"How do I lose weight?"

So I thought I would take a few min to write a general response I guess you could call it.. quite a few people ask me on a weekly basis “How do I lose weight.” I believe that we all know the answer to it, but not everyone wants to do the work to actually get it done. 1)    Cut the sugar: Coffee lover? -  Hi you’re preaching to the choir, I’ll never skip my coffee but I skip the sugar. Instead of cream, grab the coffeemate sugarfree hazelnut cream (my favorite) and replace your regular sugar with equal.

• Like beer it’s an acquired taste so you probably won’t love it at first but you learned to like beer so you’ll learn to like sweeteners. In any meal you eat, low sugar or sugarfree is your best bet.

2)    Start reading labels: Look for groceries that have low / sugar free, low sodium and all natural. Believe it or not, it makes a huge difference. Find healthy snacks that you actually like. Do not waste your time buying items at the grocery store that you know you don’t like, it’s just gonna get thrown in the garbage and stink up your fridge. If you don’t like fruit, try adding something like peanut butter or almond butter to make it more flavorful. 3)    Eat MORE..times a day: Don’t skip meals, especially breakfast – you’ve been hearing that your entire life, it was just as true back then as it is now. So do it! Take healthy snacks on the go or whatever you have to do, but try and eat every 2-3 hours, It’ll help raise your metabolism and in the end you’ll actually be eating more. 4)    Portion size: Going out for dinner? – only eat half of what you get in a restaurant, take it to go and save it for lunch tomorrow. Eat 3-4oz of lean meat and protein for your meals (for women). Seems like nothing? – don’t worry, you’ll train your body to realize that’s the amount of food intake you need – plus remember you’ll be eating more times a day so you won’t be starving. 5)    Drink MORE water: Don’t like water? add in some crystal light, the lemonade is my favorite :). One trick I’ve been doing for years and works is I drink a glass of water before every meal, it fills you up so then you don’t eat as much when it’s time to eat. 6)    GET TO THE GYM: Don’t have the money? – I’m sure there is a park close to your house.. adopt a puppy, now you have an excuse to take him to the park. Check Groupon, they have a several deals weekly for bootcamps, boxing, yoga, ect ect. Don’t have the time? – Make the time, if it’s something you really want you’ll make the time. Record your tv shows and watch them on the weekend, exercise for an hour instead of sitting on the couch. Desperately need to see the ridiculously long American Idol episode? Do abs, squats, pushups – notice a trend, none of these exercises require a gym or a weight, so now you don’t have an excuse :) Have kids? – find activities that you can involve them, hiking, biking, walking the dogs, pretend like it’s the 50’s, turn off the video games and get them outside. Don’t like working out? – find something you DO like doing, swimming, hiking, yoga whatever it is just get your ass moving more. Phone a friend, buddy systems always help keep the motivation. How about bodyrock.tv ? Heard they have some pretty amazing workout videos you can do at home :)  I'm sure there are a million other excuses, and I'll have a rebuttal for every single one of them! 7)    Most importantly, learn how to cook!: You can learn pretty much anything off youtube including recipes! Not only will you save money, but you’ll feel better and if you’re a chick your man will love you for it too :) 8)    Do NOT try and waste your time and money on diet gimmicks. They don’t work and you’re an idiot for trying it. (sorry, but true) even if they work, you’ll gain the weight back. Gimmicks aren’t something you can maintain, you might lose the weight but you can’t live off it forever and that’s when you gain it back. It’s a lifestyle change you’re looking for, not a magical pill or counting points. 9) Set realistic goals: It’s great to have a goal, but just make sure it’s obtainable in the amount of time you’re giving yourself. Hope this helps whoever was interested :) and if you’re rolling your eyes then I’ll roll mine right back at you when you’re still asking “how do I lose weight” :) Heard everything before? yea you probably have because it really is that easy! On a side note, I’m not a certified personal trainer, I’m not a licensed nutritionist or a fitness professional in any way (atleast not yet :) .. I’m just a friend, so take my advice or not, either way thanks for reading!

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