Many people think they have to start exercising and reduce the food they are eating in line to start losing weight.
I will take you through a weekly checklist to help you lose weight without being too complicated, no ‘on trend’ diets, just simple steps to help you stay on track.
Consistency is key to losing weight, and by following the simple process I outline this should help you to lose the unwanted body fat, whilst sustaining the lean muscle mass in your body.
STEP 1: TRACK SLEEP
Note what time you go to bed and what time you wake each day. Let’s see how good your sleep is.
Why sleep is key to weight loss.
- Good sleep optimizes and organizes hormones (pro muscle/anti fat)
- Improves performance and strength (not worried about storing calories).
- Poor sleep contributes to muscle loss/fat storage and poor recovery.
- CNS is weak with poor sleep, poor performance and weaker.
- Studies showed that people on the same diet, lost the same weight on scale, but one group slept over 8 hours, one slept under 8 hours. The group with under 8 hours per night lost twice as much muscle and half as much body fat. (This will be a huge impact on our metabolism when you start to relax your eating patterns)
- Get 8.5 hours sleep each night – go to bed and wake same time each day.
STEP 2: TRACK STEPS
Why movement/steps are important.
- Walking is a great tool to help lose weight, it’s low impact and there is no skill needed to walk.
- Walking does not impose a threat to the body and break down muscle.
- Movement helps to keep the joints in good condition and mind at ease.
- Start by noting how many steps you do each day and gradually increase (you can average over the week and work on increasing the weekly step count if some days are too difficult, use a weekend day to help increase your weekly amount.
- Go for a short walk after each meal, this helps digestion and better gut health.
STEP 3: TRACK WATER
Why hydration is important.
- Hydration is key for cell energy.
- It’s quality not always quantity – add salt, lemon, lime to improve water structure to get into your cells, to give better energy. (coconut water is great). water helps to flush toxins out of body after a good night sleep.
- Water is good for our skin, helps us look better, so we feel better.
WHY TRACK?
The reason we track is to know where we are currently, then we build on these.
All of these contribute to weight loss without being concerned about the amount of calories you eat, or the sweat you think you need to get your body into.
Simply by having good sleep, your hormones will operate better, your energy will improve. When you are tired studies have shown people eat more sugar and refined carbohydrates (processed food) that lead to increased calories throughout the day.
Work on your sleep routine over the next week and I’ll share more with you about the other steps soon.
If you want to discuss more with me about starting your weight loss journey contact me by this link
