Is Willpower Enough for Losing Weight?

A friend once told me:

If you really want to be healthy and lose weight you need to follow this equation:

Now it sounds simple, but in my head and looking at my background I thought that things were different, I mean I thought that 80% was the exercise and 20% controlling what I put in my mouth. Well that hasn’t taken me any farther so now I am under an experiment.

This experiment started last week when the hubs and I felt really down and with no motivation for working out or taking care of our meals. Until he was like ENOUGH I can’t take it anymore, and I was like yeah sure…(in my mind I couldn’t take it either but I was just craving some desert that I didn’t want to listen).

Does this situation ring a bell to you?

After that declaration we cleaned our fridge (with all my pain) and made a healthy groceries list. We redefined our goals for losing weight which resume in:

• We will lose at least 2 pounds per week (until we reach our personal goal)

• We will weight weekly and take our measurements once a month.

• We will go to the gym at least 5 times a week (1 hour minimum).

• We will not eat any junk food, processed food and Sodas are way out of limits.

• We will eat more Veggies and Fruits (that is how we get our sugar from).

• Dinner after gym will only be salad and a small protein portion (tuna or chicken).

Ok at this point I was going to cry LOL. But took the determination of saying, if you want different results you have to do things differently.

My first week just went by and let me tell you my experience, I did have some freaking cravings which are not fun, these cravings were due to the fact that I was in the junk food cycle, you know, the more you eat that type of food the more you desire it. BUT the gratification of seeing my weight in the scale this past Saturday was WORTH IT, I lost almost 4 pounds (even though I must confess that I did cheat twice over the week, but I don’t care).

I am not saying that I am over it, and that from now on things will be easy as pie, but if last year was the time when I became from an exercise hater to a person who enjoys it, this year will be the one when I will become a person who enjoys eating healthy.

In my belief, although willpower is important while conquering losing weight or any other goal (because you have to say NO to the good to say YES to the best), I also think that the words commitment, patience and perseverance play a big role. Why? Well because losing weight is not a thing that happens from one day to another, you have to let go of old patterns and develop a new way of life, which makes you a patient and perseverant person, and you do have to be committed all the time, is not like “I eat healthy on weekdays and have 2 free weekend days to eat what I want”. No it does not work like that, if you do that you are only fooling yourself.

Now, I am starting week number 2 now I want a Krispy Kream donut, but that’s OK because I am human, so what am I going to do? I am going to my fridge and eat a bit of chopped strawberries before hitting the gym. It is all about the choices, and though it takes willpower, I don’t want to restrict myself, because if I do I will fail. So I am just weighting my options and taking the best one. I know a donut right now will bloat me and will give me energy for like 10 minutes, while strawberries will be fresh, low in sugar and will reduce my craving for a longer period.

March: A Time to Review Goals

I would dare to say that most than 50% of people in this world made New Year resolutions, set up goals and want to accomplish something for this year. It is March already and while you might have joined the gym to shed some pounds or joined a class to learn something new, this is the point where a lot of us start flaking and forgetting about our goals, or feel that we still have 9 more months to accomplish them.

The truth is that Rome was not built in one day and neither your accomplishments, so I encourage you to take this time to remember what you want to achieve; re-evaluate if you are failing in some part of your goals and just do something about it; because honestly things won’t fix themselves.

And remember it is all about the decisions you take today what will take you to your goal. Yesterday choices are gone and tomorrow’s not even here yet.

Until Next Time,

xoxo

Being Healthy + Losing Weight = Happy Me

So it has been a while since I did my last being healthy-losing weight update. You know it, if you are familiar to my blog you are aware that since last year I decided that I did not want to live in the same situation, a.k.a. gaining weight, eating junk food, and being as sedentary as a manatee (are manatees sedentary? If not sorry for the reference)…

Anyways, January has passed as a big flash that comes and goes (and this is where I stop with my weird analogies). I have to say that I am proud of myself, OK going to the gym 21 days out of the 31 that January had beats my lifetime record of exercising. (I know this because every time I hit the gym I mark it in my calendar).

Also, I started recording again in SlimKicker (If you don’t know what SlimKicker is please check out here) I just think that this is a great app that helps you stay in balance and their community helps you when you are struggling with your food, mood, and working out issues. I was able to record all my meals for January, all the calories I burned at the gym, and my weight every Monday.

In total I lost 6.82 Pounds (3.1Kg) for January honestly I do think this is amazing because I have to admit I did not do any diet, and I did not stop eating sweets, BUT I tried to limit my portions at dinner and stopped drinking soda for the most part of the month.

