swimming, tennis or golf. The idea is to get moving and keep moving on a regular basis.
Later on you may decide to add more time for exercise. In the beginning, however, just fit it in, so that you can get started. Once people begin to exercise they usually want to do more. This is because they see the benefits, which usually include weight loss.
Make it a point to fit in 15 minutes of exercise three days a week for two weeks. Then add 5 minutes a week until you hit 30 minutes. It doesn’t have to be all at once. It can be 15 a.m. and 15 in the p.m. As long as you do it is what counts.
Lastly, make time for exercise and you will be glad you did. Within 4-6 weeks you will feel and look better. Keep in mind, to lose weight you also need to reduce calories.
Healthy Food Tips
Healthy food tips aren’t any good unless you follow them. This is the problem and that is that many people know how to eat right, but they don’t do it. In this day and age when information is readily available online and everywhere you go on healthy food tips how can anyone not know how to eat the right foods. They know but don’t do!
Just for the heck of it I’m going to lay out the basics. It all starts at the grocery store. When you’re shopping for food you need to read the labels! You are looking for calories, fat, salt and sugar amounts of each food you buy.
Healthy food tips are right there for you to read if only you will. Before you go shopping you need to research and find out how much of each is the right amount for you. Obviously, if you’re trying to lose weight then you choose low cal, low fat foods.
You also need to know about portion control and not eat heaping helpings or multiple helpings. This is basic healthy eating 101, we all know this.
Always eat breakfast and eat several small meals a day not 3 great big ones. Keep track of what you eat it all counts! Do not allow yourself to get hungry, hungry people over eat. Stressed out people over eat, so stress and emotional eating is a no no.
Don’t eat just before going to bed use the 3 hour rule and eat your last bite of food three hours before bedtime. Drink more water and less soft drinks. Eat more fresh vegetables and fruits as well as less processed foods.
These healthy food tips are of no benefit to you if you don’t do them. If you choose to have poor eating habits then you will pay and you will pay dearly as time goes on.
Just eating right isn’t enough either you need to have a consistent exercise routine in place to reap the full benefits of healthy foods. Diet and exercise work together to maintain good health. If you don’t know this then you have been living in a cave.
The reality is that people know and don’t care, but they will care after a stroke or heart attack lands them in the hospital like it did my mother as well as my brother and father.
I’m determined that poor health doesn’t sneak up on me how about you? Don’t say I can’t afford it when in fact you can’t afford not to.
Emotional Eating
Did you know that emotional eating
We tend to use food to soothe or suppress negative emotions such as loneliness, sadness, anger, stress and even boredom. Eating comfort foods can help temporarily, but then later you find that it has created a another problem and that is weight gain.
I’m sure you have wondered why negative emotions lead to overeating. One of the main reasons is that the food serves as a distraction and the fact that it tastes good kind of puts the emotions back in sync by giving you pleasure. Therefore, when we get upset one of the first things we go for is something like chocolate, ice cream or maybe pizza. Emotional eating can become a serious issue unless you catch it before it becomes a habit.
There are several things you can do to stop emotional eating
* Don’t keep junk food available. Definitely don’t do grocery shopping when upset.
* Look somewhere else for comfort. Call a friend, read, see a movie etc.
* Keep healthy snacks close at hand. Veggies and low fat dip and fresh fruit.
* Know your triggers. Figure out what they are and avoid them.
* Recognize type of hunger. Is it emotional hunger or physical?
* Exercise regularly and get enough sleep.
* Eat a good balanced diet, don’t skip meals.
Even with these suggestions you may end up falling off the wagon. Don’t put yourself on a guilt trip over it, but start fresh again the next day. Do your best to learn something from it so that you can prevent it in the future. Focus on the positive changes you make in your eating habits and not the negative and see how much better you feel each day.
To find out more on emotional eating read this book Breaking Free from Emotional Eating
Tips for Reducing Weight
When you want to reduce weight you first need to decide that you’re going to follow through. There is no point in losing weight if you don’t plan to keep up with your routine. It’s a lifestyle change not just something you can do for a couple of months.
