Exercise can be the best solution to stay in shape and maintain a healthy living. However, it won’t work on its full effort without changing your old habits. Add the fact that old habits die hard. Thus, every person must seriously undergo lifestyle changes so that the workout will be more effective in losing weight.
What does this mean? It simply means that you have to change your old habits in order to adapt to the changes that presently you are into. When you modify your lifestyle, target all the aspects, as one aspect affects the other and vice versa. In terms of fitness and wellness, develop a healthy diet plan that coincides with your exercise program and eliminate the factors that hamper the effectiveness of your planned routine. This might be a demanding task to maintain for a long time, and you might even need to seek psychological counseling and encouragement to achieve the changes that you desire.
You can start modifying your usual lifestyle for your workout to be an effective tool in shedding excess pounds. Though a bit challenging for the first few days, you will be adapting to these changes over time and doing this will be as easy as a reflex soon. Here are some tips that you can employ to make your fitness and wellness plan more holistic.
Identify the difference between hunger and appetite. When planning for changes in your diet and lifestyle, it is necessary to differentiate between appetite and hunger as basic physiologic and psychological reactions of human beings. Hunger is the physiological need for food that is felt several hours, approximately four to six hours, after taking a full meal. On the other hand, appetite is a learned psychological reaction for food caused by pleasant memories or one’s desire to eat. These physiologic reactions must be distinguished for you to recognize the right physiological needs of your own self.
Reward yourself other than food. You might be used to repaying yourself from doing good, by eating your favorite foods. However, there are other pleasurable things to enjoy aside from eating. Go for a joyride, watch a movie, read a book, talk to a friend, or get some nice sleep. If the other way around happens, don’t punish yourself through eating. This might only interrupt your fitness regimen.
Anticipate things that might interrupt your diet. Holidays are one of the occasions that tend to crash or diet down. There are lots of delicious food served during holidays. You don’t need to avoid everything on the table. Instead, take a little amount on the dishes that you think won’t disrupt your eating plan. If you can’t resist eating in huge amounts, divert your attention to other activities. Go for a walk, help in cleaning the dining area, or talk to a friend for awhile.
Monitor your weight regularly. Weighing yourself regularly is one thing you can do for you to monitor your progress in losing weight objectively. This will also motivate you to continue what you have been working with. Get a bathroom scale and weigh yourself for at least once a week to see the gradual changes.
Do not wait too long in between meals. Eating three full meals in a day is appropriate to some, but others might find the time very long, making one to starve in between meals, resulting to eating more when reaching mealtime. You can modify your eating pattern by dividing large meals into small and frequent feedings. This will prevent you from starving and craving for more food. Remember to eat slowly, and drink liquids during mealtime.