Can I eat What I want and Still loose Weight

EmilyBlog, Fat to Fit } My Journey2 Comments

Can I eat What I want and Still loose Weight, The Beginning of My Fat Loss Journey, Do Cheat Meals Help of Hurt Fat Loss Progress, What is The Best Way to Lose Fat, How Do You Lose Weight the Right Way? Nutrition, Exercise for Weight Loss, Workout Plan for Weight Loss, Nutrition for a Weight Loss Goal, My Top 10 Tips for effective weight loss, 1stPhorm, Weight Loss, Diet

Can I eat What I want and Still loose Weight? Yes!
Being a Transformation Coach and Health and Fitness Blogger, people are always surprised when I tell them I still eat what I want. They are even more surprised when I tell them that I lost 110 pounds and I still eat out and drink wine.

It is not like I am shoveling giant slices of grease-dripping pizza into my mouth daily, but pizza is definitely a part of my diet. As are wine, bread and most of the other things that people think they have to give up to lose weight!

The Beginning of My Fat Loss Journey.
If you have followed me for a while you know that for me Pregnancy is like pulling the ripcord on a human life raft. After each of my sweet girls were born, I found myself bogged down with 90-120 lbs of excess weight, aching joints and diminished muscle strength and zero cardiovascular endurance from months of bedrest.

So, I know first had how overwhelming it feels to start at rock bottom when starting a weight loss or fitness journey. But each time, I was determined to reclaim my health and live an active healthy life with the sweet family I have sacrificed so much to build. I know that the only way to have sustainable and healthy weight loss, is to ditch the diet mentality and own that my goal wasn’t just to regain my pre baby body but to live a healthy lifestyle. My eating habits have to be ones that I can keep up for the rest of my life. This requires finding a balance.

Do Cheat Meals Help of Hurt Fat Loss Progress?
If you are eating three meals a day, that is 21 meals a week. If one of those meals is “less than perfect,” it is not going to ruin the other 20 nutritionally focused meals you have been eating. A couple of slices of pizza a week is not going to make you gain weight, the same way that one salad a week will not make you lose weight. It is about consistent choices and habits.

Too many people have an all-or-nothing mentality when it comes to weight loss. Thos is why most people get overwhelmed and quit. We have all been there before; we restrict ourselves, tell ourselves we can’t have anything that is not 100 percent clean. Then, we eventually cave to a craving and end up eating four times the amount we would have, if we had had just given ourself the grace to have a reasonable portion when we wanted it.

What is The Best Way to Lose Fat?
You don’t have to work out for three hours a day or limit yourself to eating only lettuce. Losing weight is all about creating a caloric deficit. You must consistently burn more calories than you eat and drink. A healthy and effective weight-loss strategy involves regular physical activity and a balanced meal plan that you enjoy eating. For me, the most important thing about losing weight is that I am healthy and happy and that I still have a healthy relationship with food.

This is why finding balance is so important. It isn’t something that happens overnight. It will take a while, trial and error for you to find a balance that works for you. But it really is worth it, as health and fitness should not become an obsession. I am not an exceptionally strong willed human. I get cravings and hit a bumps in the road …  But, I have worked hard to master healthy habits. So, when it comes to loosing weight and getting in shape, if I can do it, you can do it!

How Do You Lose Weight the Right Way?
The only way you can do this is to develop habits and a lifestyle that is manageable and realistic long term. Eating normal foods, enjoying life and being social can all be incorporated into a healthy lifestyle very easily with a little planning.

Nutrition Versus Exercise for Weight Loss
Before you begin a weight-loss plan that doesn’t involve eating modifications, you should know that it can be an uphill climb. In a 2011 review of the study published in the journal “Obesity,” overweight and obese women who exercised without modifying their diets lost 2.4 percent of their starting body weight, but women who dieted without exercising lost 8.5 percent of their starting body weight. Those who both dieted and exercised experienced the greatest success, losing 10.8 percent of their starting body weight.

Workout Plan for Weight Loss
To lose a pound per week, you need to burn 500 calories more than what your body typically uses every day. According to Mayoclinic.com, a 160-pound person can burn more than 500 calories in an hour by running, doing high-impact aerobics, working out on a stair treadmill or playing basketball, football or tennis. If you weigh more than 160 pounds, you’ll burn a greater number of calories.

Your Nutrition for a Weight Loss Goal
To lose weight with exercise alone, you’ll still need to watch what you eat. Doing a session of intense physical activity on a regular basis can increase your appetite, but if you want to lose weight quickly, it’s important not to increase the number of calories you eat. Keeping a daily food journal helps monitor your caloric intake, as well as planning your meals and snacks in advance. To keep the weight you lose off in the long term, you should eat nutritious foods you enjoy and never try to starve yourself.

