About 5 years ago now, I woke up one morning and decided that I had enough. I was sick of being the fat kid and I wanted to change, for real this time. I really had no idea what I was doing then, but I knew that what I was doing wasn't right. It was a long journey but the best experience I've had in my life. These are the top tips I learned after losing 100 lbs.
Focus on eating more whole foods - The thing I struggled with the most was portion size and feeling satisfied. When you eating processed food, it's a much more calorie dense food than whole foods. This means you will feel less full after eating the processed food meal than the whole foods meal. I watched and followed many different food pages on Instagram and YouTube for inspiration. Those helped a ton to find what I like.
Build better habits - What you eat is incredibly important, but how you eat is just as if not important. Are you eating out of boredom, stress, dehydration, etc.? Are you eating just because it's "lunch time" and not because you're actually hungry? These were things I'm guilty of doing. Taking inventory and recognizing these things about your habits will help tremendously.
Start exercising - No form of exercise is better than another in terms of losing weight. The best one for you is the one you enjoy and look forward to doing. If you're enjoying your workouts, you're much more likely to make a habit of it and continue it in the long term .
You will hit bumps in the road - One day, after I was around 40 lbs. down, I stayed over my buddy's place. We were in college then and he brought back pizza leftover from some event. I had a few pieces, felt guilty, and went to bed. A few hours later I woke up and was starving. I started eating some more pizza and before I knew it, I had eaten an entire sheet pizza. I felt terrible and ashamed of myself at first. But then I realized, it's part of the process. You will hit bumps in the road and how you respond will determine your success. The next I was back on track and eventually reached my goal.
Keep occupied and have a plan - Honestly, I recommend everyone to meal prep. It's such an incredible tool to use to help you reach your goals. I have no idea how I would've done it had I not meal prepped. Additionally, I kept occupied so that I wasn't hyperfocused on trying to lose weight. I found whenever I had free time and was bored I would usually more than I needed.
Take frequent pictures - You don't have to share these with anyone, just keep them to track your progress. I was never a fan of using the scale (in fact I only weighed myself several times on my journey), it's just a number. What I really cared about was how I looked. Being able to compare pictures was a great tool for me, it shows if you're making progress or not. Pictures do not lie.
Making the decision to finally commit to losing the weight for good was the best choice I ever made. It was a long and tough journey, but if I can do it so can you. I hope these tips help you in starting to make a positive change in your life and if you'd like to schedule your free consultation with Nate, you can do so here! https://www.unifiedfitnesscle.com/grandopening