How to Motivate Yourself When You Are Trying to Lose Weight

Losing weight involves changing your diet, adhering to a strict exercise routine, and resisting the temptation to eat high-calorie food. While following this routine is essential for a person determined to lose a significant amount of weight, it is sometimes challenging to keep yourself motivated for a long time especially if you do not seem to be making any progress in your weight loss treatment. Lack of motivation will automatically delay your plans to shed off the extra weight and in worst cases cause some weight gain if not checked in time.  Luckily, motivation is something you can work towards improving using the following ways.

Define your Reasons for Losing Weight

Most people will jump into a weight loss program without defining proper reasons for embarking on the journey. Everyone has their reasons for losing weight, but you have to point them out and write them down before starting your routine. Some of the reasons include fitting in your favourite dinner dress, reducing your risk of getting high blood pressure, or looking your best for an upcoming event. Taking a quick look at them on a daily basis will keep you motivated for a very long time.

Develop a Plan

Every activity requires proper planning for it to succeed, and losing weight is no exempt. Therefore, you should develop clear-cut goals of what you intend to achieve and how you will achieve. This includes both long-term and short-term goals. For example, you can consider losing at least 2 pounds per week and eventually 10% of your body fat percentage in three months. Your exercise routine should also fit your lifestyle to ensure you stick to it for a long time without giving up.

Reward yourself after Reaching a Milestone

Positive reinforcement is a perfect way of keeping your attitude high for a very long time. You can choose to take a bubble bath every time you lose two pounds or go to the movies after achieving your monthly targets. Taking pride in your achievements and celebrating them is not only going to raise your spirits, but it will keep the fire burning for a very long time.

Visualizing how you would Look after Weight Loss

Take a short mind trip and try to imagine yourself wearing that dinner dress that you have been eyeing for long. Creating a hypothetical situation of the person you would like to become will automatically help you align your behaviour according to the perfect image in your mind. It will also keep you motivated towards achieving your weight loss goals. However, you should avoid comparing yourself to others at all costs if you want to make significant weight changes.

Motivation to achieve and a positive attitude towards the weight loss is all you need to attain your goals. Weight loss is a personal journey that involves a lot of effort and discipline. Some people will fall out of the way at some point, but it is easy to stay on track by following all tips above. Remember everyone’s body is unique and what works for another person may not work for you, so you should find a weight loss program that suit you best.

5 Ways to Lose Weight and Reduce Your Body Fat Percentage

Did you know that a high body fat percentage could be putting you at risk of getting chronic diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes type 2? An average body fat percentage stands at 22-33 percent and 11-22 percent for women and men respectively. Anything above this is considered unhealthy for your body, and you should work towards losing it in all ways possible. Weight loss treatment is a gradual journey that requires incorporating different methods for good results. Therefore, we are going to discuss five ideas that will help you lose weight and reduce body fat percentage.

High-Intensity Work Out and Strength Training.
Losing your body fat involves a series of cardio and strength training exercises. Cardio training is essential to burning calories while strength training builds muscles responsible for metabolism. Different cardio exercises such as cycling, running, skipping rope or rock climbing for at least 30 minutes 2-3 times per week will help you lose the excess body fat. You can combine this with strength training exercises such as lunges, squats, lateral raises, and hamstring curls to ensure you are building muscles while at the same time losing fat.

Eat a Balanced Diet
You should aim at consuming approximately 1200 calories per day to prevent malnutrition and losing lean muscle mass. Your diet should consist of proteins, low-carb vegetables, and a fat source. High proteins such as meats, eggs, seafood will help build and repair body tissues and increase your satiety levels. This means you are less likely to snack on high-calorie content food that would increase the amount of fat in the body within days. Low carb food also contains a high level of vitamins, fibre, and minerals responsible for the proper functioning of the body. You also require whole grains and fats such as Omega 3 fatty acids, avocado and olive oil for the energy production.

Keep Track Of Your Diet
Intake of processed foods, sugary, and refined carbs such as ice cream, candies, and potato chips is hurting your weight loss efforts. Therefore, you should consider substituting them with fruits, whole grains that have a lower calorie content and do not take longer to digest. Tracking your daily calorie intake protects you from consuming more calories than you can burn in a day hence minimising the amount of stored fat in the body.

Get Adequate Sleep
Being awake for extended hours increases your chances of overeating and gaining more weight. Additionally, the body is wired to retain more fat to keep up with the increased demand to run various actions for an extended period.  Therefore, you should allow yourself plenty of sleep for at least 8 hours every day to help the body repair the cells spent throughout the day and build new muscles.

Drink a lot of Water
Hydrating with water instead of sweetened juices, alcohol, or soda will save you a few calories that your body stores as fat. Additionally, the brain interprets thirst and hunger signals as one, so you should consider taking a glass of water first before bringing on a full packet of snacks. It is also advisable to take a glass of water at least 30 minutes before a meal to minimise the chances of overeating and increasing the metabolism rate in the body.

High body fat percentage does not only lower your life expectancy, but it can cause other cognitive issues such as poor decision-making and low self-esteem. Burning excess fat in your body involves different weight loss treatment methods, which you should be ready to incorporate into your lifestyle for a successful weight loss program in singapore. Remember that weight loss is not only about adding cosmetic value, but it also lowers your risk of getting diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and other heart-related conditions.

