Why don't you see the results of diet and toil in the gym? We will advise you on how to succeed!
The world is moving by miles in the development of new technologies that aim to make our lives easier and simpler. At the same time, the worldwide incidence of overweight and obesity is growing at an alarming rate. Why do most attempts to lose weight, exercise regularly, and get in shape end up unsuccessful? Let's take a look at how you can lose weight permanently and change your life for the better.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2016, 39% of the world's population (about 1.9 billion people) were overweight or obese.
More than 60% of people visiting the gym have trouble sticking to a regular schedule for more than 3 months.
80% of New Year's resolutions end in a basket of failures by the second week of February, and only 8% of people actually achieve their set resolutions. Statistics show that around 55% of New Year's commitments are linked to lifestyle improvements. This shows that people are dealing with it and want to work on it.
As we can see, similar problems are shared by more than a third of the world, and not everyone has an encoded iron motivation to exercise. The truth is that most people simply have trouble getting at least into the distant form in which they see themselves in their dreams.
When we follow a brutal training and nutrition plan to 120%, and in a few days we eat some extra food or skip training, we may say that it doesn't make sense to continue. And then comes the period when we treat ourselves to everything we've been denying all along and our overall effort is gone. Or do we start exercising and losing weight over and over every Monday?
It can be done better, let's look at it together.
Exercise and food are "ordinary" tools of success. What matters most?
There are countless books on weight loss and exercise on the shelves of bookstores. On the Internet, you will find an inexhaustible number of articles on diet, exercise, and "guaranteed guidelines and programs" for successful weight loss. If we do not fall into the trap of nonsensical detoxes or programs that promise miracles, and choose a quality and rational approach to weight loss, we have almost won.
Why can it work? Because rational and quality programs offer proven and workable guidance that contains information to achieve our goals. Whether it's an effort to lose weight, gain more muscle or eat healthily. But how many such books do you already have in the library?
A new diet does not always lead to success, but a change in habits, behavior and lifestyle
Habits are responsible for approximately 40-50% of our daily activities. It is precisely the everyday habits that largely shape our lives. Our entire lifestyle so far is then the result of this "learned behavior" and the little decisions we make at the moment. Shall we have a big cappuccino and sit down at the TV, or reach for a cup of stimulant espresso and go to work out? When we imagine it in the context of one year, then the difference is whether we practice 365 days an hour a day or watch TV.
What really doesn't matter when we start exercising or losing weight?
According to some, it is best to lose weight on a low-carbohydrate diet or a keto diet, while others cannot afford a vegetarian diet.
What really matters? On the fact that we will gradually try to improve and heal our diet. We can start by eating more vegetables, fruits and less sugar and cold cuts. We are gradually working towards a caloric deficit, which is a condition for successful weight loss (Hall, 2008).
We also do not have to deal immediately with how many series and repetitions of the exercise are most ideal during exercise, or which exercise is best for muscle growth and change of body proportions.
What really matters? The simple fact that we slowly and regularly start performing the sport we enjoy. We don't have to go crossfit right away, although according to social networks we feel that perhaps everyone is a crossfit today. When we do something that is "against our hair", we will not last long.
Success is conditioned by the ability to change habits and gradually start with new ones, thanks to which it will be much easier for us to achieve our goals.
Strong will is not omnipotent
"I can do it." The sentence we say when compiling a low-calorie diet without any food we like, and a training plan suitable for a professional athlete.
The illusion of perfection and trouble-free adherence to the "new lifestyle" is especially close to newcomers to the world of fitness. We want to achieve everything, and especially as soon as possible. Do we know each other? As I mentioned above, small and lasting changes are more effective in the long run than drastic and short-term ones.
A strong will is undoubtedly one of the factors for a successful lifestyle change. But she is not omnipotent.
When we let other players into the game in the form of emotions, stress and other challenges of a normal person's everyday life, we get into very difficult situations. You can throw logs at our feet in our quest to be consistent and persistent in changing our lifestyle.
Let's adapt our environment to success
When we know that we are able to eat all the sweets we find in stressful situations, we simply give them to someone from the pantry and secret hiding places.
Do we tend to fall for "binge watching" on Netflix or another similar platform instead of training? We will temporarily disable this service.
If we have a problem with a regular training routine, a solution is offered in the form of a partner with whom we will go to train or a personal trainer.
With such a simple simplification and improvement of the living space, we will achieve a reduction in the factors that prevent us from succeeding. The end result will be that we will get used to an improved lifestyle far more easily than if we had to face all the pitfalls of the old lifestyle, and a sudden 180 ° rotation of lifestyle habits.
Sweller (2011), in his publication on the theory of cognitive load, states that cognitive load is related to the amount of information that can be stored in working memory at the same time. Excessive cognitive stress can have a negative impact on task completion and quality decision making. In this way, we can also indirectly justify why the drastic lifestyle change and most of New Year's resolutions end in failure. It's just too much for us.
Research shows that the "small steps" approach, and trying to change or build one habit, is far more successful, simpler, and helps reduce cognitive stress.
