9 Tips To Lose Weight No Matter How Busy You Are
9 Tips To Lose Weight No Matter How Busy You Are
I hear it all the time: "I don't have enough time to exercise."
Or people will tell me they will get back to their fitness goals someday
when they have time. But someday can easily turn in to never. Take
control of your day and prioritize your health and fitness! After all,
it's not about finding the time, it's about creating the time. Get back
on track no matter what your day looks like with these tips.
1. Add strength training to your routine.
Even if you focus on just one muscle group a day and do three different exercises, (three sets of 15 for that muscle group) you'll benefit. You can divide it up throughout the week. Remember: the secret to a revved up metabolism is muscle.
2. Put yourself first.
Stressful situations can take your focus away from properly caring for yourself. If you neglect yourself for the sake of external problems, you'll create more problems than you are solving. Make sure you consider what you need and do something—however small—for yourself each day, even if you only devote 30 minutes to your health each day.
3. Eat whole, fresh foods in a rainbow of colors.
Generally, the fewer foods you consume that come in a box or have a label, the healthier you're eating. Fresh, wholesome fruits and veggies are available in ample supply right now, so take advantage!
4. Eat mindfully.
There are all sorts of tips for mindful eating. Don’t watch TV and eat. Pay attention to what you're eating. Ask yourself if you're really are hungry or if something else is going on. Check first to see if you are just thirsty. Determine when you are satiated. Eat slowly. Put your fork down in between bites. The best mindful eating weight loss tip is to connect with what you're thinking and feeling. You have all the answers. You know when you are overeating. You know when you have gone too long without working out. Awareness is the first step toward change.
5. Have a purpose for doing all this.
How are you doing on the goals you set for yourself at the start of this year? If they've gotten away from you, how can you get back on track? Toss guilt out the window, and just start over. Give yourself a fresh start. If it helps, start with the end in mind and think about how you want to feel when this year concludes. What do you have to do to get there?
6. Set a simple routine and stick to it.
One great way to kill your confidence is to constantly start and stop your fitness regimen. It’s common for people to get psyched up and dive in to working out and then drop it altogether when the craziness of life intervenes. But if you start and stop all the time, you are setting yourself up for a never-ending cycle, where you won’t see any progress. Commit to what you can achieve, at least at first. If you start overly ambitious, you are less likely to stick with your routine. Try two workouts a week at first until you regularly stick to your routine for a month. Or just commit to 15 minutes a day if that's all you can do at first. If you see that you are steadily making progress, you will gain momentum and confidence you can build on.
7. Set rules that work for you.
Many people who've successfully lost weight and kept it off have set rules for themselves. Figure out how often you will work out, the bad habits you are willing to give up and the good habits you will start, the healthy food you will have on hand when you get the munchies and the number of glasses of water you will drink each day.
8. Be open to surprising yourself.
Think about how you feel when you finish an intense workout, run a mile when you never have before, finish a new weight lifting routine, or venture to a new fitness class you haven’t tried before. You have a sense of accomplishment. Muscles are sore that you didn’t even know you had. When you surprise yourself, it will motivate you to keep going—or set your sights higher.
9. Don’t chase perfect, chase perfectly healthy.
The best part about chasing healthy is it’s achievable. Chasing some idealized vision of perfect doesn’t set people up to have healthy self-images or achievable goals. The perfect word can even be a trigger for some. It’s that all or nothing thinking—perfect or nothing at all. Focusing on health provides you with a whole bunch of bonus benefits: increased energy, boosted immunity, enhanced mood, more time alive … You get my point!
The best part of tips is you can incorporate a few at a time or add an extra tip each week. Just start to make small changes daily and you'll surprise yourself with the results.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com
1. Add strength training to your routine.
Even if you focus on just one muscle group a day and do three different exercises, (three sets of 15 for that muscle group) you'll benefit. You can divide it up throughout the week. Remember: the secret to a revved up metabolism is muscle.
2. Put yourself first.
Stressful situations can take your focus away from properly caring for yourself. If you neglect yourself for the sake of external problems, you'll create more problems than you are solving. Make sure you consider what you need and do something—however small—for yourself each day, even if you only devote 30 minutes to your health each day.
3. Eat whole, fresh foods in a rainbow of colors.
Generally, the fewer foods you consume that come in a box or have a label, the healthier you're eating. Fresh, wholesome fruits and veggies are available in ample supply right now, so take advantage!
4. Eat mindfully.
There are all sorts of tips for mindful eating. Don’t watch TV and eat. Pay attention to what you're eating. Ask yourself if you're really are hungry or if something else is going on. Check first to see if you are just thirsty. Determine when you are satiated. Eat slowly. Put your fork down in between bites. The best mindful eating weight loss tip is to connect with what you're thinking and feeling. You have all the answers. You know when you are overeating. You know when you have gone too long without working out. Awareness is the first step toward change.
5. Have a purpose for doing all this.
How are you doing on the goals you set for yourself at the start of this year? If they've gotten away from you, how can you get back on track? Toss guilt out the window, and just start over. Give yourself a fresh start. If it helps, start with the end in mind and think about how you want to feel when this year concludes. What do you have to do to get there?
6. Set a simple routine and stick to it.
One great way to kill your confidence is to constantly start and stop your fitness regimen. It’s common for people to get psyched up and dive in to working out and then drop it altogether when the craziness of life intervenes. But if you start and stop all the time, you are setting yourself up for a never-ending cycle, where you won’t see any progress. Commit to what you can achieve, at least at first. If you start overly ambitious, you are less likely to stick with your routine. Try two workouts a week at first until you regularly stick to your routine for a month. Or just commit to 15 minutes a day if that's all you can do at first. If you see that you are steadily making progress, you will gain momentum and confidence you can build on.
7. Set rules that work for you.
Many people who've successfully lost weight and kept it off have set rules for themselves. Figure out how often you will work out, the bad habits you are willing to give up and the good habits you will start, the healthy food you will have on hand when you get the munchies and the number of glasses of water you will drink each day.
8. Be open to surprising yourself.
Think about how you feel when you finish an intense workout, run a mile when you never have before, finish a new weight lifting routine, or venture to a new fitness class you haven’t tried before. You have a sense of accomplishment. Muscles are sore that you didn’t even know you had. When you surprise yourself, it will motivate you to keep going—or set your sights higher.
9. Don’t chase perfect, chase perfectly healthy.
The best part about chasing healthy is it’s achievable. Chasing some idealized vision of perfect doesn’t set people up to have healthy self-images or achievable goals. The perfect word can even be a trigger for some. It’s that all or nothing thinking—perfect or nothing at all. Focusing on health provides you with a whole bunch of bonus benefits: increased energy, boosted immunity, enhanced mood, more time alive … You get my point!
The best part of tips is you can incorporate a few at a time or add an extra tip each week. Just start to make small changes daily and you'll surprise yourself with the results.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com
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