Tips and Tricks to lose weight in time for summer 18

Happy New year guys! 

This year I will be sharing all my weight loss secrets on here so you might want to check in regularly to see what tips and tricks I would be dropping next. Also, later this year there’ll be a free weight loss challenge for everyone to try. 

Disclaimer: I am not a professional trainer, I’m also learning about what to do and what not to do when it comes to health and fitness but these tricks have helped me so far.

Late 2016, I decided to get on a scale which terrifies me every time I try and I saw that I weighed 80kg. I don’t like weighing myself because In all honesty, your weight doesn’t determine if you’re fit. Weighing is a good place to start if you decide to embark on a weight loss journey just because it help track your progress and gives that boost of motivation to continue when you're progressing. When I realised I was 80kg and unhappy, I decided to do something about it so I started working out. I worked out for about 2/3 months and at that time it was hard for me to keep up because I was still in uni but I did anyway. Eventually, early 2017 I rechecked my weight and I had dropped to 77kg. I know someone would say that’s not a lot but it was at that time because if I didn’t start working out I would have added extra weight and still be unhappy. The point is, it doesn’t matter what you see now just start somewhere. Back to my story.. Mid 2017 I stopped exercising and started eating a lot because I had the impression ‘YOLO’ and didn’t want to restrict myself to what I eat and what I don’t. Lol.. when I started looking in the mirror and regretting, hating myself, telling myself that I looked fat and ugly, that’s when it dawned on me that I need to get back in shape. At this point, I had zero motivation but my fat pictures and imagines and I still wasn’t ready to put in work so I opted out for slimming tea. Realising that wasn’t helping out very much I decided to start jogging and this was around October 2017. In December, I was obligated to weigh myself and what I saw really impressed and motivated me, I weighed 74kg. Again, it might not seem like much but if I didn't start exercising I would have weighed more than 80kg.This year, I have decided as one of my major goals to be consistent with my workout and to use my enthusiasm for fitness to inspire people to start putting in the work. I hope you’re ready for it. 

For starters, here are some tips I use when I need to prep my system for that workout and get my body and mind prepared. 

It’s a new year, let’s start together so we can share results at the same time.

Step 1 - Drink a lot of water : I know that this has been overheard and overused but it really works and not just for fitness and health reasons but also for skincare and beauty. Drinking water helps detoxify the system thereby modifies and helps metabolism, it aids better digestion and hydrates the body. Drinking water before eating helps with portion control by tricking your mind and belly into thinking and feeling you’ve eaten more than you really have. 

Trick: Personally, I drink water before, during and after eating. 

Step 2 - Portion control : Food for me is a big part of how I add weight so whenever I’m trying to lose or maintain my weight I think about food first and how I can control my intake. If I could I would forfeit food forever but I can’t and I high key love food. So what I do is this, I don’t stop eating the things I love because if you starve yourself or deprive yourself of what you want then it becomes suffering and dieting is not meant to be suffering, so do not stop eating the things you love just control the amount, timing and sometimes the preparation. As time goes on I would talk more on portion control, what to do and what not to do. Also on dieting, how you can diet without starving or killing yourself. 

Trick: before putting anything in my mouth, I think of what my conscience is saying. We all know what’s good for us and what’s not, we just ignore. 

Step 3 - Detox : First of, I have an article on here about detox and what to know. I would write an updated article but for now click here to read about it. Detoxing for me especially 3-5 days before I start dieting helps put my mind in the right frame and in a way reset my system completely for something new. You don’t have to think of detoxing as the period of time you get to drink water and lemon because I’ve heard that before and I laughed hard. Why do people even detoxify their system? Why should you try? Why can’t we just start dieting straight up? can we start dieting straight up? whats the essence?All your questions shall be answered in an updated article on this topic. Go ahead and ask me any question you want about this in the comment section. 

Trick : stay away from unhealthy food as you detoxify your system because the point is that you’re trying to get rid of any substance that would hinder your progress, not add to the situation. 

Step 4 - Extra Activities : One good part of watching weight or loosing weight is the conscious effort that is put into it. You become more aware of not just your body but your mind and begin to listen to yourself a little more. Adding extra activities to your daily routine helps a lot, the running around you think aren't helping are doing more than you know. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk more, do some stretches here and there, help with chores around the house etc. All these activities help work those muscles and aids digestion and burning of calories. 

Trick : I like to add more walking around in my daily routine.

Step 5 - Jogging/Running : My favourite cardio exercise forever is running/jogging not just because I pretend I'm running away from my problems.. lol.. but because it's the fastest way to get that extra weight off. When you start running or jogging it seems like the hardest thing in the world and feels like you're about to pass out and collapse but with a little endurance and drive, you'll realise that it's the best exercise. Most times when I'm trying to loss weight and I don't feel like doing a lot of exercises I just run/jog, it gets the sweat out, keeps the heart pumping and has a lot of great benefits.

Trick :  Find what would keep you going. Music does it for me.

I truly hope this article would help someone to finally start somewhere, its never too late.

THANKS FOR READING!!