Part 1: Running: it’s cheap, accessible, and you get quick results. No membership to the gym required, and all you need are a pair of running shoes, shorts, and a shirt. If you run around your neighborhood for 45 minutes to an hour for 5 or 6 days a week, you’ll lose abdominal fat, your thighs will shrink and become muscular, you’ll look leaner, you’ll sleep better, and you’ll be able to do other fun physical activities like hiking more easily.
Part 2: Strength training. Again, easy, accessible, cheap. No membership to the gym required. You can lift weights right in your own home. For example, take a dictionary to start, balance it on your hands while laying down, and lift up and down. Ta-da, strength training for the arms. Or, buy a set of weights from a sports store; they’re relatively inexpensive.
Part 3: Cut back on the junk food and replace it with fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, lean meats, whole grains, etc. Your diet doesn’t have to be so strict that you end up binging on the bad stuff. Just make substitutions. Instead of ice cream, eat frozen yogurt. For your chips substitute, eat fat-free Pringles. Make sure you get enough of the good calories, and don’t skip any of the food groups! (that means no low-carb diets) Any mineral or vitamin deficiency in your diet will compromise your energy stores and your overall health. Get involved in your cooking, so you know exactly what’s going into your mouth. Look up healthy recipes on the internet. You’ll find that a lot of these healthier foods taste much better than you thought they would. (Plus, you’re spending the same amount of money on food; you’re just buying different stuff.)
Part 4: Reward yourself every now and then. It’s fine to live a little. Just make sure you’re only rewarding yourself once or twice a week.
Part 5: Stay active even on your recovery days. Take a hike with friends in the mountains. Go for a leisurely swim. Bike with a significant other. Pick up a sport hobby, like tennis.
Part 6: Keep at it and have patience. You didn’t gain the weight overnight, so you’re not going to lose it overnight. Don’t expect to lose more than 2 pounds per week. Doctors and dietitians recommend this amount; anything else is considered to be unhealthy. The combination of eating right and exercising regularly WORKS. You’ll become leaner and you’ll stay that way if you continue to eat right and exercise daily.
I’m trying to lose 15/20 pounds.
