Avoid Trendy Diets: Here’s The Truth About Weight Loss
How about instead of a New Year’s Resolution that gets tossed aside before February, we all set a 2021 goal for ourselves with clear ways to achieve it? Start with the goal, then figure out what you will need to make it happen. Next, make a list of clear steps to take and remind yourself why this is important to you. And! If one of those goals is to lose weight so you can be a better, healthier version of yourself, you are in luck! In this article, we are going to break down the truths about weight loss and how you do not need a gym membership to get in shape!
1. The Basics
I absolutely love my FitBit and it was one of the best gifts I have ever received. (I do believe you can get the app without having the tracker, though there are also other smartwatches, fitness trackers, and apps that will have a similar effect.) The Fitbit watch tracks your steps, heart rate, how many calories you have burned, your sleep, and so many other wonderful things that help along the way. On the Fitbit app, under the Nutrition & Weight, you make your wellness plan. You start by adding your current weight and desired weight, then pick your plan from the four options:
- Easier – lose 0.5 pounds a week, with a daily 250 calorie deficit.
- Medium – lose 1 pound a week, with a daily 500 calorie deficit.
- Kinda hard – lose 1.5 pounds a week, with a daily 750 calorie deficit.
- Harder – lose 2 pounds a week, with a daily 1,000 calorie deficit.
This will then tell you how long it will take to get from the current weight to desired weight. From here, all you have to do is log your food and track your exercise and hopefully, you will see weight loss results soon!
2. It’s All About That Deficit, Baby
As you can gather from above, weight loss is all about the deficit in calories. As long as you burn more calories than your intake, you will slowly but surely lose weight. As clearly listed in the app, you can lose anywhere from 0.5 to 2 pounds a week, as long as you have the appropriate calorie deficit every single day. The average person burns a calorie a minute, just by being alive. That means, even if you literally laid in bed all day, you will burn 1,440 calories. So, even with the Harder plan of 1,000 calorie deficit, you do not have to do any additional exercise if you do not want to or cannot that day.
- Easier – 250 calorie deficit means food and drink can be up to 1,190 calories.
- Medium – 500 calorie deficit means food and drink can be up to 940 calories.
- Kinda Hard – 750 calorie deficit means food and drink can be up to 690 calories.
- Harder – 1,000 calorie deficit means food and drink can be up to 440 calories.
As long as the math is right, you can work out as much or as little as you want, eating as much or as little as you want. If you think of it this way, even walking on a treadmill for a couple hours while watching tv can add about 300 calories burned, which means that is another 300 calories you can eat and drink. No crash dieting, no crazy hard workouts… just, you do you and take your time.
3. Water, Water Everywhere
For most of my life, I made a point to drink everything but water. I am very picky about how it tastes and more often than not, I do not like it. Well, if you are anything like me, I have a fantastic solution for you that has changed my life and helped with weight loss: flavored water. There are now many brands and generic alternatives to either using a calorie-free powder or liquid to add flavor to your water. Personally, my favorite is the Walmart brand strawberry-watermelon, (I can drink it day in and day out and never get tired of it). This way, I can drink water instead of juice and other high-calorie options. Because! Not only do you need to stay hydrated, but drinking water can also help your feel fuller. Having water when you wake up and in between meals will fend off the feeling of hunger and make it easier not to snack, which is just one of the healthy things you can do to help yourself lose weight.
4. Smaller Plates
Literally. Using smaller plates and bowls will trick your mind into having a more accurate portion control rather than trying to fill all the available space with food. Because how you keep track of calories is determined by the serving size on the packages, your calculation will be determined by how big of a portion you dished out. Start with something small, drink lots of water, let yourself digest, and if you are still hungry, go back for seconds. The biggest trick for weight loss is to only eat when you’re hungry!
5. DIY At Home
I think one of the better things we have learned during quarantine is that most people do not need to go to a gym to exercise and lose weight. A few different companies make small, foldable treadmills that are reasonably priced and perfect for even the smallest apartment during the winter. In addition to that, there are a few isles at Target you can walk through that has things like free weights, medicine balls, resistant bands, jump ropes, and yoga mats. Or, even think back to your days in P.E. and what stretches and simple warm-ups you did. There are a lot of ways to make a routine perfect for your daily life and goals.
It takes roughly twenty-eight days to make a lasting habit. That is less than a month! With having to log your daily food and drink and seeing your calories burned, those four weeks are going to go by in a snap. Now that you know the truth about how easy weight loss can be, believe in yourself! Comment below with any other healthy tips and tricks and keep an eye on Society19 for helpful articles.