4 Ways to Fight Through Your Weight Loss Plateaus

Congratulations! You just managed to lose about 5 or 10 pounds after a few weeks of a workout. Suddenly, your weight loss efforts seem to have come to a halt, and the scales do not budge an ounce even after maintaining a healthy diet and a workout routine. If you are having such an experience in your weight loss journey, then you are in a phase known as a weight plateau. Everyone who has ever been in one of the best weight loss programs in singapore has witnessed a weight plateau after a few weeks of progressive weight loss. Fortunately, you can conquer it by following some of the tips below.

Increase your Protein Intake
Working out will not only lower fat levels in the body, but it will also get rid of a significant amount of muscle mass. Proteins are excellent bodybuilders, and their intake helps in building the muscles destroyed during your weight loss regimen. The increase of the body’s muscle mass will automatically improve your body’s metabolism and restore your weight loss journey back to normal. Additionally, proteins are satiating hence reducing your chances of binging on caloric food.

Have Enough Sleep and Rest
Lack of enough sleep triggers the production of leptin and ghrelin hormone. Leptin hormone is responsible for the feelings of satiety in the body while ghrelin alerts your body when you fall into a hunger state. Lack of enough sleep lowers your leptin levels and makes your ghrelin hormone spike hence causing you to overeat throughout the day. This will automatically lead to a significant weight gain or a stagnation on your weight. Sleeping for 7-8 hours per night also allows the body to repair the worn out tissues and develop new muscles responsible for the body metabolism.

Take your Daily Exercise a Notch Higher
Are you sweating it out during your daily workouts? If you are not, then that could be the reason for the sudden halt in your weight loss. You also need to use different types of exercise to avoid situations where your body becomes familiar with your usual routine. You can never go wrong with High-Intensity Interval Training (HILT) training involves exercise such as running, cycling, or jumping ropes with short resting periods. It exercise requires high energy levels, meaning that your body will actively burn fat even after the training to keep the body’s energy levels at an optimum level.

Check Your Sodium Intake
Sodium is a giant water magnet in the body, and high levels of the mineral could be the reason for your weight loss plateau. A large percentage of your body weight comprises of water and fat, so high levels of sodium could be hurting your efforts to lose all that water. Majority of the sodium consumed in foods comes from your favourite snacks. Therefore, it is time you stay away from that box of mac and cheese or even the sweet stuff if you want to get rid of your weight loss plateau.

Weight loss plateau is the main reason why most people gain some few pounds shortly after losing them. However, it would not be fair if you suddenly regained back all the weight after following one of the best weight loss programs in Singapore. Therefore, do not give up on your journey if your weighing machine does not move an ounce even after a few days of exercising, following a strict diet and making changes to your lifestyle. You will eventually conquer the stagnation by adopting a few changes to your usual routine.

3 Common Health Issues that are Linked to Obesity

Obesity is increasingly becoming a serious health issue in Singapore and other countries in the world. The condition is not only a cosmetic problem, but it poses a risk of other chronic medical conditions that increase your chances of dying at an early age. Your body requires approximately 2000 calories if you are a woman and 2500 calories for men on a daily basis. Taking fewer calories than that will lead to malnutrition while any extra calorie above the optimum amount is stored in the body as fat leading to weight gain and eventually obesity. You can burn this stored fat through enrolling in the best weight loss program in singapore.

A body mass index above 25 indicated you are overweight and this could lead to obesity if it raises to 30. Therefore, you should consider checking on your diet and following a strict workout routine instead of watching it raise above 30 or even 40. Carrying extra pounds than your body can handle automatically exposes you to serious health risks including:

High Blood Pressure and Other Heart Related Diseases
Your heart is responsible for supplying blood to other organs in the body to ensure they are working correctly. Therefore, a slight increase in the body mass will cause the heart to work twice as hard to pump blood all over the body.  Additionally, cholesterol build up in the arteries makes it hard for them to supply blood to other parts of the body. This would lead to serious issues such as an enlarged heart, hypertension, stroke, chest pains, or even sudden heart failure. Losing a few pounds is all you need to improve the flow of blood to and from the cells and balance your body’s cholesterol levels.

Diabetes
Majority of people with diabetes type 2 are obese. Your risk of getting diabetes is even higher if you are pear shaped or you come from a family with a history if getting the disease. Diabetes type 2 happens when the cells develop resistance to insulin- the hormone in charge of controlling the blood sugar level in the body. A fluctuation in the blood sugar levels would easily end up being fatal in your body hence the need to keep them balanced.  High blood sugar levels lead to other health problems such as kidney failure, heart diseases, or blindness. You should, therefore, work on losing your weight and maintaining it at healthy levels through a strict diet and attending the best weight loss program in Singapore to reduce the effects the disease.

Cancer
Obesity and sedentary living are the causes of a high percentage of cancer cases in the world. Thousands of people are getting different types of cancers every year, but the risk is higher for the obese people. Therefore, maintaining optimum weight will lower the chances of getting cancers such as uterine, breast, ovarian, and cervical cancer for women while men will also reduce the risk of getting prostate and colorectal cancer. Other types of cancers linked to obesity include gallbladder, kidney, and colon. Obesity will always disrupt the insulin levels and other hormones such as estrogen whose imbalance may lead to complex health problems in the body.

Maintain your body weight at healthy levels is all you need to protect yourself from all the diseases above and medical conditions such as depression, osteoarthritis, gout, and sleep apnea among others. There are best weight loss programs in Singapore that will help you cut down all the pounds you need to remain healthy while at the same time following a nutritious diet. Therefore, you should not put yourself at risk of getting one of these chronic illnesses above while you can do something to prevent them.