6 Things You Didn’t Know About Losing Weight (That You Want To Know)
By admin
Happy Hump Day! I hate that saying, but it’s nice to spice things up from time to time. I am attempting to get energized this morning after staying up far too late to watch the women’s gymnastics team dominate last night.
Those girls are amazing, and I won’t lie… watching them made my mind ponder… “I wonder if I can still tumble?” Don’t worry, I am not crazy and therefore I will not be pretending I am 15 again in my back yard. Those times are long gone- my hips and back like to remind me each morning. But that doesn’t keep me from dreaming!
Of course I then had to stay up to watch Michael Phelps get his medal to become the most decorated Olympian to date. Wow, I feel so blessed to see these moments! Now if I weren’t so tired! Such is life and I am just thankful for iced coffee.
Extra strong coffee, almond milk, cinnamon and truvia, blended together for a frothiness before pouring over ice. Perfection!
I know I say it over and over again, but the athletes are so inspiring. I look at them and think to myself, wow if they can dedicate their lives to being in the best shape possible for their “craft” then I can work to be in the best personal shape for me.
I hope that you feel the same way. Maybe you’ve been wanting to drop a few pounds gained from vacationing, summer cocktails and decreased exercise due to the insane temperatures. But in reality those are all excuses and it’s time to wipe those excuses away, acknowledge them, and stand up to say….
It’s time for me to be the best I can be.
With that being said, here are:
6 Things You Didn’t Know About Losing Weight But Will Be Glad You Do
1. Losing weight is contagious.
This is awesome news! A recent study published in the journal Obesity, found that people who participated in a weight loss group/competition were influenced by teammates and more likely to lose weight. It had a rippling affect so that as 1 person lost weight, they would motivate another to lose weight, and that person would affect someone else. Hang around people trying to improve their lives/bodies and you will too!
We’re stronger together!
What was even more interesting, was that the social interactions didn’t have to be face to face. Online communities were just as influential. The trick is motivation, when someone sees another person dropping weight and seeing positive results they begin to believe in themselves and set out to do the same thing.
That’s why I love what I do through my boot camps and Fit Women’s Weekly!
2. Being Big Boned Is An Excuse.
Have you heard someone say that they are just “big boned” and therefore stuck at their current size?
Take a look at this:
While some body composition does differ among women, holding on to this idea that you can’t hit your ideal weight because of your genetically thicker bones could be hurt you. A study at Rush University proved that the perception at which we have for ourselves influences our abilities to drop weight and keep it off.
To lose weight, recognize that you’re not where you want to be but also have the believe in yourself that you can change.
3. Slow and steady wins the race.
How many times have you seen the Biggest Loser and wondered, “wow, I wonder how many of them keep the weight off?”
I do love Jillian’s shoes in this picture! Source
The answer, unfortunately, not many of them (details here). Over the course of filming these people are pushed to their physical and caloric limits, each week trying to lose as many pounds as possible.
This spells long term weight loss disaster.
Crazy workout plans, insane calorie restrictions, and fad diets may help you lose weight immediately, but research shows over and over again that it’s extremely hard to keep the weight off once you hit your target number.
I tell everyone to keep in mind: you didn’t gain the weight over night, and it’s not going to come off over night.
Instead of looking at the goal of losing weight, look at it as changing your lifestyle and the weight will naturally fall off (1-3 lb/week). Don’t expect to lose the weight and go back to your old habits as most dieters do.
Did you know that by time a woman hits 45, she’s been on over 60 diets? Yo-yo is a no-no. Oh wow, yea I just wrote that.
4. Cardio workouts are second in command.
The common idea amongst women is that to lose weight you have to run: run faster, run longer and run more often. If running isn’t your cup of tea, then maybe you turn the the bike or the elliptical for weight loss support.
Here’s the thing though, a workout without a strength training program isn’t much of a workout for dropping weight. While cardio does help burn calories, it’s strength training that helps to boost your overall metabolism that you burn off the fat while you’re watching the Olympics on the couch.
In fact, cardio can actually have the opposite effect by burning off lean muscle and decreasing your metabolism. That is why a lot of people don’t lose weight when they decide to take up running.
So should you just do strength training? No, studies show that people who do a blend of both cardio heavy and strength heavy workouts lose more weight, improve their overall body composition more and have more energy than those that just stick to one form of training.
5. “Fat burning foods” are silly.
I recently opened my email to see the following headline: “Top 10 Fat Burning Foods”. While diet is 100% important for losing weight, specific foods/herbs/drinks aren’t going to help the fat burn away faster.
Green tea for example is amazing for you, but unless you drink nothing but green tea all day long, you’re not going to see amazing results from it. In fact, the small boost you get from a glass of green tea will only burn about 30 extra calories.
Instead of choosing foods that will speed up your metabolism, look at the overall picture. Drink green tea because it’s high in antioxidants and is a better choice than coffee. Choose berries over cookies and cakes for dessert because of the vitamins, minerals, and amazing flavors. It might seem that eating these food are “fat burners” but in reality they are just healthy options that when substituted into your diet can make quite the difference.
It’s not because of the amazing fat burning powers they have, it’s because they are low in calories, and high in nutrients.
6. Women eat too little.
The number one problem I see with women trying to lose weight isn’t that they are eating too much, it’s that they are eating too little.
You know that to lose weight you have to burn more calories than you take it, so that means that the least amount of calories you take in each day…. the better? Nope, you’ll only end up starving and still fat.
Let’s put some blame on our caveman ancestors for this one. During times when they weren’t able to forge for food and no animals were around for dinner, their bodies adapted by decreasing their metabolism. The body goes into a period of starvation and instead of burning body fat, it burns off lean muscle to lower the amount of calories needed. The fat remains right there for safety (because fat is nothing but stored energy) for REALLY critical times.
If you’ve been following a strict diet, working out and yet the body you see hasn’t changed then look at your calories. Are you eating enough to handle your workouts, life and weight loss?
My personal way to get around this issue is to enjoy a cheat meal once a week to let your body know that you’re not stuck in a food drought.
SO there you have it, 6 weight loss facts that can help you get the ball rolling in the right direction.
On a different note:
I want to know if you could be an Olympic athlete, what event would you want to participate in?
For me, believe it or not it’s not gymnastics! I wish I were a beach volleyball player! Those girls rock, and it’s a sport where you don’t have to retire by age 19… maybe there is still hope? If only I could grow about 6 more inches and I wasn’t afraid of the ball!