What is the Fastest Way to Lose Weight for Women?
What is the fastest way to lose weight for women before the Big day?
The fastest way is most likely one that touches all aspects of your lifestyle. Your sleeping habits along with what you eat have an impact on your capacity to get rid of that unwanted fat.
But these are not the only elements that influence your weight loss.
Losing weight is never easy when you are under pressure. If
In fact, it’s the only state of mind that makes it possible.
As women, we have very different weight loss objectives. We don’t gain pounds the same way or at the same places and that’s why we need to adapt the way we work out.
To make it even more difficult, brides to be are going through dish and cake tasting and stressful wedding dress fit.
It’s hard to keep exercising and even harder to add exercise to your schedule when you already have too much on your plate, so to speak… or is it?
1. Reducing Stress by Eating Better
Having your plate full is one of the top reasons why you’re having such a hard time losing weight. Stress does make us crave for more food.
That wouldn’t be a problem if we’d make healthy food choices for snacking. Instead of grabbing two celery sticks and a couple blackberries with almonds, we always fall for cookies, so-called “healthy” granola bars or canned fruit salad.
The problem with these dubious snacks is that they’re made using refined sugar. For your information, they are called carbohydrates on the food packaging nutrition facts label.
Refined sugar is digested very quickly. Most people experience a feeling called the sugar rush which is usually followed by a crash. Therefore we feel like we need to eat more to keep our body content.
It’s a vicious circle, the more we eat these processed foods filled with refined carbs, the more we want.
When you eat high glycemic index foods you feel energized but once the sugar peak passes it usually goes the other way… You feel tired, overwhelmed, and even depressed.
Obviously, overeating will make you gain more weight. Worst of all, when you keep eating this way your body becomes deprived of good nutrients. This is what makes the body ask for more food even though you ate half an hour ago!
More of a marketing strategy than actual facts
Oh, and don’t be deluded by the term “low-fat” on grocery products. They are usually filled with sugar to make them taste good… I roll my eyes every time I see a gluten-free badge on a product that doesn’t contain any cereal… Thank God this water bottle is gluten-free!
So what should you eat to lower your stress? Any food that has not gone through any processing. Grab some low carb fruits like any berries, any veggies of your liking and eat them with your favorite nuts.
Even fruits that are known to contain more sugar are more beneficial than any processed snacks you can think of.
So please, next time you get a craving ditch canned fruit cocktails sold in the grocery store. They are literally soaked with sugar juice.
Instead eat real bananas, pears, raisins and pineapples which contain natural fibers. These allow the sugar to be delivered more evenly in the bloodstream and avoid the sugar peak that eventually will leave you exhausted and starving within an hour!
2. Improve Your Cardiovascular System
The lungs, heart, and circulatory system have to be trained in order to lose weight. This cannot be achieved by sitting all day at the office and spending the evening watching TV (unless you are working out on a stationary bike…).
Even lifting weights won’t get your heart pumping enough to finally get rid of that belly fat. Although these are good for muscular tonus, cardio workouts are the ones that will make the fat covering those muscles melt.
If you haven’t started any work out routine yet, my best advice is to start by doing something you enjoy. Obviously, not everyone likes to run, cycle or swim.
To be clear, depending on how
It took 3 months for me to be able to run one km! It was such a struggle! That’s when I realized I needed to find a way to train and have fun at the same time.
As I was walking in the neighborhood last summer, I remember seeing a mom rope jumping with her kids. I thought that was a great way to get in shape!
Joining a walking club or an aqua form class is another good option if you tend to lack motivation when exercising on your own.
If you love dancing, attending a dance fitness class for beginners is an awesome way to train in a festive and friendly atmosphere too.
Last but not least, a brisk walk of 30 minutes or more each day is another fantastic option to start getting in shape. Once you get your body moving you will quickly feel a renewed energy in both your mind and body.
Remember that exercising alone won’t make you lose weight. It’s the combination of eating well, getting enough sleep and managing your stress, and training that will make it work.
3. Getting Enough Quality Sleep
Not sleeping well or too few hours can mess up your system in many ways. I won’t go into details but in general, it will make more difficult to simply start a good habit routine.
Many studies link sleep deprivation to obesity and anxiety disorders.
When we’re tired we tend to be unfocused, we forget things and we also find ourselves procrastinating. I know I happen to see small obstacles like huge mountains. The smallest tasks become daunting challenges and I tend to over think. Which leads to bad decisions.
The lack of energy and attention deficit that comes with poor sleeping patterns makes your body look for a solution.
When that happens, sugar, caffeine, and energy drinks are those that come to mind first.
Do you know why?
