How To: Lose Weight

Hello, again friends, family and internet acquaintances. I hope you all enjoyed my last post about sugar and why you should get off it, but I'm sure a lot of you are asking: How? Why? How long? Do I need to get rid of it forever?How much weight will I lose if I do?

Let's start with Why? Hopefully you should all have a reason for why you should get off sugar (Hence reading my last post...) But more than that think about why you want to lose weight. Why is it  so important to be healthy? I know for me, there's the obvious reason that I want to live a full life and stay healthy so that I can actually live a full life with out restrictions. Then secondly I believe that the human body is one of the most sacred creations of God. I want to respect my body and treat it as such. To me, that means, looking and feeling the absolute best that I can to help me 

be the best person I can.

You need to find a reason why and write it down. 

Okay, so how? How do we do it? How do we take all the information we know about food, about exercising, all the thousands of pins we've pinned and then lose weight?

Let's Start With 21 Days.

Now before all of you click to the next blog, 

I'm letting you know now 

that there's no purchase necessary. 

I'm not selling ANYTHING.

21 Day Challenge

      This challenge is literally going to rip the fat off of you. It's high in protein, low in carbs, and LOTS of veggies. 

Rules: 

5 meals a day for women, 6 meals a day for men. One of them should be a post-workout meal/protein shake.

            For every other meals you will follow this regiment:

                      1. Protein

                                             1 palm full (size and thickness of the palm of your hand) of lean 

                                      beef, lamb, chicken, duck, turkey, fish, shell fish, pork or eggs.

                         2. Fat  

                                      A thumb size of nuts and seeds, avocado, olive oil, fish oil, or 

                                      flax seed oil.

                         3. Vegetables (non-starch carbs)

                                      1-2 handfuls of broccoli, lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, green 

                                       beans, asparagus, mushrooms, brussels sprouts, cucumber, 

                                      spinach, watercress, onions, all forms of peppers, RAW carrots

                                      tomatoes(not a veggy but this is okay), zucchini, and eggplant

                                      (there's more, but you get the idea)

Yes, you must eat all three with each meal, Protein, Fat, and Vegetables. Yes it sounds impossible, is it? FIND OUT! (AKA, DO IT)

                  Post Work Out Shake:

                                       These are the specifics: drink within 10 minutes of working out.

                                       Women 0.3 grams of protein per kg of body weight.

                                       Men 0.5 grams of protein  per kg of body weight.

                                       This will help you to regain energy lost (in a healthy way) and

                                       help you to feel okay to work out the next day.  For me, I don't

                                       always have a protein shake, but I do try to eat protein after my

                                       workout. 

                 Water, Water, Water:

                                            Take your body weight, and divide it in half and drink that many 

                                     ounces of water per day. Add one extra glass of water for every 

                                     hour of exercise. Example: I weigh 130 lbs. half of that is 65.

                                    So I need to drink 65 ounces of water per day. Or about 8 glasses. 

                                    (Hence 8 ounces = 1 cup/glass and 8x8=64) 

                                    Water is so important, I can't say it enough. Start drinking the 

                                     minute you wake up in the morning. YOUR BODY NEEDS IT.

                 Foods to Avoid: 

                        1. Dairy Products (it's okay to add a little bit of almond milk                                              to your protein shake, or for whey protein)

                                   2. Roasted or Salted Nuts - the fats in roasted nuts can be nasty.                                       (freshly ground almonds are okay and delicious!)

                        3. Grains - wheat, cereals, oats, rice etc. If it comes in a 

                                     cardboard box, THROW IT AWAY.

                                   4. Fruit - YUM, right? Remember, you are what you eat and do you

                                     want to look like apple?

                                   5. Starchy Vegetables i.e. sweet potato, potato, kumara, parsnip, 

                                    yams, and pumpkin - they're natures answer to bread. STAY AWAY

                                   6. Soy Products (don't be fooled, these are carbs, not proteins.)

                          What to Drink:

                       First of all water (HENCE the paragraph above), coffee, black tea,

                                  herbal tea (MY FAVORITE check out my stash below) and absolutely

                                  NO SWEETENERS! What about soda? What about vodka? What about

                                  all other alcoholic drinks? YOU'RE ON A DIET. N-O. 

I LOVE Herbal Tea (TIP: warm water makes you feel full)

                   Tips:

                                 1. Never skips meals. PLAN them throughout the day so you don't

                                  go hungry.

                                 2. If you feel hungry, snack on nuts (6-8 nuts = 1 serving).

                                 3.  Always eat breakfast.

                                 4. Try to stop eating 2 hours before bed so the digestion process

                                   doesn't effect your sleep and recovery.

                                 5. Rotate protein sources to get a good mix of amino acids

                                 6. PLAN, PLAN, and PLAN.

                                 7. If you are dying and you need a snack, brush your teeth or eat a

                                  mint, because it help that feeling goes away. Also sugar free gum                                     and mints helped me through my first 21. BUT DO NOT CHEAT OR                                       THIS DIET WILL NOT WORK.

RESULTS:

Guess what. YOU ARE GOING TO SEE THEM AFTER THE FIRST WEEK. Yeah that's right one week. Most of you will lose at least, AT LEAST 5 pounds. Take a before picture, and measure your waist (right above your belly button and the smallest part of your waist). Measure your waist each week and only weigh yourself after the first week! Then wait until the end of the 21 days! 

WARNING: IF YOU CHEAT, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET THESE RESULTS

Complaints, Comments, and Concerns:

Now I'm sure some of you are saying, "You need grain!" "You need carbs!" "You need dairy!"

Well guess what, you do need these things, and you're not cutting them out forever. But also guess what, you are trying to lose weight and you need to get your insulin level down because that's the hormone that's putting fat in the fat cells. That's why we are cutting these out only for 21 days. Look for my next post about how to eat after the 21 days.

Last HOORAY: I did this challenge from October 22, 2014 - November 4, 2014 and I lost 10 pounds and 2 inches off my waist. I will be posting my story, and pictures soon!

Remember, I'm not a doctor, a personal trainer, or a professional fitness instructor, you should consult your doctor to make sure this is safe for you to do.

Thanks for reading, and if you haven't asked yourself, what about exercise?  Well, you don't need much, which is why I didn't talk about it. Try to get in 3 to 4  forty-five minute exercises in during the week (You don't need to the first 4 days or so, because those days will NOT BE FUN, your body will not be happy with the lack of sugar).  Look for more posts on exercises, but for now DO THE 

21 DAY CHALLENGE!

Best,

Heather Larsen