There are easy and challenging ways to lose weight in time for the holidays without compromising your lifestyle. But to be successful, one’s priorities will have to change.
Here are surefire ways to make a transformative start:
1) Get a life coach.
Some need this more than others. A talk with a life coach can clear out the cobwebs in your mind.
Here is Carol’s story. “I have been struggling with my sudden weight gain since I turned 50. No matter how hard I exercise, nothing happens.”
A closer look at her lifestyle showed that she skips breakfast, gets weak by late morning, overeats at lunch, munches on junk food all afternoon and entertains clients in the evenings.
Throw in some extended office meetings where dinner is inadequate, and she gets a good excuse for a late-midnight meal.
Carol exercises three times a week, but it isn’t enough to burn all the calories she piles on.
After an hour’s chat, I realized that she didn’t want to change her ways. Still, Carol looks at herself in the mirror each morning and gets disheartened.
Already suffering from an inferiority complex because of her size (from dress size 6 to 12), Carol now walks around unaware that her shoulders are slumped.
This posture is classic for someone uncomfortable with herself. In her case, she definitely needs life-coaching.
2) Bring out that inner warrior.
Those who don’t give up may fail at times, but they pick themselves up and try again.
Try positive self-talk. Each day, stand before a mirror and speak empowering words to yourself like, “You are victorious… triumph is yours… you are unstoppable.”
Keep going. Soon you will notice a subtle change in your attitude towards yourself and others.
More important, others will notice the change in you. It’s nothing tangible at first, but soon it will physically manifest as your radiant aura and persona.
Try these regimens; but before you start anything new, consult your family doctor.
Go for a colonics treatment. By removing stuck-up excrement inside your body, you can become 2-3 lbs lighter!
Sometimes, one bowel movement a day isn’t enough to get rid of waste.
Try an organic coffee enema cleanse once a week. You will feel better.
Unexplained clogged sinuses and headaches may just go away with every cleanse. (Biosafe, Tel. no. 4119168; Vietura Center at Sofitel, 5515555)
No, not diet
3) Nutritional planning
Notice that I didn’t say diet. That’s because if you eat right, there is no need to diet. Once you understand the wisdom of nutrition, then the lifestyle automatically follows.
The rules are:
Raw before cooked. Consume raw food before cooked food. Common sense says it takes a longer time to digest cooked food than raw food. Therefore, load up on raw greens and fruits before eating your main meal.
The challenge is, if you can make a big bowl of raw salad as your meal, then you are halfway there!
Increase the greens. If you load up on high-fiber veggies, it will take up most of the space in your tummy, thus reducing your intake of cooked food.
Moreover, the more raw food you consume, the higher the enzyme power you are giving your body. Healthy cells thrive on high-oxygen/high-enzyme food; unhealthy cells live on low oxygen/zero enzymes.
This is why it is called living foods. If you cannot eat raw food, then juice your greens and fruits. It is the same thing minus the fiber.
Consume fruits during daytime. Most fruits are high in sugar. You don’t need the extra sugar at night because you cannot burn it.
If you sugar-load after dinner, the extra sugar is stored in your liver as fat. If your intention is to lose weight, then lose the sugar in the evenings.
Yes to dessert during daytime. Nothing wrong with having sweets to finish off a meal. But eat moderately. Consider treating yourself to not more than two spoonfuls of sweets. Limit desserts to lunchtime only.
The extra calories from sugar is what you do not need. If you are serious about weight loss, eradicate sugar from your diet if you can.
Easy on the alcohol. All forms of alcoholic beverages can raise your blood sugar levels.
Alcohol is sugar! Don’t forget that, each time you take a small sip of wine.
A special note for red wine, though, is that it’s high in resveratrol, the heart-saving nutrient.
A glass of red wine for women and two glasses for men are a recommended daily health regimen. But more than that is unnecessary.
Keep moving. This calls for an active lifestyle plus a regular exercise program. Apart from a busy work schedule at the office or demanding family duties, keep to a regular workout program at least three times weekly.
Daily visits to the gym will speed up your weight loss.
Stay hydrated. When you are dehydrated, the brain sends signals that your body is thirsty.
However, many people mistake thirst signals for hunger pangs.
Instead of reaching out for a glass of water, most people would opt instead for a sandwich or anything solid. Think water before food.
Eat only when truly hungry. After two glasses of water and you still feel hungry, then that’s the only time to eat.
How about people who say they are always hungry? Then parasites might be the reason.
If you remove the parasites from the body, you can lose weight faster. Parasites cause hunger pangs on a regular basis.
Sometimes the opposite situation happens—thin people get thinner because of parasites.
There are herbs like red clover, ginger and garlic that can address this problem.
Balance. Living your daily life with balance as opposed to extremes can place your body in a state of harmony.
While the presence of stress may be inevitable, it can be managed in a calm manner.
Soon the words “harassed,” “agitated,” “furious” and “exasperated” will become less frequent in your vocabulary.
Eat your veggies
Adding more greens to your daily diet will make you lose weight naturally. And this is a promise.
A quicker way to lose weight is to just go raw in the mornings. Upon waking up, take two glasses of tepid water with a squeeze of lemon or calamansi.
Follow with a full glass of freshly-juiced vegetables (carrots, green apples, sugar beets alternating with bitter melon and turnip); one 8 oz glass will keep you satisfied for two hours. Follow up with a serving of fruit and you will not be hungry until lunchtime.
When I need to visit the gym, I drink two full glasses of water followed by three cooked sweet potatoes.
After a full workout, I have two glasses of water and a serving of nuts. With this program you can lose two pounds a week. So, within five weeks you can shed off 10 pounds easily.
For those who need to gain weight: Add red/brown rice, barley, avocados and baked potatoes to your eating plan. And increase your food intake.
This week’s affirmation: “I am perfection in progress.”
Love and light!
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