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WRAPPING YOUR MIND AROUND THE “NEW YOU” AFTER WEIGHT LOSS
5 Common Things That Happen When
You Lose A Noticeable Amount Of Weight
Whenever someone chooses to commit to a weight loss journey, it’s not just a physical transformation that happens, but a mental transformation as well. Regardless of how long it takes for people to reach their goal weight, there are significant things that occur along the way that impact their body image and confidence. For all of the positive reinforcement once receives, they might also notice some negativity or odd reactions from those they are close to. Read on for tips and insights from leading experts that will offer clarity and solutions for anyone seeking to transform or who already has.
Dr. Sanam Hafeez PsyD a NYC based licensed neuropsychologist, a teaching faculty member at the prestigious Columbia University Teacher’s College, explains that, “It is normal to lose friends as you lose pounds. As you see the payoff from the lifestyle changes you’ve made you may feel disconnected with friends who may still eat and drink things you no longer do. You’re evolving,” offers Dr. Hafeez. She also adds that, “It’s common to notice jealousy, and digs. You may even experience exclusion from dinners out presuming you wouldn’t want to indulge.”
Have faith that your true friends will love you at any size. “It will actually be difficult to tolerate any gossip, negativity or activities that are counterproductive. The last thing you need are people who bring you down when you are doing something positive for your well being. Look out for yourself. At times that may mean distancing from certain people,” advises Dr. Hafeez.
Dr. John Zannis a board certified plastic surgeon based in New Bern, North Carolina frequently sees and treats patients who went through a weight loss transformation. According to Dr. Zannis, “Loose skin can gather at the stomach, under arms, breasts, buttocks, inner thighs, face and neck. The more significant the weight-loss is, say 50 pounds and above, the more likely a plastic surgeon is sought out to explore body lifts that specifically address loose skin after weight-loss.”
As you change your diet, add daily exercise to your new lifestyle and see the weight melt off, you gain energy! You don’t feel the need to hit the snooze button anymore. You may wake up energized for that 7am powerwalk or you may be inspired by that beautiful new dress you get to wear to work, another dress size dropped. Yay!
“Use newfound energy to your advantage, encourages Dr. Hafeez, your brain is forming new neuropathways as your perception about your body starts to change. That flight of stairs that was once an obstacle is much easier. Simple things like putting on shoes, picking up toys and pushing a vacuum are done with ease. As you take notice of what your body can do, you gain more confidence and want to do more. This energizes you both physically and mentally,” she adds.
It is common to get overwhelmed with options now that you can shop the way you always dreamed of. Perhaps your new strong, shapely legs have inspired you to wear dresses again for the first time in years. Or after always covering your arms, you may opt for sleeveless tops. Either way, trying new looks outside of your comfort zone can be daunting. Dr. Hafeez advises to, shop on your own or with someone you really trust. “It is important that shopping is made to be fun by approaching it as a style experiment. Don’t expect everything to look perfect just because you are a much smaller size. Some things will work, others won’t. Look for clothes that feel good. When you smile in the mirror that’s a sign you’re on track.”
When you lose a noticeable amount of weight other people want to know how you did it and how you are keeping the weight off. Your immediate family may also adapt to your dietary changes and experience weight loss by association. When your kids see you wake up every morning to exercise they see that anything worth having requires commitment. Your significant other may be inspired to also lose weight. “When you take care of yourself and are in a positive mindset, it has a positive impact on everyone you interact with. When the mind and body are aligned you love the way you look and feel, you’re happy and someone others can look up to.”
For information on Dr. Sanam Hafeez visit: http://comprehendthemind.com/about-us/
For information on Dr. John Zannis visit: http://www.zannisplasticsurgery.com/plastic-surgeon-new-bern-nc/
Okay guys, you need to make sure you’re staying in shape all year round. But, this can be difficult when you’re dealing with bad weather. So, why not make use of my winter-proof fitness suggestions. You can thank me later! For now, start focusing on getting that body in shape!
Self Defense
Self defense classes are also a wonderful way of staying fit and healthy as much as possible. Now, these days you’re sort of spoilt for choice a bit when it comes to self defense classes. Look into local kickboxing or karate classes and sign up as soon as you can. You might also want to consider taking up wrestling! No, I’m, not talking about WWE, I mean actual wrestling. You’ll need to work on strength, and figure out your weight class. Use the digital wrestling scale buying advice available so you have the right equipment to start taking this seriously. Self defense classes are an awesome way of getting in shape and learning to look after yourself.
