So ever since I mentioned that I had lost 30 lbs since February 15 everybody has been asking me to outline exactly how I did it. So I'm going to try to go into as much detail as possible so that those of you who are hoping to lose a few lbs yourself can hopefully apply some of my tips!
1. I Ate! - For the first time in my life I subscribed to the concept of eating to lose weight, and it worked! I always equated losing weight with deprivation, over exercising and being all around miserable, but not anymore. I ate every 4 hours. For breakfast I have two slices of Ezekial toast, oatmeal and lots of Maranathan Peanut Butter. Then for lunch I have a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE salad with lettuce, beans, crumbled wasa crackers and maybe a sunshine burger with Annie's Organic Balsamic dressing. I also try to have an orange or an apple as a snack around 2:30. When I get home I have a Clif bar for some pre-workout fuel and then I typically have a big bowl of brown rice, a whole bag of frozen spinach, some more beans, some tomato paste and some hummus. After my workout I may have a handful of nuts as a snack or an apple. The key is to have enough calories to let your body let go of the weight without freaking out and thinking it is starving, so yes, you must eat to lose weight! As you can see most of my calories came from whole foods (and you will be prying the Clif bars out of my cold, dead hands btw!). Give yourself a daily allotment of those calories to have a treat food, mine is spent on my Clif bar but yours could be on some chocolate, a small bowl of ice cream etc. Having a reasonable indulgence every day will keep you from feeling like you are on a "diet" and will make you less likely to binge. In fact, I haven't "binged" in the longest time because I have been letting myself have those small indulgences consistently throughout my program.
2. Cardio & Strength Training - This is huge, as you diet you need to workout to support your lean muscle mass, and by combining cardio with a strength training routine you are getting the most bang for your buck and will make your weight loss happen that much faster. As you all know I am obsessed with Jillian Michaels and would recommend 100X over her DVDs, the best one to start with is 30 Day Shred, and once you've mastered that you can venture into her other DVDs. I also love Jackie Warner's DVDs as they function in a similar manner but just offer a variety of different strength moves. Circuit training is the quickest way to burn fat and boost your metabolism and it was key in my weight loss. Even though I have weighed less my body has honestly not looked better than it does right now, I actually have definition!
3. Patience - I didn't lose all the weight over night, and as much as I wanted to I knew it just wasn't going to happen. I had my fair share of plateaus but you can't let that stop you from going. I just stayed on track and I didn't let the scale run my life. Even if you don't lose weight one week atleast you aren't gaining weight. Keep up with your regimen and you will see the number change in no time.
4. More Water, Less Salt - Finally the thing that I'm perhaps the most neurotic about (moreso than calorie intake even) is the amount of water and sodium in my diet. I try to drink atleast 100oz of water a day and limit my sodium to under 1500 mg a day. This means cutting out most processed food as they are loaded with salt, so whole foods all the way! Our bodies can easily retain 5-10 lbs of water if we don't hydrate enough and have too much sodium. So by consistently hydrating the body and limiting salt I flush out all the fluids and don't have that "puffy" look to me.
Basically that is how I lost the weight over the past few months. At the end of the day it really is a calorie equation so you want to make sure you are getting enough by calculating your BMR and remembering to never go lower than 1200 if you are a woman or 1600 if you are a man.
