First of all, if you have started working out or have just made the decision to start to work out and eat better, congratulations! It is going to be so worth it! Let me start with a few words of advice:
1) Don't give up. It will be hard work and you will probably get discouraged, but don't let that sway you or make you stop working out.
2) What works for some people may not work for you. Everyone is unique and so is their exercise regiment. People all carry fat differently and you may need a customized work out plan.
3) Working out alone won't cut it forever. You may shed pounds by just working out, but if you are still constantly eating junk food, you are still staying in that unhealthy rut. Now, I am not saying that you should cut out all junk food forever. If you have a pizza occasionally, that is fine. But you shouldn't eat pizza for every single meal. If you make healthier food choices, you will feel so much better and your body will love you back!
4) Your reason for losing weight should be for you. If you think that a boy or girl will like you better if you lose weight, that is the wrong reason for working out. Trust me, I know. This is my second time trying to work out religiously and regularly. The first time I started working out because I thought it might help my chances with a guy I really liked, but it didn't. If you make the choice to start exercising and getting healthier, do it for you, not anyone else.
If you think a person will love you more if you are thinner, please don't. If a person truly loved you, they wouldn't care if you weighed 150 pounds or 550 pounds. Lose the weight for you.
5) Water water water!! I cannot tell you how important drinking water is. I still have a soda a day, but I cut back on how much I have. Soda isn't the best drink for you and it does contain a lot of unnecessary sugar. But drinking more water and cutting back your soda intake will benefit you greatly!!
6) Don't starve yourself! Yes, eat healthier but don't starve yourself thinking that if you don't eat, you will lose weight quicker. It is unhealthy and dangerous to you. A healthy lifestyle means providing your body the nutrients and exercise it needs to function beautifully. Don't deprive yourself nutrients. It won't help you. It is okay to eat something unhealthy every now and then. Yesterday, I had a huge cheeseburger with curly fries and a milkshake for dinner. But I had a small salad (forgot the dressing :( ) and a smoked chicken salad sandwich for lunch. It is fine to eat out occasionally. Remember, moderation. As long as you remember to make better choices, you will be fine!
7) Don't kill yourself by overdoing it! Start out slow and easy. You are trying to ease into the groove of things, so don't hurt yourself by lifting 30 pounds your first day! Also, schedule when you are going to work out. I work out 5 or 6 days a week. Yesterday, I was gone all day so I chose to use that as my day off. But I walked a lot, so I still got in some exercise. It is okay to take a few days off! Don't strain your body or seriously injure yourself by overdoing it. Remember that the weight didn't get there in one day and it won't take one day to get rid of it.
All of that advice above is mostly coming from my experiences trying to get healthy and working out regularly. It is hard work, but it pays off. Once you start to see yourself slimming down, you will get addicted to that feeling! It feels amazing when you look in the mirror and love the changes you are seeing!
I am an overweight girl and I have been for a really long time. But now I have taken the initiative for myself to get healthier. If you have made that same decision, I congratulate you! It will be one of the best decisions you can make in your life!
Don't let others discourage you from your goals. Being overweight and going to the gym is nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed of. Those fit people had to get fit somehow too! :D If you are scared to go alone, see if a friend will go with you and work out together! A fitness buddy is great!
If you can't get to a gym, I understand, girl! I don't go to a gym because I live too far away from a gym. I work out at home! I have an exercise bike, a weight bar with different weights, dumbbells, and ankle weights. It isn't a lot, but it works! I also do yoga! Even if you don't have any exercise equipment at all, you can still work out at home! Look up exercises that help you lose weight that don't require you to use any exercise equipment! Don't let that be an excuse to stop you from getting healthier!
Another thing, I don't really get on the scale. I find that when I do, I get even sadder and it takes me a while to feel happy about myself again and realize that one day I will step on the scale and not be sad. It is totally up to you whether or not you use a scale to see how much you have lost. You can also measure yourself and track how many inches you are losing. But for me, personally, the scale is not part of my healthy lifestyle right now. Plenty of people avoid the scale and it is nothing to be ashamed of. I go by what I see and then when I am comfortable, I will take that big step onto the scale. It's just the way I choose to do things.
But remember this: even if you are overweight, you are still gorgeous!! You don't need to lose weight to be beautiful, you already are! Do this for you! Do it so you can go up a set of stairs and not be out of breath! You will start to see the benefits of your efforts and you will feel fabulous, I promise!
This is just my advice to you, one girl to another. Working out has been a stress relief for me and it is time during my day where I feel absolutely great! Believe in yourself and don't lose your confidence! You can do this, Queen!!
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