Have you ever stepped on the scale at the gym after an especially challenging workout only to see that you’ve made no improvement, whatsoever? This kept happening to me over the course of three years, even though I spent 4-5 hours per week at the gym.
After my gym membership was up, I decided to take a different approach to exercise and nutrition. The results? I lost 5 pounds during the first month.
Here what’s I did:
Do Exercise You Enjoy
If you do exercise you enjoy, you’re more likely to do it. And as an added bonus, you’re more likely to do it for a longer period of time. It’s that simple. YouTube became my friend. No matter what type of exercise I was in the mood for, I could find it. Zumba, Belly Dance, Yoga, Pilates, and yes, even Twerking moves that I could use in the club.
Get Help from Natural Supplements
I love to eat, so dieting was out of the question. Besides, studies have shown that most diets seem to succeed in the short-term, but fail in the long-term. And I enjoy food too much to make that gamble.
But I will try natural weight loss supplements. The right combination of vitamins and nutrients can help flip an internal switch that signs cells throughout your body to burn more calories instead of holding on to fat and lowering your metabolism.
This is what I take everyday:
Garlic: Besides having benefits such as preventing heart disease and fighting infections, scientists claim that garlic can prevent weight gain and might even cause weight loss. Laboratory tests showed that rats given a high sugar diet put on less weight if they were also given a garlic compound. I like to eat garlic bread and steam chopped garlic with bok choy. If I don’t have time to cook, I take a garlic capsule to get my daily fix.
Alpha Lipoic Acid: Alpha lipoid acid is an antioxidant that reduces inflammation.
Wheat Grass: I recommend taking this in pill form. The powder that you mix with water takes too long to dissolve and is a choking hazard (seriously). If you work at Google, get the real deal at the cafeteria.
Green Tea Flavanols: Green tea contains epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG, for short, which is linked to cancer prevention, weight loss, and fighting cardiovascular disease. Be sure to get the decaffeinated pills if you’re sensitive to caffeine.
Cissus Quadrangularis: Cissus quadrangularis is a type of plant that is a part of the grape family. Researchers believe that this supplement helps suppress appetite and burn fat.
Brush Teeth Right After Meals
Sounds weird, but I floss, brush, and gargle mouthwash right after meals. Besides keeping my teeth sparkling white, I am less likely to eat snacks during work. Food just tastes bad with minty breath.
Go to Sleep Early
Lack of sleep causes weight gain in many ways. For me, I have a habit of grabbing a candy bar or putting extra sugar in my coffee whenever I feel sleepy to get that sugar rush so I can make it through the day.
Also, lack of sleep affects our hormones that control our metabolism. The two hormones are ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin tells you when to eat, and when you are sleep-deprived, you have more gherkin. Leptin is the hormone that tells you to stop eating, and when you are sleep deprived, you have less leptin. When you are sleep-deprived, you eat more, and your metabolism is slower.
Furthermore, I make unhealthy food choices late at night. Nights out at bars or clubs usually end with me chomping on a piece of pizza at 2 am, then passing out right after. Not good. Nowadays, I’ve gotten in the habit of going to sleep early and waking up early so I have time to exercise in the morning.
And that’s it! No marathons, no grapefruit diets for me. With these habits, I could still eat whatever I wanted, and put in a reasonable amount of exercise. It doesn’t get better than this.