Go to the Gym
I know, I know, you’re probably rolling your eyes at this one. But guys, you want to get fit and healthy? The gym is the best way of doing this. It might seem laborious, but you’ve got to be disciplined about it. Did you know 80% of Americans with gym memberships rarely if ever use the gym? This is such a waste of opportunity, and you need to make sure you don't fall into this habit. Going to the gym may sometimes be the last thing you want to do, but it's also the best way of keeping fit.
Take Up Tennis
Why tennis you ask? Well, simple really. See, sport is a wonderful way of keeping fit, losing weight, and enjoy yourself. However, a lot of sports have to be played outside and are weather dependent. This becomes a problem in the winter because it is often cold, wet, icy and dark. However, tennis is something that you can play indoors all year around. And that's why it’s such a great sport to pick. Get in shape by taking up tennis and trying to emulate your heroes on the court. There are bound to be some indoor courts around your area, so this is worth looking into.
Workout at Home
I always tell people that they should come up with a way of working out at home. That means setting aside space where you can do exercise at home. If there's a spare room, or you have space in the garage, this is perfect. So, make sure you look at the best ways of doing this. Get some basic equipment like a weight set, a yoga mat, and an exercise ball. The great thing about getting fit at home is that it means you don't have to go out and join a gym if you don't want to. And it’s completely weatherproof as well. Buy some fitness DVDs as well so you have a good place to start. You will need motivation and discipline to workout at home, but it’s certainly something I’d recommend trying.
Just because we’re heading towards the cold and dark of winter doesn't give you guys an excuse to ease off. I know it’s not as easy in winter as the weather may not enable you to go running or cycling. But, there are plenty of other things you can do to help you keep fit, even in the winter.
April is about the time of the year when we find out whether we have managed to make fitness a habit or not. We're now nearly four months into the year and four months since we resolved to do more exercise.
The challenge now is keeping up all the good work. We're just getting to the stage where training is starting to feel enjoyable. It's no longer a painful pursuit we feel that we have to do to stay healthy. It's something that gives us a sense of freedom and self-esteem.
It's about this time in our training, however, that we start to plateau. We get stuck in a rut, doing the same safe exercises over and over again. We don't challenge ourselves like we did before, and our fitness levels stop going up.
That's why it's so important to start tracking your progress. Using trackers fr
om sites like fitnesstracker24.com make the process easier. One of the benefits of tracking is that it quantifies your progress for you. You get to see exactly what it is you're doing from week to week and what you need to do to improve.
Suppose, for example, you have a regular running route that goes for about four miles. A tracker will tell you exactly how far you have run and in what time. Of course, you could do that just using a watch and working out how far the route is on a map. But that means that you end up running the same route every day.
Fitness trackers are a great way of building variety into your routine. There's no need to take the same route every day to compare your performance. With GPS tracking, you can go pretty much wherever you want and still get a comparable score at the end of it. The flexibility of fitness trackers is their greatest strength. If you are somebody who regularly hits the gym, you can use fitness trackers to keep a track of the weights that you are lifting. The goal should be to increase the weight you can lift by about 5 percent every week or so if you're just getting started out. Trackers can record and store what you've lifted without you having to carry around a notepad and pencil around the gym.
But perhaps the biggest appeal of fitness trackers is the fact that they always give you a goal to strive for. Without all the helpful readouts and data, it's hard to know whether we are making progress. In some sports, like weightlifting, conditions change every week. The type of exercise may change, the number of sets might vary and so on. Just look at the sheer number of regimes you can try out at bodybuilding.com.
Trackers change all this and allow you to compare what you're doing today with your past performance. It's a remarkable tool. And it all comes down to the fact that trackers keep you accountable. They let you know when you're not making progress and prompt you to do something about it.
Having a rigid routine for training can be difficult for some of us and impossible for others. If your daily schedule changes regularly, you still want to be able to get fit. This means you’ll need a great activity, sport or exercise regime to do at any point in the day you can spare an hour.
With this in mind, here are a handful of fitness and exercise ideas suited to each different time slot in the day.
Morning… go running
Going for a run very early in the morning sets you up for the day, because cardio gets your heart pumping! The roads and streets will be quieter; if you live near main roads, you’ll find crossing much quicker. After all, which runners like jogging on the spot for five minutes because they can’t cross a busy road? If you’re running in a hot country or area, going early morning also means lower temperatures.
