Why Walking Isn't Enough..
When we go on a weight loss journey (and believe me it is a journey) we often turn to exercise first, which is great, because exercise will increase your total daily energy expenditure, improve your mobility, help you to tone up and yes help with assisting in weight loss.
When you commit to exercise and getting your body up and moving it's a great start. Walking around the block or parking your car 25 minutes away from your office is all going to help you with getting a kick start on your journey to a healthier lifestyle.
Now that you are moving your body more, committing to walks and maybe even jogs, you have successfully started a small exercise regime. You are consistent with your walking and you are expecting to see some weight loss results, but not a lot is starting to happen, apart from the fact that you feel great for moving your body more (highly encouraged).
You are thinking what else must I do in order to achieve my goals, I am walking everyday and nothing is really happening, its been at least 10 weeks now ??!!
These are the reasons why you won't be seeing any results...yet:
1. You are not doing enough: Walking is a fantastic form of exercise and it's a great way to get your body moving (especially if you are sedentary most of the day), but in order to start to see better results you need to be strength training! Strength training will help you to build muscle and having muscle gives you a better quality life! Not to mention it helps to increase your metabolic rate, strength, energy, moods, and sleep.
If you are wanting to see better results then I would highly encourage you to start including strength training into your weekly exercise regime. You can start with exercises at home such as: push ups, squats, lunges, tricep dips - any exercise that is using your own body weight. If you are even more committed you may even seek help from a health and fitness coach, someone to help guide and encourage you along your journey.
2. You have not changed your eating habits: Okay, let's set the facts straight, you can not "burn off" a meal or snack when you exercise, if so good luck training for like 8 hours in the gym. It does not take 1 workout to magically melt the chocolate bar and cookies you ate into sweat during a workout...NO. Your body has to digest and metabolise food, it doesn't go in one way and sweat out the other. If you are on a weight loss journey and you want to see results then you need to be in a calorie deficit. (a deficit will depend on each and every individual) This means adjustments to your usual daily food intake, you can start by keeping a food dairy to keep you on track with your food, and to see what you are currently consuming, once you know how much you are having on a daily basis, you'll be able to make adjustments from there. (I would highly recommend asking for help with nutrition as it can be complicated if you are serious about your weight loss)
3. You keep dieting and jumping on the latest insta-diet fad: Diets will in short term help you to loose weight, but have you ever been on a diet, lost weight, then gotten over it, started back with your normal habits only to see yourself gaining even more weight than what you had started with ? Diets have a 95% fail rate! Most people will start a diet because a celebrity or influencer has done so, so you then think it will be the best thing for you to do too. If you find a diet that suits your lifestyle and you are willing to stick to it for the rest of your life then GREAT! But if you're doing it all for the wrong reasons then we need to chat!
I want to see you generate the best possible results that you can, in order to do that you need to make sure you are continuing to move your body daily (keep your steps up to at least 8k), strength training, beating the binge and getting yourself into a calorie deficit.
If you need help with your health and fitness goals, I now have 3 open spaces available for online training! These spaces are limited and full up FAST. If you are struggling with your weight loss, unsure of what you can do to exercise, need encouragement and accountability then get in touch today so we can book a free 15 minute call and have a chat.
Renee xx