5 Secrets To How I Lost 35 Pounds in 4 Months

Deciding to go on a diet is one thing but actually going on that diet and sticking to it is another. When you feel like you have to dramatically change your lifestyle to go on that diet, it makes maintaining the diet next to impossible. Why do you think so many diets fail?

Well, guess what. You don’t have to dramatically change your life. I’ve been there and I felt I was never going to get the weight off. I was going to the gym 5 times a week but I was not seeing my weight drop.

In this blog post, I am going to tell you 5 secrets that helped me lose weight, lose the weight FAST (and let’s be honest, that’s what we all want), keep it off and not have to turn my life and eating habits upside down. It’s so discouraging.

· How I lost 35 Pounds in 4 Months

· The Don’t – Dos When Trying to Lose Weight

· How Your Hormones Effect Your Weight

· How to Enjoy Eating

· How To Create A Custom Meal Plan That Works For You

· How Is Sleep Affecting My Weight

So if you are tired of the same ole boring diet, trying to stick to the boring diet and still not see the weight loss, you are in the right place, friend. Today! Today we are going to work together and get you to your desired weight once and for all. The best part…it can happen FAST.

We are all about instant gratification, right now results with the world we live in. We are always comparing ourselves to others and boy is that a downer. Well, let’s be the ones that other people look at and say, “They look amazing! How did they do it?”

How I Lost 35 Pounds in 4 Months

I have always been a thin person. I think I was in high school before I weighed over 100 pounds. Let’s face it ladies, having kids will change your body. With my daughter (whose now 5), I dropped the “baby weight” in a crazy quick amount of time. With my son (whose now 3), I wasn’t so luck.

When he was 5 months old, I couldn’t take it and committed to changing. So, there I was, in the gym 5 days a week for an hour plus each visit. This went on and on and on and guess what, the scale wasn’t changing. I tried to tell myself, “You’re trading fat for muscle and muscle weighs more.” I did this for 2 ½ years. A girlfriend of mine from the gym, who is a physician, I casually mentioned this to her. Not knowing my complete medical history, she told me to start by having my hormones checked.

I went to my doctor and wanted all the tests and labs done because I had convinced myself something was wrong. Not because my girlfriend said so, but she let me know, it could be more. There’s no reason I shouldn’t be losing weight. I actually had one doctor tell me, “You need to accept the fact that this is 40 and you just need to deal with it.” I was heartbroken because for one, I wasn’t 40 yet (lol) but I wasn’t going to “accept it” and I wasn’t going to “deal with it”. I was disappointed that my own physician basically said to suck it up and get over it.

The Don’t – Dos When Trying to Lose Weight

There are so many dos and don’ts when it comes to weight loss. So many that you get confused on what you can do, what’s good for you and what’s not good for you. I go in detail in my blog post 9 Easy Don’t Dos When Trying to Lose Weight, I dive in to your “Cheat-Day”, Fruit & Carbs and much more.

How Your Hormones Effect Your Weight

When you think weight gain, your mind typically goes to overeating / eating poorly, little to not exercise. That isn’t always the case. I was in a similar situation. I was working out all the time but not seeing any change. When I asked for my hormones to be checked, I did notice a few small things. My estrogen was a little high but nothing that was “abnormal” according to my doctor. It took my own research to ask why and how my hormones might be affecting my weight loss.

I was able to change habits in my life that helped with my estrogen but let that weight fall off in the process. In my blog, I talk in detail about the hormones Leptin, Cortisol, Estrogen and more that can affect you and ways to change it for the better.

How to Enjoy Eating

If you hate “healthy” food, chances are, it wasn’t cooked right or with flavors you don’t like. I am very picky about salt. As in, I want none. Lol. So, when I eat out, I often get foods that have so much salt that my tongue starts to burn.

I have an uncle who, when he met my aunt, would not eat a single vegetable. I’m not exaggerating. Corn? Nope. Brussels sprouts? Are you kidding me? Green beans? In your dreams. It was strictly meat and potatoes. You can only do that so many times and like some carbs are good but not if that is considered your “vegetable”. I dive into this topic further in my blog post, 9 Easy Don’t Do when Trying To Lose Weight, my aunt went to work swearing she could change him. Did you laugh at that last sentence? I did as I was writing it. Changing a man…yeah right. Well, let’s stay, they are happily married and have been together nearly 20 years. Did she go back to meat and potatoes? No! You guessed it, she changed him. The reason he didn’t like vegetables was based on how they were prepared. It truly was that simple.

