Tips to be slim for life!
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
Almost all people, if not everybody, would want to be slim for life. Not necessarily thin, but at least having a body that is slim and trimmed. We want this kind of body not just for good looks but for the overall health associated with leaner bodies and figures. But almost all of us also know for a fact that trying to be fit and slim for life is no easy task. It requires a life-long commitment in order to achieve weight loss dreams and goals. It’s also difficult to motivate ourselves sometimes especially when we reach some sort of plateau and stop losing weight despite our efforts. But to really be able to follow a weight loss plan for life, simple steps must be taken to make ourselves adjust to every activity or situation. Below are some easy tips to get slim and fit for life:
Tip #1 – Gradual exercise progression
We all know that we need to keep moving in order to burn extra calories and lose weight. But if we intend to do some physical activity for our whole lives, we need to make it fun and very easy to do. Rigid workouts may be very effective for weight loss but this will only last for a short time. Eventually, one would lose motivation and scale back on exercise routines which may result to regaining some of the lost weight. To make things simple, we just need to start off with minimal activity. For some people, jogging for 1 hour once a week may be all it takes to start an exercise plan. Others may prefer spending time at the gym for a few hours. Whatever the activity, the only requirement to follow is to do the exercise regularly and increase the intensity and/or frequency slowly. In this way, a person will be more likely to stick to the exercise plan and will have more chances to be slim for life.
Tip #2 – Healthier Food Choices
As with exercising, diet will always be part of an effective weight loss program. But diets that are intended to be followed for life should also be implemented gradually. A diet plan wouldn’t be effective for the long term when it involves drastic changes in our eating habits. Some diets advocate starvation and deprivation processes which may not actually be a healthy choice for our bodies. In order for us to stay committed and follow our diet plan to be slim for life, we must make sure that we do things slowly. For starters, simple restrictions on sweet treats can jumpstart a diet plan for life. Along the way, we just need to find food alternatives and make little healthy choices for us to stick to the diet plan. Eating fruits would be a great alternative to the usual cakes and pastries. We also know that limiting our fatty and salty food intake is a healthier choice. By taking these small steps, we all will be on our way to a slimmer waistline.
Tip #3 – Occasional Treats
Be it our diet or our exercise plan, we need to give ourselves a treat occasionally. Sometimes we need to reward ourselves a little for all the effort that we’ve done in our quest to be slim for life. We also need little treats to keep our sanity intact. When speaking of our diet plans, it wouldn’t hurt to eat some of our favorite desserts occasionally. We just need to keep in mind that we still are not allowed to overindulge. In terms of our exercise plan, we can also take some rest days or rest weeks just in case we feel tired or in cases where we want to rest or do other things. A skipped jogging session for a week wouldn’t hurt much to the overall goal of getting slim for life. Instead, these small treats will further motivate us to stick to our lifelong weight loss plan.