Lose your Weight, Not your Mind!
Admit it, we all have been there! We all have pretended to be satisfied with ourselves, despite feeling a little heavy on the outside! If anyone else disagrees and gives you that phrase- “Feel good about yourself”- you should know that they are lying!
Yes, this phrase is empowering and true to some extent, until it starts to appear as a taunting message after you’ve taken a long look at your pictures!
Such a depressing way to start a blog, you must be thinking. But it is the truth that is depressing in actuality. Enough with that! Stop living in a delusion and take a stand. Losing that extra kilo will not only make you look good but also make your heart and mind feel good. It is commendable if you have come to terms with your truth and decided on making positive changes to your body. But if you are making a wrong start, read on for some valid reasoning to only lose your weight, not your mind!
Let’s start with how weight loss works
I will be skipping all the technical details here for the sake of simple understanding. You lose weight when your body burns more calories than calorie intake. It is not all about the food but mostly it is. The rest is the route of calorie-burning which should be achieved through physical activities. So, eating less, and burning more should be your motto for you.
Where does the problem arise?
Yes, “eat less, burn more” is the holy grail of fitness goals. But the problem arises when some people start seeing only half of it. To be more specific- the “eat” part.
As a result, they opt for eating a lesser and lesser amount than is actually required. There have been mentions of some people who get addicted to losing weight and in the process fall victim to serious medical disorders such as Anorexia, Bulimia, and so on. I pray for you not to reach that unfortunate extent.
Eating less is not required if your daily activities are up to the mark. A balanced diet or a good diet plan is essential for leading a proper life. I will talk about it later, but let me carry on with the “problem with weight loss” part for now.
Don’t make naive decisions
We live in an impressionable society. We act on what we see and ultimately set out beliefs in. If you tune into any tv channel, you will find advertisements and beauty slogans running 24/7. If the lead model is attractive or popular, you decide to pay attention to it. In the same context, social media is dominated by beauty and fitness gurus who ultimately become social media royalties. The reason is you and other users who like what they see on their channels.
It’s all about the visual engagement that sometimes works more than the content. You choose what you see and like! That’s the ultimate truth that never changes. Hence, it is natural that you start following your ideal star’s supposed routines religiously.
Speaking of fitness, you will never rely on a fitness Vlogger with double body mass as you! Media influencers have such a great impact that it is common for some people to get misinformed and go overboard. As a result, they don’t meet their desired goals and in worse case scenarios, cause more harm than good.
The bottom line is to not completely rely on every social media tip you find out there. Instead, you can take inspiration from them and fuel your motivation for fitness, not just for fitting into society’s standards of body goals.
Diet or exercise?
I say both! I did not make a revelation there as it has already been proven that your diet and physical activities work together for achieving fitness. Diet is the main concern for this blog so let me emphasize that for now.
Although my major emphasis is on a balanced diet, since I have already talked about diet plans meant for losing weight, let’s continue with that first.
Should you consult a dietician before dieting?
In most cases, it is not necessary. Especially if you don’t have any underlying health problems. I do not support extreme dieting or crash dieting for anyone though. As I said before, we are very susceptible to media influence and yearn for the physical features possessed by our favorites. Some of you will follow their diet plans blindly on this conception that if it worked for them, so it will for you. Which is definitely NOT the case, by the way!
You might have heard the phrase “everybody is different”. Each syllable of it speaks the truth. Your body is indeed different than your favorite actor who might share similar height and facial features with you. This obviously also takes other factors under consideration, such as their lifestyle and social status. As in they don’t live in the same conditions as you do (duh!).
First things first, it is important for you to understand that celebrities have got people to monitor their health and appearance. They might have shared their diet plan with the public but not the modifications or the process of selecting a diet suitable for only them.
So, you need to wake up and listen to your own body!
Here’s what you should do before going on a diet (if you must!)
Let’s say you looked up the internet for the most effective diet plan that is highly trending. I would say go ahead and buy all the listed items and start by tomorrow. Try to stick to your plan for not more than 9 to 12 weeks. Why do you ask? Because after that your body will go into starvation mode which is whole another level of trouble!
Starvation mode: It simply means that when you deprive your body of nutrients over some time, your body goes into a maintenance form where it tries to preserve your body fat for your survival. In simpler terms- you won’t lose any weight during the starvation mode, but your health will definitely start declining thereafter.
Getting back to the point, if you start noticing even the slightest changes in your body after a certain diet period, that means that a particular meal plan is suitable for your body. It goes without saying that there is no other way to know for sure what diet will suit you until you try it yourself!
Points to be noted before starting a diet:
- Consult your physician if you have cardiovascular, neural, hormonal, diabetes, or high blood pressure issues.
- Take a note of your food allergies. Read carefully the food labels and discard the items which contain even traces of your allergens.
- Follow a balanced diet plan. This means 1/2 portion of veggies, 1/4 portions each of Carbs and proteins.
- Put down those diet pills! Unless they are vitamin supplements, don’t include them in your diet plan. Don’t be fooled by the claims they make. Even though they have been proven to show significant effects, those effects come with dangerous side effects. Take it from someone with personal experience, diet pills are a big NO-NO!
- Set realistic goals. You can not lose weight only based on diets. If you think a diet comprising of 50% water will make you lose 10 kilos in one month, you are thinking wrong. Aim for losing 1 kilo in 1 month.
Look out for roadblocks!
No matter how determined you are, you can not win over hunger. It is very natural to feel miserable in the very first days of your diet. That is why it is important to select a diet that you can stick with. I am talking about striking out those fancy exotic-food-only diets. A simple 3 Chapati, 2 bowl Dal and 3 bowl veggies-a-day diet will be satiating and sufficient for you. But if you still want to try out that fancy diet you saw on Pinterest, I ain’t stopping you. Just make sure the ingredients are not completely tasteless!
Let’s talk about cheat days! On the holy journey of your weight loss, don’t deprive yourself of little indulgences. At the end of your week if you crave something sweet, go ahead. There is no point in curbing them if they keep on affecting your regime. Do mind the quantity though! Have a thin slice or not more than 3 spoons full of your favorite cake. Limit the cheat days to one per week. Say, fix it on Saturday. Talk about looking ahead to that “special” weekend!
Work it out!
No matter how much you eat or don’t eat, if you don’t move around much it will be like overloading your system. Diet is the fuel and physical activity is the engine. Both are equally important.
The human body is a magnificent machine. It has a superb mechanism to control all functions along with tracking if anything goes wrong with it. This means, your body will start giving you signals if your health is getting affected. Listen to your body and implement a healthy routine.
Start off with brisk walking for 20 minutes and gradually take up Cardio and weight-lifting exercises. Watch YouTube fitness videos and exercise daily for not more than 1 1/2 hours, as apparently there are disadvantages of over-exercising as well.
It is one thing to watch your weight and avoid bad foods for the sake of your health, but turning this habit into an obsession is far away from being healthy. Obsession of any kind is not healthy. Obsession about weight can take dangerous turns if taken too far. The key is to make appropriate goals and stick to them no matter what. It is okay to slip off now and then, just don’t keep breaking your rules too much. It won’t be pretty to once again look at your pictures and find out that you’ve gone back to square one.
Eat with your mind, not eat your mind!