Here are some examples. Stop buying vegetables that are in the can. Buy fresh! Did somebody boil some broccoli and not only tasted bad but smelled God awful? Try roasting it in the oven with a few spices. Eating another spinach salad make you feel nauseated? Saute it with a little garlic.

Changing the way you prepare food will not only teach you new ways to cook but it opens a whole new world of food possibilities. I have been using HomeChef.com for years and as I write this, I have cooked over 300 meals with them. You ought to check them out. Keep reading to find out a little more about them.

Have a sweet tooth? If you are anything like me, chances are you do. Keep away from cookies, cakes, pies, brownies, etc. Hear me out, replace it with some fruit. I know you are probably turning your nose up, but fruit will satisfy that sweet tooth.

The key to success and for long-lasting changes, baby steps. Don’t try and do everything at once because all that will do is push you right back to old habits and you will be right back to where you are now.

Check out my blog posts called, 10 Ways How To Enjoy Eating While Losing Weight and I give you some great tips.

How To Create A Custom Meal Plan

That Works For You

Trying to think about cooking a meal when you’ve been at work all day can seem like agony at times. Then what happens? We run though a fast-food place or pick up pizza on the way home. Using a company like ThriveMarket.com orHomeChef.com has been life changing.

Thrive Marketis an online grocery store that offers up to 30% off the highest quality in their 5000+ grocery items. The have foods for all types of diet / diet restrictions fromVegan, Gluten Free, Organic, Non-GMO, or Paleo. Right now, they are offering 30% off and a FREE gift on your first purchase or you can get $60 in FREE groceries with your first order.Thrive Market will also give an additional 5-10% off when you sign up for auto-ship on your groceries. You can get things from snacks or groceries for your at home meals. This is great for meal prepping!

With Home Chef, you fill out a tiny questionnaire about foods you like, don’t like, diet restrictions, etc. and they will create weekly meals for you. You don’t have to be an expert cook because they have meals for all levels. They allow you to pick how many meals you want in a week and how many servings. They are all pre-portions and have all the ingredients included. Some of the meals are you taking the entire contents out of the bag and putting in a baking dish (which they provide) and bake it. From start to finish you can have a meal ready in 30 minutes or less.

Home Chef also is thoughtful enough to create meals for working people. So, if you are trying to avoid that drive through on your lunch break, order some of Home Chef’s lunch meals / meals for one. Lastly, they are offering 50% off your first 4 boxes which totals 18 FREE meals.

If you are interested in meal prepping, take a look at my blog post Can Meal Prepping Be Made Easy? The Short Answer is YES and I can Show You How and I will walk you through it.

How Is Sleep Affecting My Weight

Sleep can be taken for granted. Your body needs sleep to recover from the day. When you sleep your brain is forming connections that help your short- and long-term memory.

Did you know that you need an average of 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night? When you are getting less than 7 hours of sleep, your hormones are affected. The ones that make you feel full and the ones that are hunger-stimulating.

I think we’ve all seen the Taco Bell commercial where they are known for the “4th Meal”. They are targeting those who don’t sleep with food. The midnight snack is the same thing.

When we are missing out on sleep, our stress levels go up and once again, those stress levels cause us to gain weight. I have written a blog that is specifically addresses sleep and I go into detail about why it’s some important and how to actually get a good night’s sleep. 6 Ways Sleep Can Affect Your Health and How To Get A Good Night’s Sleep

As I wrap this up, I want you to know that you are not alone in your lose weight journey. It can be done, and it can be done without having to sacrifice your entire lifestyle. Take a deep breath, don’t let it overwhelm you and read through my blog posts so that my journey can help yours. I did all the hard work, guess work and research for you.

Daily Burn is an online streaming company where you can workout from home. It’s 30 days risk FREE. Also, here are a couple digital scales (1)and digital scale (2) that will calculate more than just your body weight and some workout resistance bandsand workout resistance band with handlesthat are great for your home workouts. And finally, I am linking a few cookbooks that are great to help jumpstart your weight loss journey.