The ability to look at your life and make small changes that overall chance the quality of your life is honestly amazing. If you’re reading this, I want you to know the power of perspective. When I started my weight-loss/fitness journey, I had the wrong framework. I wanted to know how to make the weight fall off fast. My naïveté made me short sighted and I didn’t understand the role that nutrition or self-care played in my health journey. Luckily, I eventually changed my mind and understood that the smallest, and sometimes easiest shifts, led to the transformation that most people ask me about. In one year, I lost a life changing amount of weight. I have learned in my journey that pushing my body to the limits is not the healthiest thing to-do. And with this current moment when people have the time, or are hoping to start their fitness journey, I wanted to take a moment and write about the 5 easy-everyday habits that helped me lose weight fast. Again, these are just small changes that won’t work unless you consider being active and pivoting your nutrition to fuel your body. Without further ado, here are the 5 habits I developed in starting my health/fitness journey. 5 Everyday Habits That Helped Me Lose Weight in QuarantineBefore we continue, I want to stress that weight is not the only measure of someone’s health and wellness. Nor am I a health, fitness, or nutrition specialist; I’m just an amateur fitness enthusiast. This is just my anecdotal experience. 1. Make a Habit of Not Drinking Coffee First Thing in the Morning to Lose WeightFor the longest time, I started my morning with a freshly brewed coffee. There was something about watching the smoke curls unwind from a piping hot tall black that excited but. However, I grew dependent on coffee. I sometimes found an excuse to slack because I told myself, ‘Well, I haven’t had coffee yet.’ The alternative to my old caffeine morning ritual was warm water with lemon. Yes, just some water with a few slices of lemon and its juice activated me and unlocked a new level of potential in me. This change in my life gave me a natural burst of energy without feeling wired. From feeling hydrated to feeling my joints and muscles less fatigued, I started drinking this concoction before workouts too. While there’s no concrete evidence that this practice promotes weight loss, in my anecdotal experience drinking warm water with lemon did help me lose weight and overall feel better in my everyday life. 2. I lost weight through a habit of cutting out unnecessary sugars during quarantineI have another post, click here, with more specifics on my diet in my weight loss journey. But along with helping me lose weight, I also just felt an overall improvement in my health when I started cutting out additional sugars in my diet. I’ve never had a sweet tooth and cutting out extra sugars came pretty easy to me. Again, I was never on the ketogenic diet. If you didn’t know, carbohydrates store water and that water weighs us down. Some changes I did included using vegetable bases instead of race/pasta or asking for water bases when getting iced teas or refreshers from places like Starbucks. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of recipes online to help you find alternatives to your favorite carbohydrate-rich meals. In my case, cutting out sugars was a natural habit that helped me lose weight fast without sacrificing my diet’s richness. 3. I lost weight during quarantine by making a habit of being active everyday I’m not saying you need to work out 3 times a week with a personal trainer like I did to lose weight fast. I’m suggesting making your body is an easy habit that helps you work towards whatever health goal you have. Right now, going to a fitness center might be hard. Though you cannot go to a gym, there’s plenty of ways to move around every day. Whether you walk around your house or park, mask on of course, or begin your morning with a stretch, give yourself permission to be active for at least 30-minutes a day. When I say give yourself permission, I really do mean devote sometime every day to being active. Before I started my weight loss journey, I always said I was too busy to workout. But when I finally put my health as a priority it became natural for me to move. Some days I am too busy with life to do a full HIIT workout (high intensity interval training if you’re unfamiliar). On days when my emails and meetings drown my schedule, I’ll just walk around the block at the end of my day. Whatever I can do to move, I treat this time as a well-earned break. 4. Make a Habit of Resting and Relaxing Properly During Quarantine to Lose WeightThis point relates a bit to my previous point, but having proper rest is paramount in losing weight because you’ll naturally have energy and enthusiasm for your day. When I started finally sleeping my 7-10 hours during quarantine, I noticed that I felt less bloated and I woke up with more energy. Without having to reach for stimulants like caffeine in the morning or before my workouts, I noticed I started losing weight again. Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or you’re just having daily walks, rest is vital in letting your body have time to repair and heal muscles. Yes, even daily walks tax your muscles and joints. It’s important in any fitness level to give yourself room to rest. It feels counterproductive to not be moving, but again trust the process that is starting a weight loss journey if you want long-term changes. 5. I Lost Weight During Quarantine by Taking the Time to Cook Fresh FoodWhen quarantine started, I fell in the habit of ordering food, like almost every-other-day. Along with being expensive, ordering healthy food like salads was not the healthiest option compared to preparing meals at home. Maybe you order food as a treat but make this sporadic and not a frequent practice. Like my point about how ordering salads from restaurants is not always a sound decision, when you prepare your meals you know what you’re putting into your body. With quarantine impacting restaurants to scale down or shift to delivery methods, alterations to the menu might not always be available. For example, sometimes my salads include cheese, a copious amount of dressing, or add-ons like croutons. There is nothing wrong about these ingredients. Yet, because of the diet I tailored to help me lose weight these ingredients don’t react well with me. All it takes is a quick Google search to find thousands of easy and healthy home recipes you can make at home. Take the time to create that quality experience of cooking at home, and also save some coin by cooking at home. Through controlling your diet and choosing fresh ingredients you too can lose weight during quarantine simply by making small changes in your everyday routine. What habit did you learn? Let me know in the comments below or tag me on social media with your answer Instagram/Twitter @Willsshowem! Thanks for reading these Words by Will! See you in the next post! |
Author William SamayoaMarketer by profession and storyteller by passion. L.A. raised, proud Latino, and pop culture enthusiast. Categories
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