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As a personal trainer I try to give people a better understanding of how weight gain occurs and how weight loss occurs. Nine out of ten Americans are either overweight, out of shape, or both. Obviously, somebody is not getting the message, nor is somebody delivering the message correctly.

We all know that we should exercise. We all know we’re supposed to eat right. But apparently that doesn’t seem to be working. People don’t seem to understand what they need to do and why. Now the reason is because there is so much misinformation out there.

 

Create A Caloric Deficit

 

A Snickers bar in the morning, a Snickers bar in the afternoon and then a healthy dinner, for instance is obviously not a great diet. But the concept is correct. You can eat the foods you like if you just eat less you’ll lose weight. You don’t necessarily need to change your entire life around instantly.

 

Be realistic.

It’s not realistic to change your entire life around overnight. Oh, now you need to eat tofu tacos and celery salads. Oh, you need to walk thirty minutes, five times a day. You need to eat nineteen meals so you possibly can lose weight. That’s not realistic. That’s what happens on New Year’s Eve when everybody makes their New Year’s Resolutions.

You must remember that 99.9% of people are average. So, it is best to make slight, gradual changes in order to lose weight. Be aware of what you’re eating. Then once you’re aware of what you’re eating just eat less. Once you’re used to eating less, you’ll realise that hey, this isn’t too bad. Then after a month, you may have lost four or five pounds.

The results will follow.

Now you literally have some success under your belt. You don’t feel like a failure, and you don’t feel like weight loss is not available to you. Then, another month goes by and you’ll find that you’ve lost another five pounds.

All this and you haven’t been suffering. You may well then think, hmm well let me see if I can speed this process up, I’ll take a 30 minute walk every day, see what happens, and you lose a little bit more weight, maybe I won’t have soda today or maybe I’ll have a coffee without sugar, cream, chocolate and caramel in it, maybe I’ll hold off on the desert and just have one over the weekend maybe I’ll jog a little bit tomorrow or lift some weights. The list could go on forever. All of these things will speed the weight loss process, the key is to gradually expose yourself to a healthier lifestyle rather than trying to take it all in at once.

 

With a bit of common sense and positivity weight loss doesn’t have to be as complicated as it seems to be.

 

Rebecca Jane-Ashton

ListedFit.com