#1 - Ditch The Scale! Do not concentrate on the scale and your weight! Your body composition or body fat percentage (muscle to fat ratio) is more important than what you weigh. Your body-weight can fluctuate daily since it s influenced by many factors which include your stomach/bowel/bladder content, water loss/retention, muscle loss/gain, fat loss/gain: sometimes you ll have no idea what s going on with your body. Two people with similar height can weigh the same, but look totally different because one has a lower body fat percentage than the other. If you ve ever heard of the BMI system doctors use, which is supposed to tell you if you re overweight or not; it s completely flawed because it doesn t take your body fat into account. Now one thing that doesn t lie are they way your clothes fit, how you look in the mirror, how you feel, and pictures. The scale can become your worst enemy by misleading you and killing your motivation if you let it! If you do
#2 Don t Rush The Process - Trust The Process Rome wasn't built in one day Success stories don t happen overnight, but they do happen with small daily improvements over time. Crash diets don t work because they re too restrictive, so why not change the way you live forever? Don t deprive yourself; incorporate meals you enjoy from time to time, and take breaks if you need to, so instead of quitting you only take small steps back you can recover from. It s easier to recover from a day or two set back, then to recover from a week or two. This new lifestyle is definitely a marathon not a sprint, so stay as disciplined as possible and trust your journey. There will be obstacles, there will be naysayers, and there will be people who don t support you, but through all of that there will be you on the other end being successful! When your results start outweigh your cravings you know you re on your way to becoming a new person; and after that, there s no looking back!
#3 Your Body Is A Machine You should treat your body like machine, like a luxury foreign vehicle! A foreign car can t run without gas, and you can t run properly without food. However for this dream car, there s a difference between putting regular gas and premium gas in it, and your body is no different; it needs premium whole foods to run at its best! You must also eat frequently to maintain blood glucose levels and keep your metabolism running. You need to take in a lot of nutrients, and the only way to do that is to eat whole foods; leave the processed junk alone, it will have you feeling tired sluggish, and carrying unwanted weight! Also you must learn to eat on some type of consistent schedule; humans are the only species who eat at sporadic times, causing our bodies to hold on to food and store it as fat due to an unregulated metabolism. It s best to eat meals that consist of protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats every 2-3 hours. Oh yea, you most definitely cannot out train a good bad diet; meaning that you cannot think just because you workout you can eat whatever you want: IT DOES NOT WORK LIKE THAT!!
#4 Focus On Your Food Types Cut out the refined carbs which give you short bursts of energy and leave you feeling lethargic and/or tired. Cut out processed foods, junk foods, fast foods, they all do the body no go good! Protein should be the foundation of every meal and you should rarely eat excessive amounts of processed carbohydrates which create the dreaded insulin spike. Fresh meats, fish, eggs, poultry, whole grains, beans, legumes, fruits, and vegetables are ideal for your body and should make up the basis of your your meals.
#5 H2O ONLY! Replace all your drinks for some good ole plain water. This by itself will shed off fat from your body due to the caloric reduction from what you used to drink. Did you know drinking soda, juice and alcoho is basically drinking liquid calories, and sugar; and for the most part the average bottle purchased or drank is multiple serving sizes! Just think how much excess calories and sugar you may be drinking per day. If you want to see success with your fitness journey, you have to cut those things out or at least keep them at a minimum. Water also flushes out your kidneys and entire digestive system, hydrating your body, and brain, thereby allowing your metabolism to function more effectively, as well as making for a nicer skin tone and appearance! Drinking more water causes you to release more water through excretion, thereby dropping "water retention" or water weight. The more water your drink, the leaner you will look; aim for a gallon a day so your organs can function optimally and your body can focus on fat-burning!
#6 Find a Mentor Reach out to someone who has done what you want to do, they just might tell you how they did it! -Find an expert in the field, someone who has proven results and doesn t just look the part. Health and Fitness is a pretty trendy these days, and just about everyone promises something. But if you can zero in and follow someone's lead who has already led others on the journey you want to embark on, that person can show you how to get what you re looking for! Remember this journey is for you, and if you take it seriously the right people will also gravitate towards you!