In Health & Wellness, Life

5 Simple Rules To Lose Weight And Maintain It

January is the month where people set goals and decide they want to make healthy lifestyle changes which is often connected with the desire to lose weight. By end of February, most people have abandoned their goals because it’s just so darn hard to lose weight. To be frank, losing weight is the easy part, maintaining the new weight is harder . If you’ve been there before, you know what I mean.

In the blog, I’m sharing 5 simple rules that have helped me over the years. 

If you’ve read any of my other blogs, you would be familiar with my lifestyle, everything I do has to be sustainable. I believe you can sustain your results if you stick to these rules.

Stick to the 90% water rule.

Many people don’t take into account calories from sweetened drinks. If you make 90% of your daily liquid intake water, then you’ll be cutting out a lot of of empty calories that don’t have any nutritional value.

Don’t like water? Infuse your water with some fresh fruits like lemons, limes, orange slices, strawberry pieces to make it easier to drink.  If you stick to it long enough, water will become your first drink of choice.

 


Stick to the “no more than 2 rule”.

No more than 2 biscuits.

No more than 2 chocolate pieces.

No more than 2 workouts missed.

You get my drift?
Moderation is then key when it comes to eating calorie dense, unhealthy foods with no nutritional value. Anything more than two would be adding too much to your daily calorie allowance. Consistency is also key with regards physical activity, give yourself a number you won’t go beyond and stick to it no matter where you are in the world.

Stick to the no cardio, low carbs rule.

Carbohydrates are energy foods. If you’re not expending energy by doing structured physical activity or if your NEAT* level is low, then be mindful of how much starchy carbs you consume.  If all you’ve done in a day is sit behind a desk working, gone home had dinner, watch TV or pick up your laptop, you don’t need starchy carbs for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

When you eat and don’t burn off the food, after your body has used the calories it needs, it stores what is not used in adipose tissue (body fat).  If you want to reduce your body fat stores then watch your starchy carbs and sugars. Stick to a simple rule I follow – no cardio, low carbs. Which really means the days I’m not burning energy or shall I say the days I don’t workout, and have moved minimally, I am mindful, I keep my starchy carbs and sugars lower than if I worked out.

 

Stick to the 80/20 rule.

To simplify this, be good (eat balanced meals, stay away from sugary foods, juices, alcohol, keep starchy foods reduced) Monday to Friday and treat yourself at the weekend.

Treat yourself at the weekend doesn’t mean you should binge and overload calories. Enjoy some not so healthy foods but keep an eye on your overall calories. Don’t undo your weekday efforts by going overboard at the weekend.

 

Stick to the something is better than nothing rule – Just tick the box! 

A bad workout is better than no workout, a 10min workout is better than no workout.  It doesn’t have to be perfect. Life happens to us all. What distinguishes the success stories from the unsuccessful ones is the ability to manoeuvre the imperfect times. It doesn’t have to be “all or nothing”, it should be “something not nothing”.  The idea here is to keep the wheel rolling and not break the cycle. If you’ve been there before, you know that breaking the cycle often leads to the wheel stopping. Doing some sort of physical activity to “just tick the box” is better than doing nothing , it adds up.

 

Dress: Tae Afrika 🔹 Boots: Hobbs 🔸 Bag: Coach 🔹 Necklace: From my collection

4 Comments.

  • Thanks KK!! As usual, very simple and practical tips

  • Great tips I find the water rule absolutely d best it keeps me full up I have to remind myself have u eating this really help me maintain now I have remained a size 12 for over 2 yrs now from size 16 💃💃💃🙏🙏🙏Thanks be to God .
    Welldone sis keeping it REAL (Responsible Eating ,Always Laudable)@olaolukoga quotes 2020 (JAN 3rd 2020)

    • Wow! Well done 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 . Massive achievement. 😘😘

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