Because they are quick fixes that will make you feel better within minutes. If you’ve been reading from the beginning, you know that these shortcuts will lead you to gain more weight. In fact, once the sugar rush or caffeine high is gone you will crave for more.
The human body is an amazing machine dedicated to helping you feel better. But you need to provide it with the best food and lifestyle for it to perform effectively.
This naturally leads to the most important aspects of all, nutrition habits.
4. Eating Well
Don’t eat as if there is no tomorrow
Overeating is a concept we usually associate with the feeling of being bloated and barely able to stand on our feet and leave the table… It’s a little more subtle than that.
Simply put, you are eating too much when you don’t burn the excess calories you take in. I know a lot of men who seriously think they need to eat the equivalent of 8-ounce filet mignon steak or a T-bone every day because well, they are men!
A quarterback of a football team may look impressively huge (like a beef?) but it doesn’t mean they need to eat to the whole flock to perform on the field.
Interestingly, lots of renowned football players are adopting a plant-based diet. This
The fact is, for women like men, you must sum up your daily activities and understand how much calories you burn doing them.
Here’s an example:
- Wake up in the morning,
- Eat breakfast (calories intake);
- Drive to the office;
- Climb 20 stairs (light calorie burning);
- Sit looking at your computer screen;
- Eat dinner (calories intake);
- Sit looking at your computer screen;
- Climb down the 20 stairs (imperceptible calorie burning);
- Spend the evening seated (watching TV, on the phone, texting, etc.);
- Going to bed.
The previous list shows a high-level picture of the type of activities I used to do when I worked from an office. I think the only thing that saved me from morbid obesity was that I didn’t eat much of that processed food.
Did I mention morning and afternoon snacks?… No matter what the Fitbit watch says, round trips to the bathroom or walking to a meeting room are insignificant. No, you’re not losing weight by walking small distances at a normal pace.
Another important aspect of weight gain is your age. Your metabolism slows down as you grow old. I started training and really changing my habits at about the same time I realized I gained 20 pounds without doing anything different in 20 years.
Eat nutrient-rich food and avoid the rest at all cost
By the way, eating less will not be effective if you are not eating well.
Most of the commercial food sold as “healthy”, “low-fat” and “naturally flavored” are seasoned with salt and refined sugar. Sometimes sugar is not even noticeable when you taste them.
Here are some foods that have a lot of refined carbs without
- Bread
Oat meal - Pasta
- Dressings
- Beer and Wine
The following foods provide unhealthy fat:
- Margarine
- Eggs from battery cage hens
- Fried food
- Industrial vegetable oils
- Commercial dairies (yogurt, milk, cheese)
Acknowledge the fullness feeling
The sense of satiety or fullness is what tells our brain when we can stop eating. This mechanism can be disrupted by eating too fast. Which is usually what we do when we ignore our body’s repeated signs of hunger.
Another problem that occurs when we don’t take the time to chew our food correctly is that we swallow large chunks that cannot be broken down by the digestive tract.
You see, digestion starts in our month: our teeth and saliva turn chunks into a paste-like matter that can be handled by the digestive system.
Our stomach and intestines will then dissolve this paste in order to make the nutrients they contain available.
There are 2 problems in regards to chowing down food like that:
- The digestive system won’t be able to tell your brain to stop eating because it can’t assimilate enough of the nutrients in the food. Therefore, you’ll feel like you’re still hungry even if you ate twice as much as you should!
- The digestive system will do its best to extract whatever it can to feed your body. But without the precious help from your teeth and saliva, it will be in vain. The nutrients will be partially assimilated by the body.
And, yes, it will lead to weight gain. Sure enough (and very soon) your brain will say: “hey, I need food, you’re starving me!
So don’t forget to chew many times instead of swallowing your food barely masticated.
Consuming more vegetables, fruits, old style grains with other nutrient-rich food will provide a feeling of fullness without the bloating.
No need to eradicate animal-based foods. However, choose the sources wisely and make it a smaller portion of your food intake.
Finding Motivation
If someone would come to me and ask:
” I don’t know where to start my journey to a healthier life. Between all 4 lifestyle changes presented here, what is the first change I should implement to lose weight ?”
My answer is changing your eating habits!
Notice I didn’t say “what is the fastest way”. Because the quickest and most powerful way to get rid of unwanted pounds is to make the four changes altogether. Keeping in mind how they influence each other is another important factor.
Restful sleep, better stress control, exercising and good nutrition will provide your more mental clarity, serenity, stamina, and drastically improve weight regulation.
If one of those factors is not implemented, you will have a hard time keeping up the 3 others. They really have a synergy effect that comes with many benefits. Weight loss is one of them.
