3 Tips To Transform Your Body
You want to lose weight and get in shape, but you don't know how. You don't know where to start or if it is even possible. You've tried fasting, you've tried doing a million sit ups and crunches, but nothing seems to work. So how exactly do you go about "getting in shape" and shedding a couple pounds? The simple answer is there's no magic formula. However, with these quick tips, a little motivation, and a strong will power, you will be well on your way to achieving your goals.
Getting in shape, losing weight, or muscle gain isn't something that can happen over night. Contrary to popular belief, eating 1 less meal won't give you abs overnight and having 1 drink out with friends also won't take your abs away either. Follow these quick tips and start going the direction you want to go.
1) Changing Your Bad Eating Habits
One of the biggest things to change is your habits. I understand that there is always a craving for something salty, fatty, or unhealthy. I don't encourage 100% removal of all your snacks or unhealthy foods right away because that will only cause a downhill spiral in the long run. You will slowly crave them again and eventually give in and indulge in more and more. What I do suggest is that you share your original stash with other people so you will be eating less of it. The next time you go out to buy groceries and you have the urge to buy the snacks again, buy about 20% less of those unhealthy snacks that you had before. And the next time you run out, decrease the purchasing amount by another 15-20% and so on and so forth. This will help you in slowly removing the unhealthy snacks from your habits. What you may be asking yourself is what to replace those snacks with? Fruits and nuts are a healthy alternative but I know those can be boring over time, so I suggest keeping a piece of dark chocolate around as those can help your cravings, as long as you are only eating 1 or 2 pieces and not a whole bunch at a time. .
2) Eat and Drink Healthier
Now that you are removing the unhealthy indulgences slowly, the next step is to eat a little better. Some of the easier things you can do is to eat stuff that is less heavy. These things can be rice, noodles, pasta, and bread. I personally do not recommend the Atkins Diet where you are doing low carbs to no carbs. I'm a bigger fan of a evenly proportioned and nutritious meal. A meal for me can be some brown rice, veggies, and some chicken or steak, followed by some fruits to follow.This way I get all the nutrition needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Of course, i say this with the caution that you are not eating 10 people's worth of food at one time. Portion Control is something everyone must acquire as a habit. Eat to not be hungry, don't eat to be full. Another major item crucial to anyone who is looking to shed weight is to remove soda from their daily necessities. Artificial sugar is definitely a major factor in weight gain. Soda, juices, or anything with syrup in them will contain a high dose of artificial sugar that will increase your weight and fat. I suggested simply removing soda from a friends diet and he lost about 7 pounds in a month by simply replacing soda with tea. Tea can be detoxing and help boost metabolism, it is a smart alternative to soda.
3) Exercise and Proper Workout Routines
A proper workout routine is important to any form of "getting in shape" and transforming your body. I am a firm believer that in order to get in shape, one must eat better and do proper workouts consistently. We've discussed the eating habits and eating healthier, now let's talk about the workouts. Many people are used to the idea of doing cardio exercises first and then doing weights after. What they don't know is that by doing cardio exercises first, they end up using up most of their energy and would have significantly less results when doing weights after. The common formula to success in weight loss is: calorie outtake > calorie intake = weight loss. So why does it matter what you do first and what you do second? Well, if you've felt tired of excessive cardio and wanted to skip the weights, then you'll understand what I'm talking about. After you are done with cardio exercises you would've exerted so much energy that your body cannot muster up any more to do weights. If it does, you'll be doing more harm than help because you'll be burning muscles instead of fat because your fat storage has been used up from the cardio. I personally prefer to do my weighted exercise prior to cardio because it gives me better results. Over the years, I've realized that when I lift weights, I can always do a bit of cardio after without feeling tired or drained. And results have shown that there's more fat burning after weight lifting when you can do more. Everyone's bodies are different and this might not work for everyone, but it's definitely worth a shot. Any exercise is better than no exercise, so definitely do something!
If you follow the tips above, eat a little better starting today, do a little more exercise, or add a workout routine, i guarantee you will have good results.
Comment if you have other tips you'd like to share or message us if you want to know some good workout routines to jump-start your goals!