I hear of friends constantly going on various diets to lose weight. This diet, that diet and many people that I’ve known over the years go on diets and lose the weight and a couple of years later they are on a diet to lose the weight again. Certain diets, I believe, will help you lose the weight but through the body off so that it ‘needs’ to put the weight back on again later. And not all diets work for everyone as there are so many different people and body types.
My belief is that it is the wrong thing to go for anyway – the losing weight thing. I think that a person should aim for being healthy and one of the results of that would be one achieving an optimum weight. And if the weight is not absolutely perfect and you are healthy then, so what?
So, what would be a healthy lifestyle? Spending two hours in the gym six days a week? Maybe for some that love that intensity of workouts then yes but for most people that have not really exercised and eaten well most of their lives this would probably last about five minutes.
There are a couple of things that one must do when making a change to a healthier lifestyle. First thing is to figure out what would be a healthier lifestyle for you. Another is that you shouldn’t change everything at once. For some few this may work but most people that have got some pretty ingrained habits it likely won’t work.
Two things that are a must though, are: 1. more physical activity and 2. changing what you eat. Whatever you are doing now isn’t working. Generally, many people that go on a diet and lose the weight will promptly go back to what they were doing before – that wasn’t working!
I have a friend that was about 80 pounds overweight. He was drinking huge amounts of soda. The first thing that he did when he decided to lose weight was to stop drinking the cokes. This alone started him dropping pounds. Without any exercise. He was also interested in becoming more fit so he incorporated an exercise routine into his week as well.
Another person told me that she didn’t have lots of time with her kids and all but did little things to help herself. One of these was to park as far as she could in the parking lot so that she was at least walking a bit when she went grocery shopping. If you think this will cost you time – I don’t think so – most people drive around twice as long looking for a spot close to the store just so they don’t have to walk.
Just changing one thing like above and deciding to live that way could keep you healthy. The fellow that cut out the soda will probably not get diabetes now and the girl who walks to the store from the back of the parking lot will likely have better circulation and lessen her chances of getting varicose veins.
Once you have done one thing like this add another. Take a lunch to work instead of getting that slice of pizza. Even if it is a few times a week. Get creative with your lunches. Then take your lunch with you to the park on the nice days instead of just walking to the lunch room. You are going for healthy remember – not just losing weight. You will find that if you can keep that one thing going for a few weeks it will become more comfortable and part of your life.
Go for increased health and you will find that you start doing things that will take the weight off. It will be a byproduct of getting healthier.
🙂