Friday 12 April 2013

Mistakes I made


Weight loss is a long journey and I have made my share of mistakes, here I’m listing a few in hope that reading these will prevent you from making the same mistakes.
  •  Starved myself 

If you eat less than required you will not be able to go on for very long, if you are not fuelled properly then your workout will not be as effective.  You will get tired soon; your body won’t repair itself fast.Starving can become addictive, so even when I knew I was going down the wrong path it was difficult to stop. If you start eating very less you might lose weight initially but then when you take one bite of something (even if it is not too much) you are going to immediately put on. Please stay away from this at all costs!!!
Eat healthy and eat the correct portion required for your body to have energy

  • Tried to do too much too soon


It’s important to know where you stand when you start with your health, If you are not used to exercising and if start by making yourself do 100 squats you are going to hurt yourself, if you suddenly reduce your calories from 3000 to 1000 you might not be able to keep up. It’s important to move up slowly and steadily. If you do too much too soon you will have to stop because it could affect you negatively.
Take small steps depending on your fitness level


  •  Focused only on dieting or exercising  

Weight loss requires both eating healthy and exercising, If you only eat healthy and don’t move you might lose weight initially but after sometime it will stop and if you only exercise and don’t consider the food you eat, your stamina might improve but you might still not lose weight.
Eating Healthy and Exercising both are equally important


  •  Expected quick results. Believed every article that said 7 days to a new you

If I have put on weight for most of my life without once trying to get healthy how can I expect to lose all my weight in a short time? Every time I made plans with unrealistic goals I would try and do a lot more than I could handle and then things would spiral down from there
There are no shortcuts


  • Got depressed and upset by comparing with people who were already living the healthy lifestyle

I would always compare with my friends who were already exercising or living healthier, when I started exercising I thought in a week or a little more I would be able to keep up with their exercise routine, that was just setting up myself up for depression. I reached their level after putting in a lot more effort than them and I took a few years to do that, and those who worked out as much as me they are still better than me. Your levels will always be directly proportional to your effort
Challenge yourself to reach somebody better than you, but don’t expect to do it overnight.


  • Did not get out of my comfort zone

I have an entire post on this here


  • Did not stand up for myself
I was always worried about people, if somebody said to me ‘just one bite’ I would give in, If people told me skip my exercise just one day to go out for coffee I would do it, It took me a long time to stand up for myself and tell people what is important to me and the more I listened to people the further away I moved from my goals.
Learn to say No and stand up for yourself


  • Thought weight loss would change other aspects of my life (body image, confidence..)

I always thought ‘once I’m thin I would be a different person’ sure it changes you, you feel nice about yourself but not as much. Being happy with who you does not and should not depend on your weight. Trust me I thought it would happen automatically but I’m still struggling to be happy with myself even though I have reached my ideal weight I still struggle most days.
Be happy with yourself no matter what weight; don’t expect your weight loss to change your body image completely.

  •   Used my weight as an excuse

‘.... because I’m fat....’ I have used this line so many times, I have used it to get out of situations where I was scared to try something new, I have used this as a comforting thought in situations which were not in my hand, I have also used this as a emotional cover telling myself ‘it was better to be fat than face certain things in life’. None of it was ever true, they were just ways which pulled me further down without me even realising
Being fat should not be an excuse or a wall to hide from reality

  • I have given up many times

Weight loss or getting fit is not easy, if it was nobody would ever put on weight or there would not be so many blogs, articles, tv shows about it. I have given up so many times, now I wonder what if I would have stuck to it the first time I ever started???
Things might not always work as planned, change your plans, ask for help but don’t give up.
Giving up should not be an option ever

I really hope reading my mistakes will help you

Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 
Tanvee
 
On the personal front things have been going down the drain for me (won’t get into details).Wednesday was a horrible day, we have been running about ever since, we actually did not even manage a good night’s sleep and we completely forgot about food. My point for sharing this is ‘ I decided to work out on Thursday  but because I had not eaten much or had no proper rest I could not really complete my workout.This goes to show how important eating and resting is.
Things have still not gone back to normal we are working on that and hopefully soon everything should be alright.
 

4 comments:

  1. Hi Tanvee! Everything you put up there makes a lot of sense. It is a solid set of advice.

    Regarding quick results--everyone should really listen to you about that. Our results are going to be as good as we're willing to do today and keep continue doing. And something smart my teen daughter said to me yesterday--the reason why I personally don't get overly excited about weight loss or fitness gains is because we really have to pace themselves. This is an extremely long-term thing that we don't want to get burn-out from. So I keep it relaxed and have a comfortable plan I can keep doing.

    Glad you also treat sleep as important. I think a good weight is directly correlated with getting enough sleep. At least for me.

    :-) Marion

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  2. Sleep IS very important. Great post on all counts, Tanvee! Thanks!

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  3. I have done all of those and a few more.

    I am especially sorry to hear that life is not going good. I hope whatever it is that is going on, ends soon, or a resolution happens that is good for you.

    Cyber hugs!

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  4. I love this post Tanvee!!
    I think when you read through it you can realize how much you have learned. It also illustrates how much work it is to stay on track and get it right (or as close to right as possible, because I think losing weight is always a work in progress).

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