Just Do It

I went to lunch today with a good friend who often mentions that she would like to lose some weight. Today she mentioned she wants to lose around 30 pounds but she listed three new excuses as to why she has not yet started this process. Usually I say things like, “Don’t worry so much about your weight,” or “You are beautiful inside,” but today I said, “Just do it. Just get started. What are you waiting for?”

When I got home and was researching for my blog, I found an article I fell in love with about some great tips to meet your fitness goals, and I wanted to share some of the ideas with you:

• Lose calorie-filled beverages like soda, alcohol, and fruit “juice.” Stick with water, low-fat milk, low-calorie flavored water.
• Eat a lot of salad. Eat a salad every day and put the dressing on the side or use vinaigrette without oil.
• Eat a low-fat protein with every meal, especially breakfast. This helps with satiety (the feeling of being full).
• Step it up. Knock up your exercise plan. You have a short amount of time to do it, so do it 100% and go, go, go!
• Don’t view exercise as a chore. Think of it as time for yourself – you deserve it.
• Don’t set yourself up to fail. Be realistic about weight loss: 1-2 pounds per week.
• Start weight training. If you are only doing aerobic activity, you are losing the benefit of building lean muscle mass, which helps increase your metabolism.
• Start your meals out with salads and broths. This will help you get full with low-calorie foods, so you can eat less of the main, heavy part of the meal.
• Get a buddy. Research shows that couples who lose weight together tend to have increased success.
• Replace three high-fat items in your refrigerator with three low-fat options. Example: replace sour cream, mayo, salad dressing with low-fat versions.
• Eat healthy snacks between meals to avoid over-indulgence at mealtime.
• Get enough sleep. When we are sleep deprived, we produce hormones to trigger hunger and thus increase energy.

Last but not least, just do it. Quit complaining about it and do something about it. There will ALWAYS be a reason to skip working out or have an extra treat, but just make a commitment to yourself. Do it and stick with it. What do you have to lose…besides a few pounds?