For the vast majority of us, losing weight should be an easy process.
It is so easy for me to put on weight, it seems like all I have to do is sniff a cake and I’ll put on a pound. The temptation to buy a double cheeseburger as I was walking around the shops was always in my face. It was too much to resist! I looked forward to that tray of cheesy chips or donner kebab on the way home, after a night out… jeeez sometimes I went out just for that!
Convenience and the western diet have made it too easy for us to put weight on. It’s in your face, day in and day out. Once you get into the habit it is difficult to break.
I have 2 things that I have lived by over the last 15 years. I have found them to be the keys to my success and below I am going to share these with you.
If you can keep these things in mind, it should be relatively easy for you to lose weight and keep it off.
Generally, we all need to do a little bit more exercise and be a bit more mindful of what we are eating. We are not all blessed with a fast metabolism. Even if you are, it’s worth noting the amounts of added and saturated fats and sugars that are in your prepacked convenience. You might look good on the outside but what is going on on the inside?
Make it easy on your self
The easier you make it, the easier it will be.
There are two aspects to this point.
1 – make it easy for yourself to exercise
2 – make it easy for yourself to eat well
Excercise
Investing in equipment is investing in yourself.
For most of us, all you need is a decent pair of trainers and the great outdoors.
I live about a 20-minute drive from the nearest gym/swimming pool/civilisation. Getting in the car to go somewhere, get changed then have to dive back is a massive turn-off. It doesn’t fit into my life… I’m super busy with my business, kids, and generally 101 other days to day jobs I have to do.
I’m lucky. I have a sport that’s easy to make easy. You can achieve most exercise at home or in the open air if you put your mind to it.
My equipment of choice is a bike. When I want to exercise I can get my clothes on and go. I also have a turbo trainer… when it’s raining or cold I ride inside.
When I get in from a ride, I set it up straight away ready for a ride on the turbo (in the winter at least). It takes about a minute to do. If it’s set up then there is no excuse to pull on a pair of shorts and get going.
If you can fit exercise into your day, for example, riding your bike to work or going to the gym at lunch time even better.
Eating well
Convenience is king.
Why do you reach for that pizza in the freezer? Why do you reach for that jar of pasta sauce (full of sugar)? Because it’s easy.
This one does take some effort and a mindset shift.
I cook every night for my family because I know what I am doing. Not cooking wise (although I’m not bad) but menu wise.
It’s an easy thing I do once a week before the weekly shop. I sit down and plan out our meals for the following week. Simple. We are all busy, so having a plan is mega important. I buy the ingredients that I need for the week. If I need to freeze stuff I make sure I have it out the night before or in the morning so that it’s ready. It also saves money and waste on your shopping as you are only buying what you need. I hate waste!
During the week I cook stuff that I know how to cook and I know will not take a massive amount of time. I save any experimenting for the weekends when I have a bit more time. Things like stir fry’s, pasta, chicken and ricy things are go-to meals. They are also generally things that the kids will like and I can hide vegetables in!
When I worked in an office, I would cook an extra portion of dinner the night before and take it with me for lunch. Easy.
I took some cereal or porridge in a container to have for breakfast. Far better than the sausage sandwich that I could have bought in the canteen (granted, less tasty).
It is a lot about organisation and forward thinking.
Now I work at home, I’m not so much of a fan of eating my dinner from the night before. This is because I have the option to eat something else. One rule I have is that it needs to be quick. I cook a couple of portions of pasta or have things like olives, pesto, salad, cheese in the fridge. I can chuck these together and doesn’t take more than about 10 mins to prepare. Time is mega important.
Counting your calories
It’s a case of simple maths. Calories in vs calories out. Yes, I agree when it comes down to the last mile, macros come into play (quantity of carbs and protein etc). If you eat less than you burn then you are on the right path.
This is the cornerstone of my weight maintenance and something I am pretty obsessed with.
I use an app called My Fitness Pal and it has changed my life. You scan your foods and it tells you how many calories etc are in them. If you haven’t already tried it, I recommend it. If you’ve already tried it, but didn’t like it, then I’d say try again. It took me a few go’s to get used to it. I’m lost without it.
For most of us, we don’t really know how many calories we should be consuming. The app does take a bit of the guesswork out of it but it is still an estimate. One thing that will surprise you is how few calories you actually need to be healthy. It may be a shock at first and be tough adjusting to the calorie intake. Stick with it and I promise you will see results.
Generally, the recommended intake of calories for men is 2500 and for women is 2000 (recommended by the NHS). But, this depends on your age, metabolism, and activity. For example, I know if I ate 2500 calories a day (and didn’t exercise), I would put on weight. Without a doubt. I sit around all day in front of a computer for work and don’t particularly move that much. Why would I need 2500 calories?
It can be a bit of trial and error. We don’t all have access to the scientific methods that it takes to work out your calorific needs. But the more that you experiment with it, the better you will know your body.
Currently, my focus is 1800 calories per day. I am trying to lose a little bit of weight I picked up at Christmas (more for cycling reasons than anything else). I was working towards 1900 per day but it wasn’t working for me. Small steps are the key. Making big changes can have an adverse effect aside from the fact you would be miserable! The goal here is to still be enjoying the things that you like… food!
My final thought
Weight loss doesn’t need to be difficult. If you take both of these aspects and incorporate them into your daily life I don’t think that you can go far wrong. Exercise a bit more and make it easy for yourself!