Early afternoon… go swimming
Public swimming baths tend to be at their quietest at this time of day. This is because most people are at the office, and the kids are still at school. The quieter the pool, the more space you will have to swim in and less you’ll be distracted by others. Check in advance if your local pool holds swimming classes for kids or the elderly, for example, so you can avoid these times too. A great idea is to head to the pool one hour before an in-water exercise programme begins. That way you could do an hour of laps, followed by an hour of water aerobics or something even more sporty, like water polo! That way you get two lots of exercise from only one trip. Avoid midday to 1 pm if you want to miss those exercising on their lunch break.
Late Afternoon…take a class
In the time between the lunchtime rush and the early evening rush, things quieten down a bit. That is why now is a great time to take a class. Lower participant numbers will make for more free equipment and space. Plus, the less in the class, they more attention you’ll receive from the instructor. They may even be willing to tailor the class more to you and your fellow participants. Remember that the gym isn’t the only place to take classes. You could watch a video tutorial on your TV, or head to your local church hall or school if they hold classes there. When it comes to picking a type of class, consider what your body needs the most. Check out http://physicalculturestudy.com/2016/02/23/5-things-you-should-be-doing-for-your-body/. This article touches upon the value of exercise for your body, amongst other things.
Evening…. Head to the gym
While gyms can get busy in the evenings, having lots of other people around might act as good motivation for you. It may also be the case that your gym runs the most classes at night, and/or has the most personal trainers around. In the winter, going at this time also means you don’t have to be training in the dark outdoors.
Whichever time of your day you train at, remember how important it is to have a varied regime. http://www.mensfitness.com/weight-loss/burn-fat-fast/trainer-qa-how-to-mix-cardio-and-strength-building-to-zap-fat had a good guide to doing this effectively.
Every gym enthusiast appreciates that diet plays a massive role in achieving their goals. After all, muscles are built in the gym but are revealed in the kitchen.
For many people, this is the hardest part of the whole process. However, with the right plan of action, you’ll have no trouble getting this crucial aspect under control. I’m sure you’ve got the determination, so this push in the right direction can make all the difference.
Follow these four simple tips, and it should set you on the road to success.
Drink More Water
Food is undoubtedly important, but there’s no doubt that water intake is the most important part of your eating and drinking habits. Increasing your daily consumption is one of the easiest upgrades you can make, but it’s also one of the most influential.
Better hydration will improve your body in a whole host of different ways. Skin and hair will see vast improvements while it should help your level of performance too. If you’re looking to lose weight, have a glass before meals to suppress your appetite slightly.
Our bodies are two-thirds water, so it’s imperative that you top up your levels.
Cook From Fresh
One of the main issues with nutrition is knowing what you’re actually putting in your body. As easy as it is to fall into the trap of cooking processed foods all the time, it’s not a great option to take.
With a slow cooker, you can make food from scratch just as easily. Meanwhile, cooking up several days’ worth of meals and freezing it makes it very convenient to get a healthy midweek treat.
Once you’ve taken the time and effort out of cooking from fresh, you’ll have no excuse to take the processed option. This will make a vast improvement to your nutritional habits.
Take Supplements
Your body needs the right energy to perform. If your food isn’t providing the right nutrients, then it’s time to seek a boost.
Some people wrongly view supplements as cheating. But it’s actually one of the best ways to ensure your body is getting everything it needs. Moreover, fat burners can give your progress a healthy push in the right direction. Visit https://www.garciniacambogia6000.com.au for more information.
It doesn’t matter how your body gets its nutrients. The important thing is that you give it the fuel needed to succeed.
Appreciate The Benefits Cheating
They say cheaters never prosper, but that’s not always true when it comes to your fitness goals. For starters, going on a detox plan could get your body transformation up and running in style.
As a more permanent plan, though, understanding the benefits of cheat meals is essential. This is a great way to keep your body on its toes and can actively enhance your results. The key to this success is moderation.
Essentially, a little treat never hurt anyone. If nothing else, knowing you’ve got this break to look forward to can prevent you from throwing in the towel altogether. Embrace this crucial part of your nutrition, and you should see great results.
Complete minimally to perform maximally
Guest Blog by Steve Morley
It’s marathon season. Adult distance runners are a funny lot. They’ll declare sometime in the year “I’m going to run a fall marathon”. They may even commit to a training plan. What happens though is that they are like a dog that sees a squirrel. They focus on the squirrel. Then another squirrel goes by, and then that’s all they see.
For a distance runner the squirrel might be a local 5k race that happens the week before. It could be some event that happens like a corporate relay fitness challenge, or a charity 15k run. These are all great things to do, and can be incorporated into the training plan. That’s the key. If you get a training plan from an online source, and you print it off and put it on the fridge that’s good. What happens when life gets in the way? You have to drive the kids to track practice, or they have to stay late and band, you have a conference to go to, all these things can make you modify your training plan. You should modify it.
