So you need to lose a couple pounds. Maybe your doctor is telling you that you’re “clinically obese” or maybe you miss the way you used to look.  Either way, whether it is for health or aesthetic reasons, weight loss can be a challenging, confusing and topsy-turvy road for many people. Weight loss is a huge market and companies are always looking to capitalize on the next “easy” weight loss product. While real sustained and enduring weight loss may not be easy, it is not very complicated and ultimately leads to lifestyle habits that enhance the longevity and quality of your life.

There are two major players that have the most dramatic impact on sustained weight loss: diet and exercise.

Diet:

Diet play perhaps as big of a role as any in weight gain. The rampant consumption of highly-processed, sugar-dense carbohydrates, which are void of vitamins and minerals and are highly addictive are causing an obesity epidemic. Constant sugar spikes throughout the day have desensitize people to the hormone insulin (which removes excess sugar from the blood stream) and leads to a constant state of storage in the body and hyperinsuinemia (too much insulin in the blood). This not only contributes to obesity by also a myriad to other chronic diseases, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. So the first major step in dieting should be to re-program the body to regain insulin sensitivity. Here are the top 10 tips to achieve that:

  1. Remove all added sugar and processed food from your diet
  2. Eat real, whole foods (fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts and seeds)
  3. Make sure you have protein, carbs, and fats in every meal (yes, veggies and fruits are carbs)
  4. Eat 4-5 times a day in smaller portions
  5. Take fish oil, this increases insulin sensitivity
  6. Make sure half of your plate in green
  7. Eat a piece of protein the size and width of your palm every meal
  8. Replace soda and juices with unsweetened tea or water
  9. It is ok to be hungry sometimes, learn to discipline yourself
  10. Avoid fried foods, meats cooked with breading, salad dressings and sauces

Exercise:

Exercise is a way to rev the engine of the body to create good stress that breeds a favorable physical change. Here are some simple rules to get the most bang for your buck in the gym:

  1. Use full body, compound, and high powered functional movements
  2. Combine 2 or 3 movements together in circuits
  3. Keep workouts shorter (15 minutes or less) but more intense
  4. Record your scores (weights, reps, times, distance) and try to do better each time in the gym

 

If you’re looking for an exercise platform to help drive weight loss and get you the body you’ve always wanted, we recommend our Beach Body program or our Lean & Limitless program coached by Tennil Reed!