Thinking about how AWESOME you are going feel, how your health will finally be stable. No more knee aches, back aches, head aches due to weight loss! Thinking about how awesome you are going to look when you get to your goal! Thinking about all the cute CLOTHES you will wear, the new hair cut you are going to get, that bathing suit you have always dreamed of wearing will FINALLY be hanging in your closet and better yet looking awesome on your body! Ok! Great! You go to start your new lifestyle and realize...
WHAT DO I DO? HOW DO I GET STARTED?
Oh, well, I can help with that!
Now you are probably thinking, what does SHE know?! That's easy...
One word... SUCCESS!
The same success I want for EACH and every one of you! I want to be your tour guide through this complicated but REWARDING lifestyle.
I have to admit there is nothing that gets under my skin more than when people who have NO IDEA how HARD weight loss really is, say it's so simple! Ummmm excuse me?? WRONG! It takes SO much! Discipline, will power, determination, motivation, inspiration... I really could go on! Remember, even if you haven't lost one pound yet, YOU ARE A ROCKSTAR for even beginning this journey!
Today I am going to share some of what I know about CALORIES... Dunnn dunnn dunnnnnnnn!
I know, terrifying word? Or is it? The truth is most of don't even know what a calorie is, let alone what is does, and if we should even be afraid of them?
A calorie is a unit of energy. The definition can be a lot more complicated but in regard to the body it is the following...
The amount of calories in a food/ drink is basically a way of describing how much energy your body could get from consuming it. Easiest analogy I can think of is ... Think of your body like a car.... food/drinks are the GAS that gets it going!
The reason it's IMPORTANT to know about calories is so that you are NOT AFRAID of them... and you think of food as your fuel and how you have to fuel it well!
If you consume more calories (energy) than your body can burn off or use it gets stored as FAT, just in case you need it later, hahah (if I could invent a way to bypass that step, I'd be a gazillionare!) ... BUT because your body STORES FAT, that my friends is why your jeans have a hard time buckling!
You have to reduce how many calories you are consuming now so that it's less than the calories you burn... that way your body HAS to start burning the FAT it's storing for energy! YAY!!!
That is a great question, there is actually an equation and many factors (age, weight, height, activity level) to the number....BUT luckily you don't have to do math in order to get the answer to how many calories you need to consume!! They have all kinds of calculators online!!! YAY!! And PHEW to not having to do math! haha
SO.... Here are two of my favorite, SIMPLE, QUICK and handy tools I use to calculate how many calories I need.
http://caloriecount.about.com/tools/calories-goal
This site has a SUPER easy calorie estimator, it's free and you DO NOT have to sign up to get the number of calories you need! GREAT tool!
And my favorite:
The MYFITNESSPAL app!
Most of us are always by our phones! So what better way than to have a calorie intake calculator and tracker with you! This app is great!
Tomorrow I will share more on my GETTING STARTED series about the how to's to counting calories, journaling, goals and rewarding yourself! DON'T MISS IT!!!!
Hope this helps you get started in the right direction! PLEASE SHARE if you like what I'm saying!!!! Please FOLLOW, comment and share your story with me!
Good going, keep it up
ReplyDeleteJatin!!! You are so amazing! Thank you for the support! !!! Share share share ;) Maybe I can become international with your support!!!
DeleteI have the my fitness pal app and it really had helped me reduce my calorie intake. I had no clue how many calories were in some of the foods i was eating. I am suppose to have 1200 calories a day. So far i havent gone over and i stay just below that number. I also have to be careful with what i eat now cause i have no gall bladder now. I have also started going to the gym. I go every other day or every few days. My goal is to lose 45 lbs and tone up muscle and tonr my belly. I had a baby almost two years ago and also had another baby almost a year ago. I really wanna get my weight down and under control!
ReplyDeleteHey Alicia! I am glad you have the app because it really is super helpful! It is very true! I was exactly the same way when I started! I had no idea what I was putting into my body calorie wise at all! I counted them on my own for forever until myfitness pal! I was SO happy when I found it! Makes journaling and following calories seamless! Yes, no gall bladder is a little bit of nuisance in a way but a blessing in another because then you are forced to watch what you eat! Yes! I will talk so much more about exercise and how to get started in the upcoming weeks!!! I am happy you are starting your journey!! Use your children as a motivation to get healthy and be able to teach them the have a healthy relationship with food and excercise!
DeleteI want to feel good about myself. Right now, i do not. I have very low self esteem and every time i look in the mirror, i wanna cry. This is why i am pushing myself hard to accomplish this goal
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry you feel that way and can totally relate. I really was so sad about the way I looked and felt and it deprived me of so much including happiness. You really shouldn't feel that way because you are so much more than your weight! But I understand wanting to feel good about yourself! I really do! I am so here to help you get healthier and be able to see the incredible woman you are on the inside and outside!!
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