Needless to say,
I often find myself struggling on my way to a better, healthier and happier life. This is why I hope this post can help you achieve your goals too.
Hopefully, together we can help others do just as well. So feel free to leave a comment at the end of this post. Sharing our experience is a simple way to let others know that they are not alone in their situation.
Here are some of my favorite motivational concepts. It’s how I keep myself on the right track. Sometimes against everyone else in my social circle. But I can tell you that some of them are now listening and even ask for my advice.
Pretty soon we’ll be a lot of people willing to share our journey’s learnings so that we can all have a better life.
The Key to Any Change: Motivation
The Internet is full of fitness routines and exercises that can help someone with the right motivation level to lose weight. But that’s often what the real problem is: motivation!
As mentioned before the amount of wedding planning related tasks is huge and they are adding up to everyday duties like running errands or your boss giving you a last minute mission to be completed by Monday morning…
Suddenly planning your dream wedding seems far from being the wonderful journey you expected. In fact, it is common for most couples to feel overwhelmed and discouraged.
An awful state of mind to be in when in fact, this day should be a milestone in your lives. The day to celebrate the promise of loving and caring for each other.
Let’s forget for a second all the etiquette, the fancy decorations and flowers and all the superficial aspects that mostly occupies our mind when preparing that unique and blessed day. It all comes down to women and man sharing the same strength of conviction that they are made for each other.
So, what is the fastest way to lose weight for women or men? Like I said before, there are many well-explained books and fitness programs with videos on youtube made available for free by professional trainers. Same thing for gaining muscle tone for specific body parts and dieting.
Everything is out there waiting for you. Motivation resides deep inside your heart.
Commit to Yourself
The best way to lose weight is to make a commitment to yourself. Not to social conventions that tell you what a bride should look like.
Not to the toxic people that lead you to think that you should be losing weight for the photos or to that “perfect” wedding gown.
Before you even start any training lessons you must understand what it is that really empowers you and gives you the dedication needed to make a change in your everyday life routine.
Hopefully, you will take that newly gained knowledge and apply it to achieve any goals for the rest of your life.
What to Do When You Can’t Achieve Your Objectives
It will happen. Sometimes you will cheat on your diet or may decide not to train for a few days. Don’t feel guilty. Some would say that perfection is not of this world, but I don’t agree.
You are closer to perfection when you recognize you need a break. Perfection (in such context) is when you find a balance between feeling proud of what you achieved so far and having the humility to know your limit.
The idea when you start a training program or diet or both is to be conscious that your energy level will fluctuate.
Lack of sleep, periods, dehydration during workouts, nutrition changes are often reasons why you may feel tired especially at the beginning. These effects will pass after a few weeks of consistent workout sessions.
The keyword to achieve weight loss is really consistency: you take a break when you need it but don’t procrastinate or start doubting yourself.
Both laziness and doubt are behaviors that will compromise your success and it’s important that you recognize with honesty those behaviors. When you do, you should end this vicious circle by getting back on track.
Believe me, this will give you a feeling of satisfaction and will help build your confidence by knowing that nothing can stop you.
Know Your Best Allies
Allies are those people you know that always find the right words to cheer you up.
It can also be hobbies that relax you, self-development books or meditation techniques (there are many of them).
Motivation has a lot to do with being positive in general
1. Personal trainor
When you want to lose weight, having a personal trainer can be a good way to keep your motivation up until training, eating smaller portions and better food becomes part of your routine.
Eventually, it will be something you need to do to feel good and truly enjoy doing.
People who made the choice to exercise and diet for the rest of their lives don’t feel the frustration of privation. This is because they have got to the point where they feel better without excessive eating and get more energy by being physically active.
Being physically fit can help resist disease and heal faster, fight insomnia, get more restorative sleep, improves patience and ability to solve problems.
These are only some of the positive effects I got from my personal experience.
2. Talk to people that train on a regular basis
They can help you by giving you hints on different aspects of fitness.
3. Try to avoid bad influences
You know,
Explain to them what you are doing and how important it is to you.
I often give this example to my family: “It’s like giving a chocolate cake to a diabetic, it’s not good for me!”
4. Suggest activities that don’t exclusively involve food
Cultural and social activities like going to a concert, attending a play, exhibits, shopping.
Hey, why not go for a mountain walk or hiking trail and take nice pics there? Eventually, the skeptics will have to admit that your commitment is strong.
You may inspire some of them to follow in your footsteps!
What is your quickest way to lose weight? Share your knowledge!
Hope you have found here some motivation tips that resonate with you. I can tell you it’s an everyday challenge for me, but the results are way beyond losing weight and are invaluable!
If you have any questions or need support and help to find appropriate tools, please leave a comment and I will be happy to help!
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