You also need to make it a priority. This is another reason why people fail they don’t make their weight loss goals a priority. Once you make weight loss a priority then it will happen.
Then there’s the people who talk about reducing weight and say that they wish they could. There is no wishing there is only doing. Weight cannot be wished away. You have to make a concentrated effort everyday, not just now and then or a few days a week.
Once you’ve made up your mind to do it you have to start reducing your calories to 1500 a day no less than 1200. This can be done by reducing 200-300 calories a day until you reach your goal of 1500. A little at a time is best so that the body has a chance to adjust.
At the same time you need to up your activity level. It’s always good to choose something you enjoy, so that you will do it. If you don’t exercise then your progress will be slower.
Reducing weight is hard to do with diet alone. Not to mention the fact that you will be flabby and not toned after weight loss. The combination of the two will get optimal results.
The more muscle you gain the better, so some form of weight training with dumbbells or exercise bands would be great. Muscle burns more fat and raises the metabolism, which will help you lose weight faster. Workout every other day at 3 days a week.
It may take several months to see significant results, so patience is needed. Reducing weight takes time, consistency and effort. Safe weight loss is about two pounds a week.
Check out my post on weight loss tools for more weight loss resources online.
Effective Weight Loss Exercise
Effective weight loss exercise has a different meaning for everyone. This is due to different types of exercise being effective for each person. If you’ve tried to lose weight by doing what someone else did and it didn’t work then this could be the reason why.
For this reason, it’s better to choose an exercise you enjoy this is how people stay consistent. If you enjoy it then you will do it and you will do it more often.
To find what works for you it may take some trial and error. Once you know which exercise works then decide on frequency. Usually it’s three to five days a week.
For exercise to be effective it must be consistent and it also helps if you have variety. Find other effective weight loss exercise that you enjoy and alternate them. This way you work muscles differently and keep your exercise routine challenging. The body needs challenge.
For an exercise to be effective it should also be able to keep weight off permanently. In other words, it needs to work as good six months from now as it did in the beginning.
Keep in mind, that diet is a major part of weight loss and maintaining that loss. There is no exercise in the world that will help you lose and maintain weight if you don’t keep track of calories. Knowing how many calories you eat each day is vital.
If you don’t know how to calculate the amount of calories you should eat to lose weight then it’s a good idea for you to research and learn. In addition, when you cut back don’t do it all at once, but gradually take off 100-200 calories a day until you reach your goal.
The body needs to adjust and adapt to diet and exercise changes. Otherwise, you could have an unpleasant experience and decide to abandon the routine altogether.
Lastly, effective weight loss exercise and healthy eating habits go hand in hand, but need to be implemented gradually, especially if it’s your first attempt.
Count Calories
If you need to lose weight you have to count calories. That’s just the way it is so you might as well get used to the idea. It’s not as hard as you might think once you get used to it.
There is no magic number we should eat, however, if you eat about 1500 a day combined with moderate exercise you should be able to lose about 2 pounds a week. You see, the most important factor in getting your weight to do exactly what you want it to do is calorie intake. Not fat, not carbs, not certain foods. It’s calories.
Whether your goal is weight loss, weight gain or just maintaining your current weight, the one factor playing the biggest role in making this happen is the number of calories you are eating. This isn’t an opinion or a diet fad. This is the proven science of the human body.
The amount of calories you need depends on the size of your body and level of activity. One pound of fat has about 3,500 calories. A reduction of 100 calories per day will cause the loss of one pound of weight in 35 days. By just cutting out the calories equivalent to one slice of buttered toast from your diet, you can lose 15 pounds in one year and a half. Maybe now you can see why it’s important to count calories.
The best diet is one that can be maintained for many months or years until healthy eating habits become a way of life. As a general rule, your daily calories should not be reduced below 15 percent of the calories required by your target weight and activity level.
The first few days you count calories are the hardest because you have to look up the number of calories of each new food. It may seem that you are spending more time writing down what you eat than eating. Don’t be discouraged it gets easier as you go.
There is also a great e-book you can get called Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle you can check it by clicking here. You will be amazed when you count calories and exercise how much better you look and feel.