If we are not athletes in body and soul, and a healthy diet is not our passion, changing to healthier and new habits will cost us a lot of mental energy. If we go for it in an "all or nothing" style, we probably won't be able to achieve almost anything. We will only spin in a constant circle of dieting, trying to live healthier, followed by feelings of guilt with the necessary partial failure.
These 6 steps will help you achieve your goals
1. Set small and specific goals that will help you achieve the big ones
One of the cornerstones of success is to want realistic and achievable goals. We each have a different lifestyle or different mental and time consuming work. Losing 10 kilograms in 14 days is not realistic or healthy. How about losing 10 pounds in 3 or 6 months, that's better and more achievable, isn't it?
When we break this big goal into a few small and easier-to-achieve sub-goals that we will be able to achieve, we will achieve greater activation of the internal reward system. He is responsible for the release of dopamine, which is responsible for feelings of happiness from the goal and motivates us to continue. Partial successes simply motivate us to achieve the great ones.
2. Make achieving your goals a priority
Whatever our goal is, it should have one of our priorities in our lives. Therefore, it will cost us some time, which we have to save somewhere else.
Lifestyle areas where relatively much time can be saved include:
Watch TV, series or online platforms such as Netflix or HBO.
Frequent shopping. All you have to do is make a big purchase once in a while and jump to buy fresh vegetables, fruits or pastries in a smaller store every other day. Today, even in relatively small towns, it is possible to order a purchase online and have it delivered to your home.
Spending time on social networks. Just for the sake of interest, let's try to observe how much time we headlessly scroll through the timeline of Instagram, Facebook and other social networks.
Let's get 7-9 hours of sleep every day. Let's get up at the same time each day or a little earlier. So we will have enough energy for demanding days.
Don't do multitasking. It is an inefficient work tool. We'd better "uncheck" one task after another.
Stop procrastination. Chronic postponement of tasks rather steals our time. We prefer to bite ourselves into everyday responsibilities, so that we have enough time for ourselves.
Let's stop thinking about the past and worrying about the future. We may be surprised at how much time we gain each day.
We will use boxing for cooking. We will prepare several portions of food for the next days and we do not have to spend every day in the kitchen unnecessarily much time.
3. Be patient and consistent
No one has yet gained perfect shape after the first workout, just as they have not lost weight after a much healthier and less caloric meal. Everything takes time.
Thanks to small steps and daily walking, appearing by the pool or in the gym, we will gradually develop a habit that will help us achieve our goals in the long run. What's more, with this approach, we already identify with the person we want to be, not the one we don't want to be.
4. Create a supportive environment
Achieving goals is much easier when we have people around us who can help us with it. It can be family, friends, colleagues at work, a training partner or a coach or nutrition coach.
The likelihood of success is directly related to our own responsibility and the support we can gain from our wide surroundings and close relationships.
"I can do this myself!" Maybe so, but we have a better chance of success if we ask the support of the immediate area for support.
5. When you meet, return to the track
The "all or nothing" approach has been discussed once. What happens when we have an honest burger or pizza that we have a huge taste for, instead of the planned tuna salad? Nothing, we only eat more calories. Then all you have to do is lose energy, for example in the other two meals, and everything is fine.
The same applies even if we miss the scheduled training once. Practically nothing happened and we will come to the next one. But it must not become a routine.
Unfortunately, people still live in the fact that when something goes wrong according to plan, all efforts turn to dust in a second, and there is no point in continuing. But that is a great pity and a mistake. Throw away days and weeks of drinna for one little thing? Definitely not. With a calm head, we continue our efforts.
6. Accept the fact that you will not want to exercise every day. But this is perfectly normal
In fact, even the most motivated and determined people sometimes just don't want to play sports. According to a Diet survey that included 25,000 runners from around the world, only 8% of runners really like running, and about half either hate it or tolerate it. But they continue to run, thanks to their belief in improving health and making their appearance more attractive.
What will help? If we are not sick, then despite all the reluctance, it pays to go playing sports, because those positive feelings due to endorphins and new energy in the veins after training are worth it. Is it better to go to training and then feel more energetic and better, or to sit on the couch at Netflix?
Imagine the moment of achieving your set goals
Imagination and visualization is a powerful witch. Visualization is also used by sports psychologists and top athletes to better prepare themselves mentally for sports performance and to be more confident.
A similar principle can be applied to the achievement of any goals. When we can imagine what we want to look like and what we want to achieve, it is easier to take steps to help us do so. We can imagine under that we can complete or skip training.
What do you get out of it?
"If you don't change anything, nothing will change." There is so much truth in this statement that it perhaps captures the very essence of today's article. Losing weight, strengthening your body or gaining muscle mass is about eating and training. But these are just tools that need to be learned to work with. When losing weight, it is not necessary to read all the scientific studies and articles on the Internet about the suitability of a given type of diet for weight loss or muscle growth.
The biggest determinant of success is everyday life, in which we need to acquire such habits that will help us achieve our goals. The key to success is small, gradual and lasting lifestyle changes, not a 180 ° turn of life.
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