I’ve always been an active person, but when I gained 15 pounds after getting an IUD, I had to get real about my diet and workouts. I hired a personal trainer at Equinox, and remarkably, she didn’t tell me to download a calorie-counting app or work me until I dropped. Her tips for weight loss proved to be practical and therefore achievable. I lost four percent body fat in three months and felt stronger than I ever have in my life. I now can squat and deadlift my weight! I can fit in my skinny jeans again. The thing is . . . I did have to makes some big changes to my daily routine to lose the weight, and now there’s no going back.
1. Strength Train With Cardio
Before Equinox, yoga was my main form of exercise. Though I was going five days a week, I didn’t feel like I was getting stronger. Enter my personal trainer. She recommended strength training as my number one priority followed by cardio. I strength trained two to three times a week and did cardio two times a week (usually on the StairMaster). For my active rest days, I did yoga or Pilates two times a week. I also started walking an upward of seven miles several days a week.
2. Challenge Myself at Every Workout
My trainer encouraged me to increase the weight I lifted almost every week, even just a smidge, like two pounds. I resisted at first. After all, over the holidays, I broke a capillary in my eye from lifting too much weight. However, my trainer started me out with low weights and slowly increased the amount. I surprised myself by how quickly I was able to keep up and even found myself asking for more. The same rule here applies for cardio, yoga, and Pilates. I find a little way to challenge myself each time, whether it is increasing the mileage, holding side plank for longer, or perfecting my 100 series with straight legs.
3. Cut Out Sugar
Working out is only part of the equation. Diet is even more important, my trainer told me. I had to break my sugar addiction. I decided to stop cold turkey: no sugar, honey, agave, etc. Though some people say it’s the worst thing ever, saying “no” to sugar countless times throughout the day helped me feel strong, like I was in charge – not my cravings. I also had to pay attention to nutrition labels and avoid anything with more than four grams of sugar. Dried fruit, as it turns out, is a sugar bomb! As are…
No comments:
Post a Comment