To most, making the decision to finally lose weight after months or years of dragging the load around is a life changing decision. Anything that requires hard work is, but unlike others, deciding to shave off some of the weight not only changes how you will look physically but also shows you how your outlook in life has also changed.
Regardless, you have to remember that losing weight is not an overnight success story. It is a journey; a marathon of sorts which will require you to work harder than ever before forcing you to make changes along the way.
Ever heard of how it is easy to gain weight but how difficult it to lose them? Then you better have, because once you experience it first hand, you will realize that how much they downplayed the entire thing.
With that being said, here are some of nine things that you should expect to happen along your road to weight loss.
A Reinvention of your Social Activities
It is a norm in modern society that social interaction mainly involves dining out with friends or watching a movie at home with a plethora of food surrounding your group. Sometimes, it may even involve having a few drinks at a bar or a pub somewhere. However, that was before you decided to start losing weight.
Now that you have arrived to this decision, your social activities need to be reinvented in a way that will help you achieve that goal.
An important part of this reinvention will be the friends that surround you and that is why it is important that you tell them of your plans and maybe, if possible, get them hooked to the weight loss train. That way, you will have somebody to work out with or plan active social activities together. In fact, it is highly recommended that you have an exercise buddy with you to keep you motivated; to drive each other to do more.
Your View of Food Portions Will Change
Food is often taken for granted in the weight loss department especially among those who just started not knowing that if they become to complacent with their food intake, they are more likely to reggress to their normal eating habits.
The biggest trouble you will have, especially during the beginning, is how to portion your food according to the correct size according to what you are aiming for. Some suggest that it is good to stop when you have eaten 80 percent of what you normally have on a normal day and then wait for 20 minutes because it takes this amount of time for your brain to process that you are already full.
It is all about knowing your limit. After those, come the results.
Away with the Old and In with the New
After months of hard work, the results will show. Your weight is nowhere near where it was once especially if you compare it to your pre-workout days. The difference will be impeccable.
This is the point in your weight loss journey that you start rewarding yourself, but unlike before, you treat yourself with new set of clothes and pants rather than food. A complete overhaul of your wardrobe closet.
Casual clothes are a given, but do not forget about your gym clothes as well. In fact, according to Peeke, wearing new gym clothes that highlight your new physique may act as a motivator to do more work. It is a matter of sustainability rather than just solely being able to feel good in your own skin.
You Will Become the Talk of the Town
With the new you out in public, people will start talking about you. Most will admire how much you have changed. However, there will be some who will be jealous. You just have to ignore what the latter thinks. Instead, use it as fuel to motivate yourself even more.
You Will Peak
Eventually, you will hit a dead end in your weight loss program. You will notice how your body just would not lose any more weight regardless of how you prolong each session out.
Do not worry because this is perfectly normal for anyone who goes through the process of losing weight. Anyone who religiously exercises will experience a rapid decrease in their weight during the early stages of the program. Once you hit your plateau, all you really have to do is change gears with your program by increasing its intensity, and not be too concerned with its duration.
During this stage in your weight loss journey, all you will have to do is push through it. Break down the wall if you have to.
Forming a Strong Relationship with Vegetables
Just like how your relationship with food changed at the beginning of the journey, at this stage, your interaction with food must have started to evolve in a way that it is parasitic because only you will be benefiting from the relationship. This is the time when you find the glory of eating vegetables.
Like many of the stages at this point of your weight loss program, this stage will be geared towards sustainability. Vegetables is the perfect food with that aim in mind because it is rich in various nutrients and is low in calories making sure that fat build up is less likely to happen.
In addition, vegetables also help increase fiber content in your body thus helps with proper digestion. Of course, you have to pair it with a good amount of hydration in order to avoid constipation because that would be counterproductive.
You Will Learn to Prepare Your Own Food
As you may have noticed by now, it is your relationship with food that changes drastically throughout the journey and by this point you should be capable of managing them according to your needs.
It is during this time when Meal Prep Monday comes up.
The idea of Meal Prep Monday is basically preparing an entire week’s worth of food because the aim of this is to ensure that you are able to prepare your own food. This ensures that you are able to control what goes into your food while controlling how much of each ingredient is being mixed into each meal. However, not everyone has the time to cook every meal every time. So, preparing them ahead of time is important.
Acknowledge that it is the Best Decision You Ever Made
At this point, you have changed yourself for the better. Not only have you improved in your physical appearance but you will also feel the benefits of the healthier you. In addition, all the changes and sacrifices that you made throughout has become a routine, throwing away all the bad habits you once had.
To sum it up, you will realize that starting this journey not only was the best decision, but also changed you entirely.
Big life decisions normally entails sacrifices along the way and when it involves having to lose weight, expect it to be difficult. The many habits that you have to change may be heartbreaking. Other times, it involves taking away something that you love doing entirely. However, with determination and discipline, the end result will all be worth it.