That’s not what happens though. You’ll do all of those things, and then you’ll try to cram in your marathon pace long run next Sunday. So as a result of juggling a full life you get hurt. Some people will muscle through the injury and they’ll do the workout, and get even more hurt.
Probably very few of these plans mention cross training, like non-impact activities like biking or inline skating, or even cross training by doing hill repeats or the occasional speed session.
The body of an adult distance runner is funny too. Even adults adapt. Those muscles that do the same thing over and over again adapt. They become more efficient and as a result they have to do less work to produce the same output. There is less overall muscle recruitment so therefore you need to change up what you’re doing, to trick your body into working harder.
Stare at the fridge, is your training diet in need of some super charging?
So what are you going to do about it?
You may not do anything – this time. Consider the principle of adaptation again. The training plan says you will do a 25 minute tempo run on Thursday. It’s in your plan, and you know from last Thursday that your tempo pace is X, so therefore this Thursday your pace will be X. What many people fail to consider is that their fitness improves with training. If it didn’t, everyone would perform the same and everyone would arrive at the finish line at the same time.
So given the principle of adaptation, your pace for any given workout throughout that plan your times will change. For the tempo run example, a far better indicator of how to perform, would be perceived level of exertion. In the example of the 25 tempo run it should feel comfortably uncomfortable and you should feel like you could do it at that effort for an hour.
How do you compete minimally to perform maximally when all these squirrels are around? It seems like every weekend brings on a new race, and you could jump into many of them, and while you might be fit and see some great results, if the marathon is your thing, then doing one of these events “out of season” will negatively impact your goal that you have set for yourself. A goal without a plan is just a dream.
Pick your events. A 5k doesn’t really fit, so pass it by. You might say “well I can just do this race as a tempo”. Then the gun goes off and you’re racing it, and then it takes 3 days to recover to get back on your training plan. Then the next weekend is a 10k, or a duathlon, the cycle perpetuates itself and you never get back to your plan, and then when race day comes you are so tired, that you don’t even want to be on the start line.
Remember what’s on the fridge needs to be modified as your life is modified. If you had the greatest of intentions to follow this training plan 100% of the time and life throws you a curve, take yourself off the hook and reboot your goal. Listen to your inner voice and trust what it is saying to you. Have a three tiered goal strategy. Have a goal that you can drive home after the race is done where you aren’t saying things like “I should have done”, or “I wish I had done”. Next have one that is a little more challenging, even if your training didn’t go as planned. Finally have one that is for when all the planets align and everything goes right.
On the day of the race, when you’re warming up, remember what you did to get to the day of the race. If doubts creep in on what you may not have done, refocus back to what you did do. The hay is in the barn. Go have fun.
(Image via pixabay https://goo.gl/FeuyYr)
Did you know that you don’t necessarily have to pick up a weight to get a good workout in? Using your bodyweight can be just as tough and rewarding. Here are some of the best bodyweight exercises for your body parts:
Very little needs to be said on this matter; everyone knows that the push-up is a great bodyweight exercise for your chest. The great thing about push-ups is that there’s room for alterations. You can drop your knees down if you’re unable to do a normal push-up. You can do clapping push-ups if you find normal ones too easy. You could even try one handed ones if you’re arong enough.
Also, you can alter the angle of your body to target different parts of the chest. Put your feet on a bench and do incline push-ups to target more of your upper chest.
Or, if you bring your hands in close and do a push-up, you’ll be targeting your triceps more. This is actually one of the best tricep exercises you can do.
For shoulders, you can do a variation of a push-up. It’s called the pike push up and starts off in the classic downward facing dog yoga pose. You then let your forehead drop close to the floor then push back upwards. It can be tricky to get the movement right, but when you do you really feel it in your delts.
Alternatively, you can do a handstand presses if you’re experienced and strong enough. Do your handstand up against a wall for safety and stability.
(Image by skeeze https://goo.gl/Pt5IEy)
One of the best exercises you can do for your back is the pull-up. It’s a simple movement that involves grabbing a bar overhead and pulling yourself up off the ground.
Of course, pull-ups are a hard exercise to do, and not everyone can do them. If you can’t do a pull-up, or don’t have any way to do on in the home, do an inverted row instead. This is a much easier exercise to do, and you can alter the difficulty based on where you place your legs. If you’re in the gym, you just need access to a squat rack or smith machine to do this.
Bodyweight exercises for the biceps are similar to the back. The best one is called a chin up. It’s like a pull up only you grab the bar with an underhand grip. Plus, you should focus on using your biceps to curl your chin up over the bar.