Weight Loss Considerations
Dropping weight quickly with the help of intense exercise can work, but it’s often unsustainable in the long term. MayoClinic.org points out, people who lose weight too rapidly may feel sick or sluggish, and they’ll drop mostly muscle and water weight rather than fat.

My Top 10 Tips for effective weight loss:

  1. Keep a food diary: Not only does this keep you accountable for what you are eating, help you stay in a calorie range that will aid in reaching your goals, but it will also help you budget your calories. If you have used 80% of your calories for nutritional focused foods to fuel your body, give your self 20% for real life, the craving you have been holding back on. I like to save my 20% for Friday night pizza and wine with my husband or for the Saturday BBQ with friends. When I know I have made healthy choices all week, it takes the guilt out of the indulgence and I am less likely to overdo it.
  2. Don’t label food as “good” or “bad” or as a punishment or a reward: Healthy eating is not a punishment for being overweight, and some ice cream is not a reward for working out all week. It is just food. Labeling food as such gives it too much power, and it can take over your life.
  3. Portion control and moderation are always important: No matter what you are eating, you need to be mindful of portions. This is especially true, if you are having something that is more of a treat meal. If you want some cake, have a small slice.  If you want pizza, have a a slice or two and fill the rest of your place with salad ( it will not only fill you up, but it will clean your pallet leaving you less likely to want more.)
  4. Remind yourself that healthy eating and exercise is A PART of your life, but it isn’t your life: Sometimes we can become so obsessed with health and fitness that it takes over our lives and becomes an obsession. We are more than that.
  5. Protein, Protein, Protein: If you want to make your calories work for you, Pay attention to how much protein you are getting in! By adding protein into your daily intake you will not only fuel your body and maximize your workout efforts, you will keep your metabolism burning strong. If you struggle to get in whole food sources of protein try adding it with a protein powder. My go to protein source is the LEVEL-1 Protein, it is fast,convenient and delicious. Link for free shipping.
  6. Remember that nothing is totally off-limits: That doesn’t mean you can and should eat everything, but you could if you wanted to. Choosing not to eat it rather than telling yourself that you can’t, puts you in control. I never tell my self “ I can have” a food. I reframe my vocabulary to “ I don’t want it”. Mindset is powerful tool!
  7. Eat regularly: Make sure you have a regular eating pattern to keep your blood sugar levels stable. This means you are less likely to binge if you do have a little bit of chocolate.
  8. Know your triggers: Although I am all for indulging a little, there are some foods that people can’t handle in moderation. I am not saying avoid it totally, but make sure you are not eating it for emotional reasons and you set boundaries that will help you stay on track. I love Potato chips but I know better then to sit down with a bag…. they will be gone! I will instead read the serving size on the bag, place that amount in a bowl and close up the bag and put it away. I also never buy them… but since my husband occasionally brings them home, this is a tool I use to stay on track with my goals.
  9. Don’t Be a slave to Cardio: One of the biggest weight loss mistakes I see, are people so focused on calories burned that they kill themselves on the cardio machines. Give the weight floor a chance! Building muscle not only burns more calories over the long run but it will also burn fat longer post work out and change your shape faster.
  10. Don’t Beat your self UP! We all have good days and bad days. If you miss a work out or overindulged just chalk it up to a of day and get back to it! A Positive mindset is the most powerful and free tool you will ever have in reaching your fitness goals!

You Can Eat What You Want and Still loose Weight!
It is all about establishing a healthy lifestyle you can sustain and maintaining a balance. Set realistic goals that are about what you want to do or how you want to feel. Make a plan and get after it!

If you need any help identifying a healthy calorie goal, developing a training plan or accessing your diet to see where we can make adjustments and fill in nutritional gaps, Just shoot me an email: [email protected]. You don’t have to do it alone, I am here for you!

Your friend,

Emily

ACE GFI Group Fitness Instructor
ACE NWS Nutrition & Weight loss Specialist 
ACE BMS Behavior Modification Specialist 

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2 Comments on “Can I eat What I want and Still loose Weight”

  1. Great blog post! I 100% agree about it needing to be a lifestyle. It took me almost a decade of roller coaster dieting but … I finally came to my sense and a lifestyle that works for me. One where I am in the best shape of my life and I still get to enjoy my favorite foods at the appropriate times! Thanks for the post!

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