5 Things That Work for Me
7:57 AMThis work rotation has proven to one of my most successful with my weight loss. In a week I have lost five pounds. I have been able to up my work outs and cut down on my evening snacking to nothing goes in my tummy past 7pm. I have been asked what are things that have been working for me and I figured it would be perfect for a post, right?
So here we go..
Five Things That Have Worked Well For My Journey
- Cutting down on the snacking
- My BIGGEST struggle with my weight has always been the snacking. Ever since I was in high school I loved to snack but would justify it by having small meals. Being in high school I had a higher metabolism and as I got older it started to creep up. When my husband and I began our current job as Therapeutic Parents, that was when my snacking was at my absolute worst. When the kids went to bed, I would be stuffing my face with a package of Oreo's. And it didn't end with the Oreo's. Oh no, on the stressed out days it was a feast of carbs and fat. Before I really knew it I ballooned to 235 pounds. That was when I finally came to my senses and decided to make the change. I slowly cut back and like I have said before now my snacking ends after my post workout yogurt.
- The first few months going to the gym, I seriously had no clue what I was doing. I kept thinking, should I focus on the cardio because I have heard its the fastest way to lose the weight? Doing research didn't help either. I would read how cardio was the fastest way and then also read lifting weights was the real way to burn the fat. So I decided, screw it I am doing both. I began to do cardio one day and the lift the other. Now I make it my goal to at least run 3 miles outside and make up for the rest of my weekly cardio at the gym. And do my lifting. I personally love to lift more then cardio, but I feel like I need to do both.
3. Having Realistic Expectations
- When I first began, I had ridiculously high expectations with how much I wanted to lose weight in a small span of time. I was expecting to be a size 8 in a month. Boy that just set me up for failure. When I hit my first plateau I felt so lost. What was I doing wrong? That was when I began to fall back to old habits of hopelessness and was willing to accept I was going to be "fat" for the rest of my life and I just needed to deal with it. It took me a few months to realize that things are more likely to change over time. I read how it would take most people a year to lose a significant amount of weight. I have learned that you really need to be patient. I hated reading/watching shows/infomercials claiming you can lose 50 pounds in a month. It's not real and even if you are able to lose that much, it is damn impossible to keep it off. I am still learning how to have self-discipline, especially when it comes to temptation of eating.
4. Staying Motivated
- To go along with having realistic expectations, I have learned how to keep myself motivated. When I would find myself hitting a plateau, I would become so discouraged. I decided I really needed to find a way to keep myself motivated. The first thing I did was created a motivation board. I have always been more of a visual learner and that really helped. I included a visual of how many pounds I have lost as well as reward system for myself. My first milestone will getting a tattoo when I break that the 200 pound mark (twelve more pounds to go!). I also look up YouTube videos of others in the same place I am at. It has really given me a sense of connection to others and it also gives me an education on new weight loss tips.
5. Finding What Works Best For ME
- Our bodies are all different. We have our different strengths and weaknesses. I am finding that I do best finding what foods that give me the best energy and what I am able to burn off for my work outs. I am not really big on what I call guided diets or work outs. I think it's awesome if it works for others, but I feel like in order for me to make this a lifetime thing, I need to find how to make this a lifelong thing. I am not going to want to be a vegetarian for the rest of my life. I don't want to do the same work out routine for the rest of my life. I am learning what my body can do for it's limits as well as how to push it further. It also gives me a way to keep on the band wagon when I can keep things new and fresh. I find when I do the same thing over and over again, I get bored and fall behind.
So there you have it! The five things that work best for me. What are some things that really work best for you? I am always curious!
Thanks
~Rachel
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