I have such a burden to reach out to people who struggle in life. This is what I wanted to share yesterday, but during my a.m. time slot to blog, blogger was down. So instead of featuring a Success Story, I want to share my heart today.
I love you. Really. Most people reading this know me, and some I may not know at all. But I know me, and I know I have a deep, genuine concern for people and my heart is for you to be successful.
Since becoming a 'coach', I have had so many people reach out to me and share their struggles with me. Struggles about weight loss and the 2 components: food & exercise. Too much food, and not any exercise. If that's you, I want you to know that you're not alone.
You're NOT ALONE in this struggle. There is a ton of people who have the same struggle as you. And if I let myself get into the habit, I have the struggle too. (I'll address this word habit next week in the context of diet & exercise).
What helped me is realizing that I didn't get overweight - overnight. It took a few months, a year or so to pack on some weight. It started by me allowing myself to eat what I WANTED, not what I should. I gained weight because I ate the pizza that was at the birthday party, followed it with some cake. I gained weight because I gave in and had the bacon egg biscuit to-go. I gained weight because I continually ate foods that were not lean or healthy. They were high-carb & fat-laden foods.
I gained because I did not exercising consistently. I was taking my son for walks. And I thought they were really burning calories, yea, I don't think it was enough. I stayed big. And finally, after being miserable with myself, I decided I had to take drastic measures. I had to exercise with more intensity...and I could not eat whatever I wanted, or whatever was there.
That meant, if I was going to a party, if they didn't have some salad without drsg. or any lean meat, I would not eat. I (like my husband who lost over 200 lbs.) typically ate our healthy meal before, showed up to the party and declined eating. "Proper etiquette", I don't know. I didn't care. Maybe the chili dogs was the only thing in the budget & that's okay. But I'm not going to scarf down 1,000 calories in one sitting to 'not hurt the host's feelings'. I would just politely say, 'no thanks, I already ate'. I had goals and the only way I was going to reach them is if I took drastic measures.
This also meant I had to plan ahead. I needed to have healthy choices ready to eat. I had to cook up extra chicken breast, boil up eggs (to eat the egg whites), have fresh produce ready to eat, and I had to try to find ways to avoid wanting to raid the cupboard.
One that I found was that working out crazy hardcore helped me in 2 ways. One, it burned a ton of calories to get to that stored fat that just loves staying glued to my hips off...and it made me think twice about what I put in my mouth. I would tell myself & others, "I work out too hard to eat that". My philosophy is/was: Why am I going to push myself sooooo hard to turn around & eat that? Most people's philosophy is: Oh, I worked out so I CAN eat it! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO that's why you're not losing weight & getting results...you're not creating a calorie deficit.
The key to losing weight is simple math: Create a deficit. Burning more calories than you eat = Results. So, example, yesterday, I burned 805 calories, I ate around 1200-1300, so really my body received only 500, but because I was eating healthy foods, often throughout the day, I didn't feel hungry, my metabolism stayed revved up. Now, if I was to not eat but only 500 calories/day, without working out....well, I'd sabotage my body - period. See that is the beauty of working out! In fact, I've already burned over 3500 calories this week & I have 2 more days of my INFERNO to do!
I went off on a tangent about working out and eating good, because that's what many of you are not doing. And that's why you struggle with your weight. I think it would be safe to say that many are addicted to food.
Now before you get defensive, I want you to do an experiment. Answer this: What is your favorite food? What do you just love to eat? Now, when you eat it, do you eat just one or 2 bites or it until you are stuff? Do you smile and moan when the food is in your mouth? If it's around, and you just got done eating, do you want to eat that favorite food? Now, what is that favorite food? Is it healthy? Is it fries, pizza, candy bars, cakes, ice cream? If you think you are not addicted...I have a challenge for you. Whatever that 'fave food' is - give it up for 1 week. If you can do that, give it up for 1 month. See how your attitude is without it. See how your attitude is when it's in front of it and you don't eat it. (Email me if you do this, I'm interested in your results.)
I have a heart for food addicts because I've experienced addiction before. Addiction is crazy. Shoot, my addiction to home-brewed Starbucks coffee is what got me out of bed today (yes, I'm already planning to address it). But addiction is real, and addiction to food is real. And if we don't start addressing it as an addiction, I'm not sure we can conquer this obesity epidemic.
My heart is to help people who feel powerless against food. It's a real feeling that many experience. If you want help, email me at jennifermorin@beachbodycoach.com. Find me on FB - Jennifer Morin....and I will help you the best that I can!
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