Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Ditch the Diet... Live the Life


When you decide to lose weight , you usually decide that you are going to go on a diet. I like millions of other people decided that I was going to diet to lose my weight.  You watch what you eat really close, exercise, and really watch for a certain period of time. People may even do extreme diets where they only eat certain shakes and lots of water.  Not saying that these things don’t work, but will it work for the rest of your life?

I quickly realized that this was not going to be a diet. Like everyone says when you decide to lose weight and get healthy, it really needs to be a total life style change. At my highest weight I ate what I wanted, drank what I wanted, and spent a lot of my time watching T.V. I wasn’t involved in sports, and so I just was not an active person.  The first step in my lifestyle change was getting active.  Like I have said before, I loved Zumba. Once I seen the first pounds start shedding off, I started to change other aspects of my life. I revaluated what I was putting into my body, and really started to see why I was at the weight that I was.  Drinking more water instead of juice, not eating tons of candy and sweets ( my total weakness) , and watching my portions were some of the things that I started to do to help elevate my weight loss. I wanted to get an overall healthy life that I could continue with.

Two years later and 150 pounds lighter, I really think I have created a lifestyle that I can live with.  I eat my breakfast every morning, drink lots of water throughout the day, and always try to find some way each night to get active for 30 minutes or more. Fruits, whole grains, and vegetables became my best friends. I use my hand cellphone app to track my calories, workout, and water intake. And labels became a must see. I will allow myself to indulge, but know that tomorrow it is time to get back on the bandwagon. I can’t turn my back on my healthy lifestyle, because I know what is always lurking in the shadows.

So when people say that they want to lose weight, think of it as you want to improve your lifestyle.  You want to start making the steps that will help improve your life, and to create a change that you can keep going day to day. Eventually you will start seeing the results. You will feel better, look better, and create a you that is healthy and full of life.

 

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