Choose to Lose Weight and Keep it Off Forever
Kim Garcia, Master CPT and LWMC
 
There are many ways to lose weight.  Trust me I have done them all, read them all and experienced the pros and cons of each. There are so many fad diets, weight loss pills and marketing techniques promising you the quick way to lose weight. I am here to tell you there is no way to lose weight quickly without compromising something somewhere else or setting yourself up for a lifetime of yo-yo dieting.
 
I wish I could give you the quick fix or the slogan that tells you If you work out with us you will get the weight off quickly and never have to exercise or eat right again, but it's not true. I am writing to give you the true secrets to lifetime weight loss, improved health and overall wellness. It's our goal at Kim2bfit to help people feel good about themselves through building confidence, skill, knowledge and providing effective solutions to long term weight loss success.  I have studied nutrition and exercise for more than 14 years. I have lived a life of ups and downs when it comes to obsessions with weight and insecurities. I can finally tell you I am in a place of peace within my mind and living in balance when it comes to treating my body right. No more restrictive eating, just balanced smart choices that will help me maintain a healthy weight and improve my quality of life. I know each of you have to have experiences to get to this point, but if I can help give you nuggets of advice that will save you the time, energy and the pain I struggled through, I will.  
 
1.       A positive mind brings positive results- This is the first place to start. No matter how hard you work, if you are constantly putting yourself down or thinking negative about your results, YOU WILL FAIL. Even if you succeed temporarily by belittling yourself in your mind, chances are you will not succeed long term. What is the point? Do you beat anyone else up as badly you do yourself? Most of you have many things to be proud of. Each day focus on what you are doing right and what is wonderful about you. Learn from your obstacles. If you always binge at night, don't feel guilty or beat yourself up about it, start finding solutions on how to make better choices when you do binge. There will come a time in which you wish you appreciated yourself every day, every week and every year. We never know when things could be worse, so appreciate where you are at today and work to live healthier.
2.       You are what you repeatedly do- As Aristotle would say, you are truly what you do and consistency is the key. If you eat lots of fat, you will be fat. If you sit all the time, you will get stiff and have pain. If you restrict calories and try to go without eating you will become malnourished and create disease within your body.  Every food group is very important to our overall health and diet. We need nutrients to help our bodies function efficiently. We need movement to keep our blood flowing efficiently and our joints moving freely. If you want to look and feel good, wake up each day and figure out how you can make each meal slightly healthier. Don't think of how you can eat less. Think how can I make it healthier? If you eat a sausage biscuit everyday for breakfast, try to switch it to an English muffin with an egg or Canadian bacon instead of sausage. Yes you may have to learn what healthier options are, but you know baked is better than fried and mustard is less fat than mayo. Small consistent changes make the long term impact.
3.       Move effectively- Many people think they need to torture themselves during their workout to see results or they work out for an hour or two every day. This is not what you or your body needs. Too much exercise actually increases stress within the body making it fight against you with weight loss and/or creating injury. It also decreases your immune system opening you up for more illness. Balanced, effective exercise is what you need. You need exercises that are right for your body; you need progression, variety and consistency. Not just a hard workout.
4.       Nutrition is key- No matter how hard you work, if you are eating too little or too much, all the workouts in the world will not get your body where you want it. For example, let's say you can't give up your weekly trips to McDonalds or your New York style pizza. A combo meal at McDonalds including a 10 piece nugget, small fry and 1 med coke is 900 calories. Two slices of New York Style Pepperoni Pizza is 1458 calories. There are 3500 calories in one pound. The human body only needs about 1800-2400 calories per day to survive depending on your age and weight. If you eat more than those calorie needs daily, you will steadily gain weight. If you eat less than your minimal calorie needs, your metabolism will slow down and force you to work harder to get the weight off. It's about balance, but if you're eating pizza one night, McDonalds the next and then having a big breakfast on the weekends, you will be taking in way more than you could ever work off. Many of the most intense workouts can only burn up to 800 calories and that is shooting high. Most are 400-600 calories. I do not care how good of workout you are getting, if you are heavy and need to lose weight or drop body fat you have to make adjustments to your diet. It would take two-three hours of working out to burn off 2 slices of New York Style pepperoni pizza. So focus on making small changes and setting boundaries. If you love fries, allow yourself one day per week to have fries or bake them at home. If you love pizza, have cheese, ham or veggie pizza and watch your serving size. The body can only function off of what you put in it. Garbage in = garbage out. If you want to look and feel good for life, cure yourself through making smarter choices.
