Are you ready to lose weight?

I lied
Ok, so I didn't lie about drinking water as my first step but after some thinking I realized that I did something prior to this. I was mentally ready to lose weight. If you are not ready to lose weight then no book, diet, exercise program or pill is going to help you. How do you become ready?

You have to be uncomfortable
If you are comfortable with your body then why would you put extra time and effort into changing it? I think that we should love ourselves but if I had been comfortable with my body then I would not have made healthy lifestyle changes. I remember going back to school after I had my first child and I was actually embarrassed to look in the mirror when I used the restroom, especially if a cute thin girl was in there with me. I could not stand feeling this way and wanted a change.

Visualize yourself (thin, strong, healthy)
You have to see yourself in your minds eye how you want to look and feel. Picture yourself exactly the way you would like to look and how you will feel when this happens. Try it now. How does it feel? I feel, strong, healthy and sexy. I have more energy and enjoy my life more. Now practice this on a daily basis.

Use positive self talk
I am the queen of beating myself up however, I knew that this would only stop me from being my best. So, I decided to say something positive to myself every morning in the mirror. I bet there is at least one thing that is absolutely amazing about you! The very first thing I said to myself was that I was incredible because I was able to make the most adorable little boy. What a feat! We would love to hear the good things you tell yourself so we can steal them for ourselves.

You will HAVE to change your life!
Many people want to lose weight but they want to keep their lifestyle. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Realize that you are going to have to make PERMANENT lifestyle changes. Please note that these should be done in baby steps so that you can maintain them and it is not traumatizing. 

You must make time in your life
Our lives are crazy busy! One of the main reasons people say they can't lose weight is because they don't have time. We are working 40+ hours per week, taking our kids to activities, volunteering etc. The list could go on and on an on... Well, we have to have a margin of time in our lives and this means we have to make some changes. For example I am currently working overnights and getting very little sleep and I have almost no time with my family. I can not start an exercise program right now. It will only cause more stress in my life. I have taken steps to change this because I have to feel good about myself. Next week will be my last week of overnights because I have found a new job! I am giving myself two weeks to settle in and then I will begin working out regularly. What are some things that you must change in order for you to make time for yourself?

Now your ready
Once you have your ducks in a row you will be ready to change your body by changing your life. Please share what things are holding you back and what you can do to change them.




Drink more water to lose weight

My First Step to Weight Loss!

The very first thing that I have done to lose my baby weight was to set a goal to drink more water.  This helped me in a couple of ways. 

 I often eat unconsciously.  I eat because I am bored, happy, sad , numb you name it and I can find a reason to eat.  So, my goal was to drink water instead of picking up food and to drink water before meals to help me feel full. 

 Drinking the water made me stop and think about why I was eating.  Often, I realized I was just thirsty.  Sometimes I really was hungry.  It was really hard for me to learn the difference until I slowed things down by drinking water.

Drinking water also made me feel full before I started eating.  It takes 20 minutes for our brains to register that we are full.  Drinking the water helped me eat less because I felt full sooner.  Here is an article that discusses the study in more detail. 

http://news.health.com/2010/08/23/could-drinking-water-before-meals-help-you-lose-weight/

Happy drinking (water that is)!

How I lost my baby weight

First I want to thank you for reading my blog Weight Loss Lies.  I hope that I can help you on your journey to be your best self.  It is always a journey with ups an downs.  Currently I am starting over with my weight loss endeavor as I have recently had my third child.  He is such a cute little chunk and thanks to the pregnancy so am I!  I was able to lose my past baby weight and actually get into better shape than I was before having kids.  So, I thought I would share my secrets. 

1.  It takes time!  I hate this part.  I am in a body that I am not comfortable with and it feels like torture.  So, I have to find ways to feel OK about myself.  I have done this by getting a cute haircut, getting a few clothing items that make me feel good about myself and painting my nails.  I just try to find ways to love myself. 

2.  I set small achievable goals.  These are going to be different for everyone.  With my first baby I set a goal to walk 5 days a week even if it was only 5 minutes.  Sometimes, I would cry while walking down the road because I just felt bad but I did it anyway.  Those were the really short walks!  Then I was able to add on to my goals by walking a little further, carrying the baby in a carrier, adding resistance training, doing kickboxing classes, then aerobic classes which finally led me into trying out kickboxing for real.  I would not have been able to become a pro boxer if I hadn't gone on those sometimes miserable walks.  Mind you, they weren't all miserable.  There were some wonderful days too where I would sing to my baby and I felt beautiful.  That's just how life is full of ups and downs.  We are successful when we push through those hard days and pick ourselves back up.

I will share more of the steps I have taken to lose weight in my life in my following posts this week.  In the meantime I would love to hear what you do to help lift yourself up and what small goal you are going to set for yourself this week.  Success starts with one step.  May God bless you on your journey!


Steps Christ walked up!

Foods that help you get rid of stubborn belly fat!

 
I just want to say thank you all so much for following my blog! I know a few of you tried and or are trying to follow but it hasn't worked yet so I am going to let you in on the food secret even though it doesn't look like I have my five followers yet.
 
