A lot of people are telling me that I have lost so much weight and somehow I feel elated because it’s actually my goal to shed some pounds. These people usually ask, “how did you do it?” I would happily answer their question as I am invariably fond of explaining how I was finally able to lose some kilos – after so many attempts.
All I can say is, if you really want to lose weight, you can do it.
Losing weight is a hard thing to do especially if you can’t change your eating habits and if you thought that you do not have time for exercise. You need to change your eating habits (by eating healthier food and eating only the right amount of food – although I am not quite good at this) and you have to make time for your daily exercise in order to lose weight. Why I said this? Because I didn’t lose those fats ’till I did these things.
I agree that it requires great discipline to reach your goal. Today, I decided to write about my journey on how I lost 10 kilos.
10 kilos. Such a big number isn’t it? I wouldn’t thought so too that I can do it. I am not an expert in weight loss programmes nor have I already gotten a beach body to become somewhat “reliable” to write this kind of blog. But I was hoping, that the three factors that helped me lose weight, would be helpful to you too.
I’d say there are a lot of factors that contribute to this success (which I have to maintain). But let me mention 3 important things to consider to lose weight.
1) Set your goals
Setting your goals is imperative to lose weight. What’s your target weight? or what kind of body you’d like to achieve?
The reason why I wanted to lose weight is because I wanted to be healthy. I want to change my body and how I take care of it. I want to include exercise to my daily activities. I really want to change my eating habits (this is certainly a challenge for me). I want to feel strong. I want to show that women today are stronger and determined to achieve their goals.
Setting your goals will actually help you see the next steps to take. For instance, you can inform your fitness coach on what are your body goals. He/she will definitely give you advice and routines that will help you achieve it.
Since I want to lose weight, I did purely cardio exercises for an hour, everyday, for 2 weeks. I ate lesser calories than what I assume my body is burning. I stopped eating rice and stopped drinking too much sweet drinks and cola. I stopped eating snacks too, but if I want, I won’t be eating junk foods. I didn’t see the results for more than a month, until I reached the second month.
2) Consistency
Consistency is the key. If you stop exercising or no longer control your food intake, definitely you’ll gain weight again. You have to be consistent in taking in the right food and right amount of food. You have to be truthful with your work out routines.
After 2 weeks of doing purely cardio exercises (most of the time running), I included weight lifting and stretching to my work out routines. I did this everyday for more than an hour. On the other hand, I do try rice and sweet drinks/cola, but these do not come in my daily meals. Only perhaps, once a month (just to have a taste of it again).
3) Discipline
I saw what Raymond Gutierrez (a Filipino celebrity) posted sometime in March about his fitness journey and how we was able to lose weight, and I totally agree to what he said in his post and to some of his interviews.
He said “People keep asking me, ‘what’s the secret?’ There’s no secret, guys. You really just have to put in the time, work hard, make the effort and have the discipline,” he added. “It’s just about committing to it, gaining that momentum and not stopping.”
True! Once you have that momentum we should not stop working out but instead continue doing it. It takes so much discipline to replace rice with any other food since I grew up having rice meals on my table everyday for more than 20 years. It was hard for me too to let go of the cola drink because I wouldn’t trade this for anything else before.
I love how I look now. I feel a lot better than before. I feel that I am taking good care of my body. I can buy dresses that I want without worrying if it would fit me or not. I can wear my old clothes again. I feel stronger. I feel that I can run longer and I feel great about it.
This is not yet my target weight and I am still on my journey reaching it.
I am not sure how experts would say about my routine or about my thoughts on how I lost weight, but these worked for me. I hope this works for you too. But before you begin, make a choice. And once you make it, work for it. And for all those who are on the same journey as me, just continue working out. I admire your discipline and persistence.