10/12/2021
About six years ago I weighed almost 240 pounds, my energy was low, I had mental fog, my knees ached, I had back pain and barely any self-confidence. This was my junior year of high school. I was considered obese.
Today, I’m 165 pounds with tons of energy, I have great focus, amazing concentration, incredible endurance, and it definitely has boosted my overall confidence. My health journey has been challenging but it’s all been worth it. I didn’t just want to lose weight, I wanted to look great and feel healthy.
Losing weight without exercise is easy but it’s not healthy. Research has shown how significant it is for us to incorporate physical activity into our daily routines as well as healthy eating for optimal health. After losing almost 100 pounds, I can assure you that exercise can be your best friend.
Here are two strategies that helped me achieve my health goals:
1)Physical Activity
I know that question to the article is ‘how to lose weight without exercise’ but I rather you lose weight the healthy way. From when I started wrestling at the start of my senior year until the time I graduated; I lost forty pounds in two semesters.
My biggest key in losing that weight was cardio. That doesn’t mean you have to run 5 miles a day. Cardio is simply any activity that actually increases your heart rate. The goal of cardio exercises is to increase your heart rate which in turn signals the body to burn calories.
Aerobic/cardio exercises include walking, biking, hiking, martial arts, yoga, cleaning your yard, talking the stairs instead of the elevator, and of course jogging or running. The more intense the cardio, the more calories you’ll burn. Exercise also has a ton of benefits outside of only weight loss which includes:
Helping you feel happier
Reducing stress and anxiety
Preventing major diseases
Improves overall physical & mental energy
Helps you sleep faster and deeper
Strengthens bones and joints
Improves memory and focus
The benefits of exercise are simply powerful. If you’re not taking advantage of exercise then you’re missing out on higher levels of happiness and energy. The recommended amount of moderate exercise is 150 minutes a week and for intense exercises around 75 minutes per week.
I’d suggest starting with what you are most comfortable with. Once you’ve found your chosen exercise, make sure you do it at least 3–5 times a week. The key when you’re just starting isn’t how long you work out but how frequent. The more consistent you train, the better the results.
For example, I started by walking the mile as fast as I could. Then, I started to jog some of that mile as much as my body lets me. The week after I ran a little longer. The week after that I ran a little more. I kept this pattern until I was running the entire mile comfortably. Your body will adapt to whatever you put it through.
What made the difference were the small improvements I made each day and week to improve my stamina.
As you stay consistent with exercising, your body will begin building endurance and you’ll maintain your fighting weight. It’s the key to living longer, healthier, and disease-free.
2)Healthy Eating
“Food is thy medicine.” - Hippocrates
This is the one I struggle with the most. I know that eating healthy isn’t easy by any means..I’m not going to lie to you. I still make unhealthy choices from time to time but at my core, I live up to my healthy principles to the best of my ability.
We live in a culture where a salad costs almost 4x more than a burger. Water costs more than soda. Fruit costs more than chips and there are more fast food places than there are healthy food spots. It’s easier to make an unhealthy choice than it is to make a healthy one. Convenience surrounds us all.
What we consume, is what we become. Healthy eating can help us lose weight, maintain a healthy weight, prevent heart disease, enhances our mood, improves our memory, and gut health. One of the biggest factors to being overweight and obese is the intake of ‘refined carbs.’
Refined carbs are generally what make people gain weight because it causes overeating and reduces overall energy because of insulin spikes. Refined carbs include:
Tortillas
White bread
White rice
Pastries
Sodas
Pasta
Breakfast cereals
Non-organic frozen foods
The food corporations have made it difficult for the average person to eat healthy because most of the food here in the united states is processed with refined carbs & sugars. You don’t have to cut yourself off from everything at once. That’s not the point.
The ultimate goal is to reduce/eliminate these foods from your daily eating habits one at a time.
As you reduce your consumption of refined carbs and processed foods, you’re going to want to replace them with more:
Fruits & Vegetables
Home-cooked meals
Water & Tea
Organic/Whole Foods
Refined carbs are stripped of almost all fiber, vitamins, and minerals. For this reason, they can be considered as "empty" calories. They have little to no nutritional value. This means most refined carbs will add to your weight rather than help you lose it.
Refined carbs are turned into fat when consumed excessively.
Start with what you excessively eat the most first. For example, I started with what I consumed the most of which was soda. Progressively over time, I drank less and less soda. I substituted soda with tea and water. It was difficult because in the beginning my body craved the sugar and I would get headaches.
I missed drinking soda so bad but I was more committed to losing weight and getting healthy; if that meant less soda then I was game. I was tired of looking and feeling the way I did.
After forcing myself to drink less soda through self-control, all I had to do was apply that same discipline to another food I wanted to eat less of. I moved on to eating less white bread and tortillas which are my favorites. Your discipline to make healthy choices will get better over time.
You’re not going to always make the healthiest choices and that’s okay. All that matters is that you learn from that mistake and do better next time. Don’t give up when it’s hard because that means you’re growing. You deserve to love the way you look and to feel an abundance of energy.
Remember…
To achieve optimal health and weight, eat whole and single ingredients carbs. If your food comes with a long list of ingredients that you can barely pronounce then it’s probably not a healthy carb. If you want to see results faster then I’d adopt an exercise routine. Take care of your body and it will take care of you.
If you have ANY questions about what I wrote in my article or need any FREE guidance or coaching, please feel free to reach out to me!!