5.       True Happiness- You have to realize what true happiness and what real deprivation is. Many of my clients look at me with pure disgust when I tell them they shouldn't eat something or they should switch it out with a better option. They look like I just took away the best thing that ever happened to them. I know it can be enjoyable to have a few alcoholic drinks or Five Guys once per week, but is it truly making you happy? Is eating the cookie just because you want it really that exciting or making you happy? No. Happiness is being able to go shopping for an outfit and feeling great that the clothes are fitting well. Happiness is feeling confident to go swimming with your children or to a company offsite without feeling insecure about the way you look.  Start focusing on what you really want out of life; how you want to look and feel, then make conscious decisions as to what will get you there. Reprogram your thinking. Yes, having a few beers every weekend sounds great, but is it really making you happy long term or is it just providing temporary satisfaction for that day? You have to choose what your true happiness is. Maybe it is having a few drinks each week or having fast food everyday at lunch.  For those I meet, they want to have a firm, healthy body. In order to achieve that, we have to set boundaries and make choices that will help us achieve this goal. Instant gratification does not lead to long term satisfaction.  Start making true commitments to yourself to fuel your body with a variety of healthy foods and you will achieve long term satisfaction.  You will start to realize giving up a few drinks per week or skipping Five Guys until you meet your goal, is not deprivation at all. It's true commitment to yourself and the goals you want to meet. The empowerment you will feel in making your own choices and actually succeeding in doing so will be amazing.
6.       Forget about what other people think- If you realized how little others think of you, you'd quit worrying about what they think. Many of us feel insecure to work out in front of people. We don't want to swim, dance or run in front of others. We avoid pictures and get togethers with friends because we don't look right or our clothes don't fit well. Quit worrying about those things. Everyone is HUMAN. Everyone has insecurities, flaws, obstacles, etc. Someone might look at you for a second and think boy he or she is looking heavier, but guess what? Then they move back to their own thoughts or on to the next person. Every person you see has a history and insecurities of some sort. If you want to run outside, dance at a party, swim at the beach, DO IT!!! Don't let what others might think or say hold you back. You only get one life and the more you avoid doing things you enjoy or things that will get you moving, the further away you will move from true happiness. Become a kid again! Say what you mean, play hard, stop eating when you're full and don't worry about being perfect (we all know there's no such thing anyway).
 
The above tips are so crucial to truly being healthy mentally, physically and emotionally.  There is so much more I could share on each of these topics, but for the sake of time and boring you to death, I will save them for a later date. If you truly take all of the tips above and put them into play daily, you will achieve results lifelong. Yes, you may need some support staying on track and reminding yourself of these ideas and tips, but they really do work.
Don't let society brain wash you in to thinking you have to lose weight quickly. Lose it slow, without going from one extreme to the next and really care about how you treat your body. Doing this will give you the true end results of a healthy, fit body (not just a lower number on the scale).
 
We are offering so many programs to help move towards breaking the cycle of our "All or Nothing Attitude". If you need support with getting happy and healthy physically and mentally when it comes to weight loss, please email or call us. Our Get Real Lifestyle program is now being offered one on one. This program is designed to help educate you more thoroughly in the topics above, while supporting you daily to meet your long term goals.
 
This is a choice. You do have to choose how you want to lose weight, how you want to live your life and what your idea of true happiness is. We are all different. Decide what truly makes you happy and set goals to get you there.
 

Kim2bfit, LLC
3031 Landover Blvd.
Spring Hill, Fl 34608
352-428-6368

kim@kim2bfit.com
herson@kim2bfit.com
www.kim2bfit.com