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10 Essential Tips for Fat
Loss Success
by Caroline Radway
Struggling to lose weight? Feel like you don't know
where to start? Here are 10 essential tips to get you started and make sure you
reach your fat loss goals!
1. MINDSET.
A can-do attitude is so important. The foundation of this is a real desire
to achieve. Think about what you want and why. Think about how highly you
priorities a healthy lifestyle and what you are prepared to change to achieve
this.
2. GOAL SETTING & GETTING.
Be clear about what you want to achieve. Write it down. Write it where you
can see it regularly. Be precise and aim high! Then break it down into
manageable chunks and work on one piece at a time. Remind yourself of your goals
regularly and don't be afraid to update them. Keep an index card in your bag or
by your computer (or on the fridge...) so you can keep your mind on the prize!
3. ACTIVITY.
Increase general activity any way you can. This is so important and can
cover the effects of the odd missed workout! There are people who never 'work
out' officially but are still fit as they are naturally active in their daily
lives - walking or cycling around, using stairs not lifts, performing manual
work etc. Look honestly into your life and seek out the pockets of activity you
can exploit.
4. PLANNING AND PREPARATION.
Without planning, how can you expect to succeed? We don't leave for a
journey with no map, otherwise we would only end up getting lost, or back where
we started if we are lucky! This applies to planning your approach (what am I
going to eat, how and when am I going to exercise etc.) as well as planning the
details (e.g. menu plans for the week's meals feeding into a shopping list that
you stick to). Plan what you are going to choose when you go out, looking online
for menus if you can so you can make healthy choices in advance. On the exercise
side, you need to decide which activities you want to take part in and schedule
them into your diary - if you wait for a free 30 mins you are never going to
find it! Schedule it in and commit to your appointment.
5. NUTRITION.
Clean it up! Eat lots of veggies, plenty of fruit, lean proteins, good fats
and plenty of water. Minimize anything packaged or that does not fall into the
above categories. Experiment, play with your food! Focus on enjoying the good
stuff rather than the foods you are minimizing or avoiding. Improving the
quality of the diet should automatically result in the weight dropping off, but
you also need to pay attention to eating moderate portions and ensuring you
don't over-do the more calorie-dense foods, as ultimately calories do count.
6. EXERCISE.
Daily activity is one part of the equation, and the other is including
periods of more structured intense activity. This should cover both resistance
and cardio training and ideally you should aim to spend around 45 - 60 mins, 3 -
5 times a week on this element.
7. RECOVERY.
Yes, rest is encouraged! Ensure you have adequate rest between intense
training sessions. A common error is going too hard at the outset and putting
yourself off or causing injury. Plan your workout days in advance and stick to
it, letting yourself recover but staying active. Active recovery is great and
can include walking, cycling, swimming etc. to help keep the blood flowing
through the muscles and actually ease out any soreness from a previous session.
Getting enough sleep is also crucial: 7-9 hours a night is optimal. Your
training will suffer if you are not getting enough sleep, as will your mood and
energy levels.
8. STRESS AND TIME MANAGEMENT.
You need to priorities your health in order to effectively deal with all
that life throws at you. Once you have acknowledged that you are going to make
this a priority it is then time to look into how you can achieve this. Are there
things cluttering up your life? Are they all really that important? Could you
spend 30 mins less time on the internet or watching TV in the evenings and use
that time to squeeze in a training session? Can you delegate certain tasks? We
often feel that 'to get a job done properly I might as well do it myself' but
sometimes we need to let it go, allow someone else to 'learn' to do it for us!
It may not be perfect, but it will free you up some time!
9. CONSISTENCY.
No matter what nutrition or training plan you choose to follow, you will get
success if you stick with it, so long as it is a quality approach and not some
quick-fix fad. Any 'magic bullet' promise means you start out with the view that
you will deprive yourself for a short period of time and then go back to
'normal'. You will find that certain approaches work better for you than others,
but you need to focus less on the detail and more on ensuring the changes are
being implemented consistently and ongoing on a regular basis.
10. LOG AND REVIEW.
In order to find out if things are working, you need to take measurements at
the start and then re-measure on a regular basis. Logging what you are doing is
also very important. Logging food intake is one of the most important things you
can do to ensure success as it provides you with some accountability, as well as
an historical record so you can look back on things that worked well and things
that didn't.
So, to conclude, you are in the driving seat and it is up to you to take
control! No plan or advice is worth anything if the plan or advice is not
implemented, and only you can do that. So you need to decide to make changes and
to visualize success, acknowledging the fact that there will be obstacles to
overcome. The important thing is to take action - moving, no matter how slowly,
in the right direction!
Caroline Radway is a certified Personal Trainer who
wants you to get the fitness and fat loss results that you deserve. She has
developed her M.I.R.A.C.L.E Success System and S.I.M.P.L.E. Nutrition System
that are proven to get results, fast! Find out more by joining the free member
site for resources and ongoing advice =>
http://carolineradway.ning.com |
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