With warmer months coming, it is natural to turn thoughts towards losing weight, and it’s also natural to wonder how weight loss works and how it can work for you. Read on for more information on how to get started losing weight, the health benefits, and making it work for you.
Get Started
It starts with a goal. What do you want to achieve from your weight loss? For some people, it’s about the numbers on a scale, but there are several non-scale goals or victories that are often more accurate measures of health.
- Fit into a particular article of clothing
- Complete a particular workout or exercise routine with greater ease and speed or intensity improvements.
- Higher energy levels
- Better sleep quality
- Greater ability to do what you love without tiring or aching
Whatever it is you want to achieve from your weight loss, getting started means having specific goals in place, so you have something to help provide motivation.
Commit to It
Write down your goals and what steps you plan on taking to accomplish those goals. Having a written plan helps to keep the goal in mind and solidifies your commitment. It not only provides a place to start but serves as a reference point if you start to feel your motivation lag.
Mindful Eating
Keeping a food journal goes a long way to understanding where your calories are coming from. It helps to know where you can reduce your intake of sugar, calories, or fat. Knowing where your calories are coming from allows you to discover ways to make healthy substitutions, so when you go to reach for that mid-morning snack, you can reach for something else you enjoy but that doesn’t contribute negatively to your health.
Replace a meal with a protein shake that provides your minerals and vitamins without providing all the extra calories, fats, and sugars. Often, people eat unhealthy breakfast options like a doughnut or something else equally processed because they are in a hurry.
Life is busy. Some days you don’t have time to prepare any meal, let alone a healthy one, which makes eating healthy and shedding unwanted pounds a challenge.
Sunwarrior understands that busy lifestyle, which is why they have developed Lean Meal to help you create healthy habits and assist with your weight management goals. Lean Meal provides essential vitamins and minerals while also providing fat-burning energy that supports weight management and gut health. It’s a great-tasting way to keep moving in the fast lane with a meal that allows you to scoop up, shake up, drink up, and go without sacrificing your nutrition and health. 
Move Your Body
To say that you’re going to exercise more is not a specific enough goal to be achievable. But having a goal to walk for twenty minutes a day is not only specific, but most people can find twenty minutes in a day to accomplish the task. And then make sure you put it in your schedule. It’s not always enough to say that you will walk for a specific amount of time. But to say that you will do it at ten in the morning means that you already have it in your schedule so that the day can’t get away from you.
Little Losses: Big Benefits
People can view seemingly small losses as a sign that they aren’t succeeding. But nothing is further from the truth. If a two-hundred-pound man loses ten pounds, he may not have reached the goal he had set for himself, but he reduced the strain on his system significantly. Small amounts or modest weight loss can reduce your risk of certain chronic diseases and can provide huge benefits in lowering blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar1. Managing those small weight losses so the pounds stay off is an important part of maintaining health.
Know Where to go for Support
Lifestyle changes that have an impact on your day-to-day meals and movement go better when you have a good support system. If one of your goals is to walk for a specific amount of time three times a week, maybe one of your family members or friends would want to do this with you. It gives you a fantastic health benefit, and it boosts your relationships as you spend time with your loved ones. If one of your goals is to replace a meal with a healthy shake or other alternative, then make sure you have family members are on board. If your family is expecting you to prepare the sort of meals that you normally make, they might be disappointed by the alternative. Or if they normally do the food prep and create their typical fare for you, they might be left feeling sad because you’re eating something different.
For a great snack replacement, try these no-bake protein bars!
No-Bake Protein Bars
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup nut butter
- ¾ cup Sunwarrior Lean Meal Vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup agave nectar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4–6 ounces melted vegan chocolate chips
Optional toppings
- Chia seeds
- Coconut flakes, goji berries or goji berry powder
Directions
Except for the melted chocolate chips, stir all ingredients together in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Press dough into a lined 8X8 pan, cover with melted chocolate chips, top with any desired toppings, and chill in refrigerator. Cut into rectangles and enjoy!
- https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/guidelines/ob_gdlns.pdf
