Fat Loss, One A Day At A Time

Fat Loss, One A Day At A Time

By Holly Rigsby, CPT

Rome wasn't built in a day and your fat loss won't happen that way either. Don't expect to start eating perfectly and exercising religiously tomorrow. Instead set yourself up for success by implementing at least one supportive habit per week. Make an effort to adopt the premise of "progress, not perfection." By developing awareness that improvement is measured by your daily progress, you can save yourself a lot of grief and frustration from the beginning. Focusing on small, positive steps in everything you do is a vital component to change. It starts you moving in the right direction and the momentum of your amazing, transforming results will soon follow. With time, commitment and a willingness to continue to take those small steps, failure is not an option.

How to do it: Be mindful of the fact that you didn't gain it overnight so you're not going to lose it overnight. A safe and effective fat loss program will yield 1 to 2 pounds of fat loss a week, not 10. As you begin your weight loss journey, aim for 2-3 small improvements each week. Build up to eating more supportively and moving a little more than yesterday. These small changes will add up to big improvements over time.

Beware of supplements and "quick fixes" that promise accelerated fat loss. Instead, plan on losing fat weight slowly. Sure we all want instant results, but it's impossible to undo a years of inactivity and poor nutrition overnight.

Instead of only looking at the big picture, try to break it down into smaller bites. Set one-month goals, three-month goals, six-month goals and even yearly goals. Carry over each previous goal to make sure that you aren't stopping one to achieve another. Make sure goals are achievable and realistic and what you truly want. A half-hearted desire will produce half-hearted results.

Remember, life happens and we must face the challenges. Sometimes that means not getting to exercise or eat properly. The difference is we get it. We make it a point to view each situation, each setback as an opportunity to LEARN and ASK, "What could I do differently next time?" Then it becomes a matter of getting back on track as soon as possible. Leave the excuses and blame behind and forget about beating ourselves up – we're only human. Strive to do a little better today than you did the day before. The key is to stay consistent, focused and take daily action. Make goals meaningful. Our minds cannot differentiate between achieving an enormous goal or a miniscule goal it only perceives success or failure. If you set a goal that is impossible to fail you'll only be setting yourself up for tremendous victory.

Don't be too rigid. Telling your self that you HAVE to workout for a set time to feel a sense of completion is ill fated. If you set out to workout for 30 minutes and you only get in 20, you'll more apt to be disappointed regardless of how hard you worked. If you simply set a goal to go to the gym at least 2-3 days a week and complete your resistance training and cardio you'll perceive yourself as a winner.

An additional goal idea: Have you ever wanted to participate in a race or sport that you've never had the endurance for? Then use that as a goal! When the end justifies the means it's easier to make it through the rough spots. It's a win-win situation if you are able to achieve a want and a need simultaneously!

About the Author

Holly Rigsby is a nationally recognized women’s fitness coach, certified personal trainer (CPT) and the author of the internationally popular e-book – Fit Yummy Mummy - Burn Your Baby Fat & Get Your Body Back. Go to FitMummy to get your FREE copy of her special report: "The Five Ways To Boost Your Metabolism."

Know More About What You Eat

Know More About What You Eat



How much do you know about food? Lose weight by increasing your knowledge about what to eat. Only by educating yourself about the true nature of food will you be able to shed pounds. This article is going to talk about what you need to know about food to lose weight.

First of all, you need to know about calories. Calories are the fundamental item in any weight loss program. The basic rule is that to lose a pound, you need to burn 3500 calories than you eat. If you want to lose a pound a week, you need to burn 500 calories a day more than you take in.

Not all foods are created equal. Some diets treat food lose weight differently. For instance, Atkins and the South Beach diets encourage you to restrict your carbohydrate intake while allowing you to eat as much protein and fat as you want. The Mediterranean diet, on the other hand, encourages you to eat complex carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains while limiting red meat and most kinds of fats. Both schools have their food lose weight fans.

The next thing you need to know about is that the time of day that you eat is important. The old saying “eat like a King at breakfast, a prince at lunch and a pauper at dinner” is very true for people thinking about food to lose weight.

A big breakfast is a good way to start the day because it will keep you full through lunch. Having a moderate sized lunch and a light mid afternoon snack will keep you going through the afternoon. But how much energy do you really need in the evening? Most people watch television, read, or surf the internet after dinner. That’s why a light dinner is all you need. Also, close the kitchen after dinner and don’t eat for the four hours preceding bedtime.

The kinds of foods you have can also be a factor in food weight loss. Scrambled egg whites are a great breakfast base. For lunch, you can even eat out if you know what to choose. Any of the foods on the Subway “under 6” menu are perfect. For dinner, try a broth based soup to start followed by a salad with low fat dressing. Have a small serving of meat with a larger serving of vegetables.

Of course, you are going to want snacks, and that’s okay provided that you know what is good to eat. Hagan Dazs can even be on your diet, provided that it is their yummy sorbet. Chocolate Dream cookies can substitute for your favorite chocolate chip type. But otherwise, stick to fruit, pretzels, and vegetables.

Another issue to consider is how much sodium you have in your diet. Your body only needs about 500 grams of sodium, but most Americans have between 3000 to 6000 grams a day. All that extra salt leads to bloating and weight gain. Drinking 8 or more glasses of water a day can help to mitigate this problem by flushing some of the sodium out of your system.

The food lose weight connection is real. I encourage you to try to learn as much as possible about what foods really have in them including their calorie, carbohydrate, fat, protein, and sodium contents.

Can Water Help To Lose Weight Effortlessly?

Can Water Help To Lose Weight Effortlessly?

Two thirds of our bodies are made up of water – it's no wonder then that our bodies crave and need water to survive and so the simple answer to the question, “can water help to lose weight effortlessly?” The answer to that is Yes!

Drinking approximately 2 liters of water per day is often the quoted ideal for anyone wondering how water could help to lose weight effortlessly. Two liters of water is a lot of water for someone who don't drink much or not used to drinking water on a regular basis. But if you space out this amount of water over the course of a day it ain't gonna be difficult at all. All that needs to be done is for a routine to be developed and it will become second nature.

Using water help to loss weight can be a real bonus when you think that many of the times when we think we're hungry, we're in fact really thirsty and dehydrated. So instead of reaching for a snack the next time you think you need some food, try drinking a glass of water instead.

Furthermore a real fact is that the more water we drink the less water our bodies feel the need to hold onto. This might sound counter-intuitive, but if you are not drinking enough water then you will have a tendency to be bloated and that will increase your weight.
This is because when not enough water is being consumed, your body will go into hyper panic mode and holds onto more water, this will lead to water retention.

Therefore drinking plenty of water throughout the day will stop your body from panicking and prevent water retention, because your body knows that it is going to be regularly hydrated. This means your body will get to the point where it will naturally let water go from your body and you will begin to drop the pounds. This really is one of the key elements of how water help to lose weight effortlessly.

What water can also do if you're looking to lose weight, is to flush out the build up of toxins from the body. So start your day with a glass of water to rehydrate the body after a night's sleep. You will feel not only refreshed, but you will instantly kick start your body's metabolism after a night asleep.

So without a doubt, if you're looking to lose some weight, fill up on water and keep yourself well hydrated because water is the ideal drink to drink when you're looking to lose weight.