Stop Dieting And Start Living!

As you have read before, I'm a strong supporter that weight loss and fat loss is achieved first through proper nutrition. In fact, this past week I went into "full contest mode" for a transformation contest that I'm apart of, and because of my changes to nutrition (with no changes to my workout), I ended up losing weight and fat at a much more accelerated rate than ever before. That's proof that nutrition is at the forefront of proper dieting. However, today in this article I would like to talk about just that....dieting.

Listen, you may have a goal to lose a few inches, maybe to lose some pounds, or maybe to build muscle, but you have to have the right mindset when going into your plan to reach those goals.

The right mindset is the "lifestyle change" mindset instead of the "diet and forget it" mindset. Don't diet JUST to reach your goals. Eat healthy and exercise for life.....hence "lifestyle".

I learned the hard way to treat eating right and exercise as something to do on a permanent basis. With me starting and stopping on diets, I ended up with bigger problems (excessive weight gain, borderline depression, etc.) down the line.

When you prepare to start your plan to reach your goals, I recommend that you prepare to stick with your plan...for life. This is one of the many reasons why I highly urge you to avoid fad diets, low carb diets, low fat diets, and severely low calorie diets. Those types of diets will cause dramatic and unsafe weight loss. Those are plans you can not stay on permanently....and better yet, at all! Your body is not stupid. Once you start depriving it of things you are SUPPOSED to get, i.e., healthy fats, minimal amount of carbs, and a proper amount of calories daily, your body will make you pay! How? A slower metabolism (which will cause your body to store calories as fat) and several other health concerns.

When you begin your plan to improve your health and body, do yourself and your body a favor and don't approach this as some type of short term diet plan, approach it as a smart lifestyle change.

A healthy lifestyle should consist of:

• Getting Proper Nutrition (Protein, fiber, complex carbs, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals)
• Drinking Plenty Of Water (Drink 1/2 your bodyweight in ounces)
• Sleep (Get no less than 7 and no more than 8 hours of sleep every night)
• Exercise (Do BOTH cardiovascular and weight training exercise to effectively burn off fat, lose weight, and build lean muscle)
• Never, ever, never, ever skip breakfast!
  
• Eat Frequently (By breaking your healthy meals up into 4-6 small healthy meals daily, you'll be able to stop hunger, stop cravings, and boost your metabolism to burn fat fast) The from the popular diet program, will create a nutritinoal plan that is based around eating frequently through out the day and also to "shift" the calories from the food you eat to burn fat even faster. Check out my review of this diet plan
• Stay away from "stupid calories". Stupid calories are empty calories that do nothing but add onto your daily calorie intake with no good nutritional value. Examples of stupid calories would be soft drinks and other high calorie beverages.
  
• Keep a food journal. By keeping a food journal you will be albe to easily monitor what it is you eat daily. Also, it will keep you motivated seeing the progress and the consistency with your plan.
  
• Supplements (STAY AWAY FROM DIET PILLS) (Supplements I highly recommend for anyone is fish oil, green tea extract, and a multivitamin. There may be other safe supplements you could take based on your situation and your goals. For example, I do a lot of weight training and play basketball, so I take a supplement to help me with my joints.)

Remember, proper nutrition and exercise is not only to build a better body externally, it's also to build a better body internally. So, if you are on a mission to either lose weight, burn fat, or build lean muscle, do your body a favor and stick to living a healthier