The following foods have been found to inhibit estrogen and decrease belly fat.

Cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, turnips (cruciferous vegetables), chamomile, bee products, citrus fruits, onion, garlic, and omega 3 fatty acids (found in fatty fish like salmon and flax seed)

I believe that it is easier to add things to your diet than to take away. Try adding some of these foods to your diet. My goal is to eat these tummy tightening foods at least five days this week. I'm having cabbage tomorrow!

What goal will you set in order to get more of these foods into your diet? I can't wait to hear from you!

Cortisol another cause for stubborn belly fat.

Well we only need two more followers for me to share what readily available foods will help you decrease your belly fat.  In the mean time I will share with you another factor that may increase belly fat. 

Cortisol is a hormone that we release in times of stress.  It causes our body to produce excess insulin and stimulates fat and carbohydrate metabolism so we will have a quick energy source for emergencies. The problems is that after the danger is over we keep the high levels of insulin which causes us to crave carbohydrates.  We are not sure why but people with higher levels of cortisol have a tendency to have more abdominal fat.  One thing that is certain is that no peer reviewed journal or study has ever been done to prove that weight loss pills claiming to decrease cortisol levels are actually effective. So, don't waste your money on these products.

What can you do to reduce cortisol?  Well, we can't take the stressors out of our lives but we can change how we react to these stressors.  In lam ens terms we are going to have to learn to let things go and not stress about what we can't change.  For me I turn to God to help take my stress away.  As soon as I think of something stressful and begin to worry I ask God to take it from me because it is too much for me.  I also visualize myself falling into his hands and comforting me.  I am not perfect and I do not do this every time but it has really helped me let go.  I am also learning to be OK with not being perfect.  None of us are so lets just all stop pretending and lower the bar a bit. 

Exercise!  This is not the first time nor will it be the last time that I talk about the importance of physical activity.  Our bodies were made to move and moving them will help release those stress hormones.  You don't have to go to the gym or be on a team.  Just stop what you are doing an do some darn push-ups (modify if you need to) and a few jumping jacks.  Something is ALWAYS better than nothing.

I would love to hear how you let go of stress.  I bet there are a lot of great ideas out there so please share with the rest of us!  I can't wait to learn from you.

God bless!

The secret to reducing belly fat that the fitness industry doesn't want you to know!

I have been talking about getting six pack abs this week and finally I am going to tell you the secret that the fitness industry doesn't want you to know.  You can start reducing belly fat by eating certain foods that are readily available at your supermarket and they are cheap!  No supplements, no weird ab machine that costs way too much and sits in the back of your closet collecting dust, but first I am going to tell you what your belly fat enemy is: Estrogen. 

Yep, this hormone produces adipose fat (especially as we age) and it is usually stored on our stomach, hips and legs.  Not only do we make estrogen but we are exposed to estrogenic compounds found in plastic, nail polish, soaps and our food (hormones in meat & dairy products) and men you produce it too!

Have you heard about BPA in plastics?  Yep estrogen is in there and linked to belly fat.  BPA is also found in canned goods.  Heating plastics causes the chemical to leach out into our foods which in turn exposes us to more estrogen. 

Making some simple changes in your life can help you decrease your belly fat just by storing your food in glass containers and only using BPA free products. 

Oh, I didn't forget about my promise to tell you what types of foods help to reduce your belly fat but first I am going to challenge you to become a follower and forward my blog to a few friends.  As soon as I get five followers I will tell you what foods you need to eat to start cutting that belly fat.  I can't wait to share the secret with you!

Upper, middle and lower abs

I was watching an infomercial and they talked about working your upper, middle and those hard to reach lower abs.  I don't know what anatomy classes they took but in my anatomy class there are only two types of abdominal tissue.  The rectus abdominals: these are the ones on the front of your body (the whole front from the top to the bottom).  There is no division between this muscle.  Then the obliques on the sides that help us twist.  The only reason why you don't see the lower section of the rectus abdominals is because they are covered in fat.  The leg raises that we do to help develop the lower abs actually work the hip flexor muscles.  This is what raises the legs.  What does happen is the abdominal muscles stabilize the legs as they are being lifted.  They do this by contracting.This is called an isometric movement.  Doing more ab exercises will not get rid of the fat on your stomach.  Keep reading and I will tell you more this week.

God bless!

Crunches & situps are the best way to get six pack abs

OK, here is a doozy of a lie.  It is just common knowledge that doing sit ups or crunches will give us those six pack abs that we are all dying to have.  This is a huge misnomer(another word for lie).  A six pack is being able to see the muscle definition that we (all of us meaning you too) already have.  It is just hidden behind fat.  So, believe it or not YOU are walking around with a hidden six pack on your body.  Doing crunches or sit ups only tears down the muscle then it heals and then the muscle  gets somewhat larger.  Do we want larger abs?  As a woman I want my waist to be as small as possible.  Plus, almost every single exercise or movement involves your abs as they are used to stabilize your body.

I will post more this week about our abdominal muscles and how you can really get six pack abs. 

Thanks for reading and please forward to all your friends.  I also will answer any health and wellness question.  Just post one on any of the comment sections in the blog.

God bless!