Monday, February 24, 2020

6 Simple Ways to Boost Your Energy Levels

You wake up tired in the morning, and find yourself fading even more by the afternoon. You wonder what it would take for you to have more energy. Boost your energy with these six simple tips:

1. Walk for 10 Minutes
That’s all it takes to put a little more pep in your step: Scientists at California State University found a brisk 10-minute walk ups your energy levels and sustains it for two hours. And if you feel inspired, other research shows upping your walk to 20 minutes a few days a week can decrease fatigue by up to 65 percent.

10 Reasons to Go For a Walk Today

2. Step Outside
Just being in nature makes people feel more alive, finds a series of studies published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.

3. Skip the Vending Machine
Eating potato chips, pretzels, and any other of those highly-processed snack food options causes blood sugar to spike and then crash. When blood sugar drops, energy levels fall as well—plus, you’ll be hungry again in no time. A better afternoon snack contains a combo of protein, fiber and carbs for long-lasting energy, like a handful of nuts and fruit or whole grain crackers and low-fat cheese.

How to Beat a Sweet Treat Craving

4. Breathe Slow and Deep
It’s an easy way to diffuse stress—a main cause of both physical and mental exhaustion. Close your eyes and for two minutes, focus all your attention on your breathing. Concentrate on feeling and listening as you inhale and exhale through your nostrils.

5. Drink Water
If your body is short on fluids, one of the first signs is a feeling of fatigue. Water is essential to your energy and metabolism up. To find out how much you should you drink per day, click here:

How to Drink More Water

6. Unplug 30 Minutes Before Bed
That means your tablet, laptop, smart phone and any other electronic gadget that messes with sleep you need. Not only does checking emails or surfing the web make it harder to relax and unwind before bed, but the blue light emitted by screens suppresses the production of the sleep-hormone melatonin, making it harder to fall and stay asleep.

The post 6 Simple Ways to Boost Your Energy Levels appeared first on The Leaf.

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Should I feel guilty for binge eating once in a while?

I hosted a barbecue party last night and I binged on bread. I ate other things, but mainly bread. I ate what I felt like eating and drank a little alcohol too, though I don't binge on it. I have been eating healthy for a month now and I've already lost nearly 10 lbs. I don't intend to stop now, or ever. I am currently 224 lbs and want to reach a healthy weight of 150 lbs. I know it will take time and I am down for it. I don't feel bad for last night, I kept logging my food and I knew I was overeating, but I wanted to do it because I was having fun with my friends. I was mindful and I decided to do what I did. But in the back of my mind I keep thinking, should I feel bad for this? What is your take on binge eating during weight loss or maintenance phase? Of course, I'm not saying binge eating every week, but once every month or two. I'm truly open to different points of view.

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Possible to lose weight without running?

I am aware this may be a silly question. However, I've never had a great relationship with my body-I've either obsessed over it and been driven to excessive, unpleasant cardio and restrictive food, or stared at it and been very upset over how I looked but not done anything about it. I finally decided I want to yes, maybe lose some weight but prioritise happiness as I work on my health.

I'm worried because so many people-both here, on instagram, around me etc seem to regularly go for runs as part of their fitness routine. Now, I really really dislike running. Intensely. I love things like soccer, or netball, or sports involving running, but can't bring myself to just trek around a park for 30 minutes. I love weights, at-home workouts or strength training. I'm just wondering-running is not a necessity for weight loss/a healthy lifestyle? I'm looking yes to be a little smaller, but also stronger, more flexible, and my weight is something I don't have to worry about so much.

This may be obvious but I've always struggled with social media and self-judgement so hopefully by asking you guys will finally make me feel better. Thanks!

TLDR; irrational fear I 'have' to run to lose weight. Wondering if this is true, or if there is alternatives e.g strength training, targeted workouts at home/in a gym that work just as well?

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Braces and Losing It?

So, I’m getting braces put on this week and I’m wondering how I’m going to manage my calorie intake with the inevitable change in my eating habits.

Right now, I tend to eat frequent, lower calorie meals with lots of bulk from vegetables and fiberous foods. I expect I won’t be able to keep this routine going as I don’t have any interest in cleaning my braces out post-eating six times per day. So, I’m curious whether I’ll have an easier time sticking to budget as I can’t randomly snack as much. Or, whether I’ll have a harder time as I deal with increased hunger from reduced volumes of vegetables and other crunchy things.

Anyone go through this and have thoughts or comments?

Also, in the spirit of non-weight loss related discussion, any words of wisdom for an adult, first-time wearer of braces?

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Are you more likely to have loose skin after rapid weight GAIN?

23 year-old male, 180cm/5'11". I was a little bit on the overweight side already (87kg/192lbs), but in early 2018, I gained about 28kg/61lbs in less than 6 months, bringing me up to 115kg/254lbs. I'd estimate I gained it in about 4 months. I have (now faded) stretchmarks from it. I gained a further 6kg/13lbs more gradually between late 2018 and mid 2019.