Likewise, you can do inverted chin curls, which are similar to the inverted row. But, you grab with the underhand grip and use your arms to curl your body up. This is an absolute killer, and your biceps will soon feel pumped.
The best bodyweight exercise for legs is squats. Doing loads of squat variations is a great idea to build leg strength without needing weights. You can do jump squats for an extra challenge, or one legged squat if you feel up to the challenge.
Another favourite bodyweight exercise is the lunge. There are many lunge variations that are fantastic for strengthening legs and building muscle.
The glorious thing about plant-based eating is that your grocery store or farmer’s market is full of an incredible array of foods, flavors, and textures that are just waiting to be discovered. Even a typical grocery store has a produce section that carries seasonal and ethnic foods that often get passed-over, but are convenient, inexpensive, and yummy.
If you’re stuck in a rut of getting the same lettuce-tomato-onion-type foods that you always get, take a walk! Look at some of the other plant-based foods and see how you can work them into your diet.
Not sure where to start? In the spirit of a number that signifies longevity, here are six plant-based foods I totally love that are healthy and tasty, but not part of the average diet. What are some delicious food discoveries you’ve made and put on your grocery list each week?
Jicama
Jicama, also known as a Mexican potato, is a big, heavy, brown fruit that really does look like a weird potato. The excellent thing about jicama is that it is very crisp and crunchy, but has a mild flavor like a cucumber. Jicama can be sliced and used with dips as an alternative to chips, eaten in sticks like any other crunchy veggie, or added to salads for a snappy texture without confusing the flavor profile. It’s a great summer side dish served with a spritz of lime juice and a dusting of chili powder if you’d like a little kick!
Bok Choy
In Asian cuisine, bok choy is a staple! For most of us, though, we’d never think to work bok choy into a dish, which is unfortunate because of how versatile and healthy this veggie is. Bok choy can be added to a salad, but it can also be eaten like you’d eat celery with a little hummus or nut butter. It can also be added to soups or stir-frys, or braised or grilled on its own, and given a little seasoning to become a brilliant side dish.
Pluots
Pluots are an incredible, juicy little snack that comes from mixing a plum with an apricot. They’re so good! Plums aren’t terribly uncommon, but not a lot of people are familiar with pluots. It’s a shame because they’re easy to carry in a lunch for you or for your children, they’re a little sweet with the benefits of both plums and apricots, and they’re another inexpensive fruit. They might be seasonal depending on where you live, but look for a fruit that’s a little smaller than a plum, and more yellow, in the plum area of your grocery store.
Rutabaga
Rutabaga is popular in some countries around the world, but it frequently gets forgotten in the US. With a little bit of a punch like a radish, rutabaga is an awesome root vegetable. If you like the spicy snap of it, it’s great to be eaten as a raw veggie. Others would enjoy rutabagas along with things like potatoes, parsnips, and squash in a cold-weather harvest stew!
Nopal/Cactus
A lot of people feel strange about eating cactus, but prickly pear cactus (also known as nopal) tastes great and is SO good for you! It can have positive effects on blood sugar and managing diabetes, and it can help lower cholesterol. I suggest buying it cleaned already because the spines can be difficult to deal with if you’re new to the food, but many average grocery stores (and I imagine every Mexican or Hispanic market) carry cleaned nopal ready to cook. Similar in texture to something like a green pepper, nopal is great in dishes like scrambled tofu, or really anything sautéed. It tastes like other green veggies (think green peppers or green beans) with just a little lemony tartness. It goes really well with spicy dishes.
Dandelion Greens
The wonderful world of leafy greens leaves us with plenty of options at pretty much every grocery store, but dandelion greens aren’t something most people eat every day. The green leaves are great in salads and slaws, but they can also be boiled like spinach or sautéed and seasoned. They’re just a little bitter, but fun to try, and you can even forage for them if you’re really up for an adventure!
When people tell me that they don’t do plant-based eating because they don’t want to limit themselves, I have to laugh. People limit themselves all the time! Even with great options and an endless menu of flavors and colors, most people fall into a routine of eating the same things all the time. This is your wake-up call to use plant-based eating as a way to EXPAND your diet, and bring in fantastic fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and beans that you otherwise never would have enjoyed.
Vanessa Chamberlin is a Certified Holistic Health Practitioner and Lifestyle Coach and author of The Fire-Driven Life: How to Ignite the Fire of Self-Worth, Health, and Happiness with a Plant-Based Diet. For more information, please visit, www.vanessachamberlin.com and connect with her on Twitter, @vkchamberlin.
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