In retrospective, maybe if I would have been better with my eating behavior I would have lost more weight, but right now I am at this point where if I start cutting cold turkey on things I know I will fail. So instead of having the two Reese’s pieces (My favorite chocolate) I only eat one, and when I do I just won’t eat anything sweet the rest of the day.

All these things give me confidence to keep moving forward, and now crunching some numbers I feel strong to accomplish my goal for this year.

Until Next Time,

xoxo

Better Sore Than Sorry

With all the Christmas Treats you might be receiving right now, there might be a chance you are forgetting about something. I’m talking about that place you know you should be at and that whispers to your ear “don’t forget about me…” Yep that’s right I’m talking about THE GYM (or what you might call your favorite place for exercise), I know festivities can be hectic, but I do think that doing some exercise can help you stay focused with all the things you might have to accomplish.

So the hubs and I have been in the search of a new gym for some time now, and let me tell you something December is like the best month for haunting a new gym, because this is the time when they have their lower rates. This is because well, nobody actually goes I mean with cold weather all we people want is stay home drinking some hot cocoa watching Christmas Specials. Anyways…

I was able to score some deals at work and I received a free 3 day pass for both of us to a gym that is near our home (nothing can beat that). So yesterday I left work very very tired, and I got home with a face that made the hubs say with a jingly voice: It’s Gym Time, in reality all I wanted to do was lay back at my couch with my laptop but then I remembered about some strong words that always help me workout.

And it’s true, we went there, took a 45 min spinning class, with a great instructor, burned 605 calories and felt GREAT after that. I cannot wait to take my second class with him today. Let me tell you something, I did feel that this class was more intense than my previous spinning classes (at my other gym), I don’t know why, but with the other classes I used to take I burned around 450 calories, and at some point yesterday I think I got to my limit, but then I said to myself.

So yep I am very happy that I did went yesterday, and I cannot wait to keep going, this means I am still committed with my goal of being healthy and feeling great…

Until Next Time,

xoxo

SlimKicker: Taking One Step at a Time

“Don’t aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally.”

– David Frost

Hey everybody, so for a couple of weeks now I’ve been member of an awesome community of people who are working for the same purpose, lose weight and be healthy. Now, you know me, I’ve struggled with weight all my life, and since this year started I decided to do something about it. Now, this journey has taken me to lots of places which you can go and check it out here.

But, today I am here for a different reason, and it is to talk about this website I joined, and it’s called SlimKicker. Now, this is a community where you sing up and create your own profile, they even have an app for your smart phone. So what you do is sign up and fill a small questionnaire were you add your weight and your goal weight, you also add if you exercise regularly and other things, after this, the system will calculate how many calories should you consume each day.

Losing Weight Update

Hey everybody, I am here today very very excited about this post. If you have been a regular follower of this blog, you would be aware that one of my goals for this year is losing weight and be sexier healthier. I mean I’ve been through years of diets that work at first but then give you this awful rebound (you say the diet and I will name it) anyways, I got to the point where I said to myself I just can’t take it anymore.

The truth is that this year has been a year of discoveries for me and even though I have not been able to reach my goal yet, this challenge has taken me to places I never thought it would.

My Workout Routine and the NAKED 2 Palette

So I have been keeping with my workout routine and me trying to eat “healthier”. My gym instructor says that working out is not enough; you need to keep an eye on what you put in your mouth. So yep I know she’s right, but I also know that for me is just hard to leave sweets and say NO to my cravings.

Losing Weight: Week 17 Update

Last week was really intensive and hectic for me, lack of sleep + loads of work around the office + loads of work with the project hubby and I are working on = us eating junk food. Not nice. On Friday I already felt guilty and bloated. Oh and did I mention tired as hell. So what will I do to get back in track? I have already complained about why I was not able to make good choices as a good and coherent human being while being immersed in those situations. The truth is that easier for me to forget about them.

Losing Weight: Week 16 Update

Hello everyone, I am doing this update asap as I have loads of work to do, but did not want to miss giving my losing weight update, go figure this week I gained weight again, not so fun, I feel like I am getting stuck and I don’t like that. So talking to my hubby yesterday in how to solve this and how to stop subduing to my awful cravings for junk food (which this last week seemed incontrollable) we came to an agreement.

Losing Weight: Week 15 Update

Week 15 has gone by, I weighed myself on Saturday and I gained 200 grams (0.44 pounds) I could explained this as my period being in this week. I really felt bloated like a big balloon. I still feel a little bit, but then I started to think about how I will be accomplishing my new goal of 75 kilograms (165.34 pounds) for this month.