On the 1st of July 2019, I started my weight loss journey, which has involved fundamentally changing my relationship with food and consuming practically none of the things that made me fat. Today, I'm about 92kg/203lbs, with my current preliminary goal being to get under 80kg/176lbs.

So I'm young, I'd been losing the weight at the rate of 1kg/2lbs per week (though it's slowed down this year), I didn't carry all that extra weight for long, but I did gain it fast originally and receive stretchmarks from the rapid weight gain. I've also noticed that my skin is definitely looser now than the last time I was this weight.

Do my chances of not having much residual loose skin look good? Or is gaining the weight rapidly just as bad as losing it rapidly as it relates to loose skin?

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Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Monday, 24 February 2020? Start here!

Today is your Day 1?

Welcome to r/Loseit!

So you aren’t sure of how to start? Don’t worry! “How do I get started?” is our most asked question. r/Loseit has helped our users lose over 1,000,000 recorded pounds and these are the steps that we’ve found most useful for getting started.

Why you’re overweight

Our bodies are amazing (yes, yours too!). In order to survive before supermarkets, we had to be able to store energy to get us through lean times, we store this energy as adipose fat tissue. If you put more energy into your body than it needs, it stores it, for (potential) later use. When you put in less than it needs, it uses the stored energy. The more energy you have stored, the more overweight you are. The trick is to get your body to use the stored energy, which can only be done if you give it less energy than it needs, consistently.

Before You Start

The very first step is calculating your calorie needs. You can do that HERE. This will give you an approximation of your calorie needs for the day. The next step is to figure how quickly you want to lose the fat. One pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So to lose 1 pound of fat per week you will need to consume 500 calories less than your TDEE (daily calorie needs from the link above). 750 calories less will result in 1.5 pounds and 1000 calories is an aggressive 2 pounds per week.

Tracking

Here is where it begins to resemble work. The most efficient way to lose the weight you desire is to track your calorie intake. This has gotten much simpler over the years and today it can be done right from your smartphone or computer. r/loseit recommends an app like MyFitnessPal, Loseit! (unaffiliated), or Cronometer. Create an account and be honest with it about your current stats, activities, and goals. This is your tracker and no one else needs to see it so don’t cheat the numbers. You’ll find large user created databases that make logging and tracking your food and drinks easy with just the tap of the screen or the push of a button. We also highly recommend the use of a digital kitchen scale for accuracy. Knowing how much of what you're eating is more important than what you're eating. Why? This may explain it.

Creating Your Deficit

How do you create a deficit? This is up to you. r/loseit has a few recommendations but ultimately that decision is yours. There is no perfect diet for everyone. There is a perfect diet for you and you can create it. You can eat less of exactly what you eat now. If you like pizza you can have pizza. Have 2 slices instead of 4. You can try lower calorie replacements for calorie dense foods. Some of the communities favorites are cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash in place of their more calorie rich cousins. If it appeals to you an entire dietary change like Keto, Paleo, Vegetarian.

The most important thing to remember is that this selection of foods works for you. Sustainability is the key to long term weight management success. If you hate what you’re eating you won’t stick to it.

Exercise

Is NOT mandatory. You can lose fat and create a deficit through diet alone. There is no requirement of exercise to lose weight.

It has it’s own benefits though. You will burn extra calories. Exercise is shown to be beneficial to mental health and creates an endorphin rush as well. It makes people feel awesome and has been linked to higher rates of long term success when physical activity is included in lifestyle changes.

Crawl, Walk, Run

It can seem like one needs to make a 180 degree course correction to find success. That isn’t necessarily true. Many of our users find that creating small initial changes that build a foundation allows them to progress forward in even, sustained, increments.

Acceptance

You will struggle. We have all struggled. This is natural. There is no tip or trick to get through this though. We encourage you to recognize why you are struggling and forgive yourself for whatever reason that may be. If you overindulged at your last meal that is ok. You can resolve to make the next meal better.

Do not let the pursuit of perfect get in the way of progress. We don’t need perfect. We just want better.

Additional resources

Now you’re ready to do this. Here are more details, that may help you refine your plan.

Quick Start Guide - Build your foundation!
Loseit Compendium - Frame it out!
FAQ - Answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions!

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Today is the day!

It’s 2am in the morning here and I’m writing this post because I’m so excited to finally take responsibility for my recent excessive weight gain. I’m a 23yo 5’2”F sitting at 250lbs. The first goal is to drop at least 50 and then ideally I’d like to be at 160-170 as that is what I weighed in high school and looked/felt the healthiest. I’ve been battling self image issues since I was about 10. I have spent this past year doing hours and hours of so much research on health betterment/weight loss, but the thing is... I know exactly what got me to this weight (bad eating habits! although the depression and anxiety doesn’t help either) and I know exactly what I have to do going forward. I finally realized the only thing standing in between me and my goals is myself! And man was that one of the most enlightening moments of my life. Realizing that I am in control. I’m in the driver’s seat steering the wheel. I got this. And to anyone else in the same boat as I am, you got this too!

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