I make a lot of claims, such as:
- It’s easy to lose weight
- Anyone can lose body fat
- Anyone can get in shape if they really want to
- Losing weight is so easy to do
Today, I’m going to show you why I say this.
- Fool Proof Way to Lose Weight
- The Intake
- The Expenditure
- The Math
The Katy Summer Slimdown Challenge is underway and we have over 50 formal participants and many more of you who are doing this challenge on your own. Today I wanted to share with you the secret to guaranteeing your weight loss.
Fool Proof Way to Lose Weight Losing weight is not as hard as people think. In fact, I can tell you that you if you stay focused and stay calm through this process, I can guarantee you that you will lose weight over time. It may sound like a bold statement, but it’s not. Let me explain it this way. If I put on body fat at any time, it doesn’t stress me out. I just lose it again. It’s going to happen. Sometimes my weight goes up, sometimes it goes down. But if I want to change my body composition, I change it. As soon as you realize that you are in control of what happens with your body, you will have a lot more power over your emotions and your weight. So what do you do? It’s all about consistency.
The Intake You need a healthy, consistent nutrition plan. Consistency is the key. When you are consistent with your nutrition plan, it will give you something you can look at and adjust over time. You need to consume plenty of calories. Don’t over eat or under eat. Keep a healthy balance of proteins, carbs, and fats. Limiting or over-indulging on any particular one of those macronutrients should be avoided. You can keep track of what you are eating, right? That shouldn’t be too hard to do. There are a ton of ways to do this.
The Expenditure We have to move. You need to make sure you are burning calories. Keep it interesting and keep burning calories. If you aren’t moving, you will have a hard time losing weight. Focus on doing 2-3 times a week of strength training and 3-5 times a week of cardiovascular activity. The combination of these 2 will increase your metabolism and help you lose weight. Here’s a recent blog I posted on interval based cardio training to help you. If you would like an example of a strength training program, you can try this program. The point I want to get across to you is to challenge yourself. If you finished your exercise and you don’t feel like you exercised, you aren’t finished exercising. Monitor it and keep track of what you are doing. Write it down. If you have a heart rate monitor, wear it and keep track of your calories. It will make a difference.
The Math Here is how to put all of this together in a no-fail solution. Monitor your nutrition and your exercise. If you are not losing enough weight, you may need to increase your calorie expenditure during exercise. If you notice that you are losing strength or muscle mass, increase your calories. When you are fairly consistent with your nutrition and your fitness, you will be able to tweak your program to accomplish the results you desire. We do this all the time with our finances, right? We make a certain amount of money (think of this as nutrition) and we spend a certain amount of money (think of this as exercise) and we have to balance everything out. Sometime we have unexpected expenses, sometime we make more money than we expected, and sometimes we make less money than we expected, but we adjust based on the circumstances. Treat your body the same way. If you can do this, you will forever have control over your weight and your health.
Yours in health,
Jason Hodge