5 Ways to Shed Some Weight

Disclaimer: the author of this blog is not a registered dietician, medical professional, or fitness certified. This is just what has worked for them.

Weight struggles affect a lot of Americans, as well as populations world-wide. With the rise of desk jobs and screen time, numbers on the scale rise yearly.

For me, it took two years to drop 40 lbs. This was done without medication, positive constructs around the idea of losing weight, and a lot of dedication.

Here are the top five things I did to shed the pounds, and gain so much more.

Reconnect with Nature - and MOVE

While normally an outdoorsy junkie, life caught up. Between businesses, work, raising a child, and maintaining two households, time outside often got pushed aside. With the adoption of two Huskies within 6 months of each other (13/10 do not recommend this route unless you also want to be covered in dog hair forever), I was forced back into daily walks.

Our morning walk is about 40-60 minutes daily. This helps remove some excess energy from the two crazies - I mean huskies - but it also helps with starting my day off on the right note. I am no longer groggy in the morning, I no longer spend 20-30 minutes scrolling through social media in bed. I get up, get moving, and go.

When it is nice and when my schedule allows, I also do a shorter afternoon hike, to aid with digestion and get my movement more consistent throughout the day.

On weekends, I get lost on trails as often as possible, typically ringing in 8+ miles.

Don't have a dog? Find a local walking group!

Don't like people? Walk on the treadmill at your gym.

Walking is a great low-impact exercise that you can do at any age. You can cycle, elliptical, swim, etc. The point is that you are starting your day with movement and making a point to move around all day.

Just quit with the poison

Maybe poison is a strong word, but sobriety brought about the most significant changes in my health. I am not fully sober. I am sober-ish. You may find me having a glass of wine or trying a fun cocktail from time to time. However, I dedicated myself to removing the constant culture (I am from Wisconsin after all) surrounding drinking from my routine.

Benefits: clear skin, better sleep, less inflammation, better control of PMDD, more time to be productive and hike, more $$$ for travel...the list goes on

Detriments: social life has completely changed and I "lost" a lot of "friends"

Oh well.

Change your Mindset

I struggle with the scale. I had an eating disorder post-college.

But! But the scale is one tool I use now, not the be-all-end-all.

When I started changing how I approached weight loss, and decided that I just wanted to be healthier and live longer, suddenly that number on the scale was just one indicator of how I was doing. I used it as a measurement, but I also measure how much happier I am, how much easier I move, and how out of breath I am after scaling a mountain.

I still have a goal weight in mind. I just don't let myself get bent out of shape with fluctuations and letting myself have a balance of dedication and LIVING.

Calories, Protein, and Fiber OH MY!

Weight loss is science.

You need to burn 3500 calories to lose 1 lb of fat.

Muscle burns more than fat. Protein helps build muscle. Digestion helps with inflammation and your gut.

So, take your goal weight and multiply that times 11 for women, 12 for men. Now take your current weight and do the same. Then, find a good range in the middle. For example, I weigh about 160-165lbs, so to maintain that weight I would eat 1760kcal. My goal weight right now is 150 lbs, so to maintain that weight I would eat 1650kcal. With these numbers, I try to range between 1500-1700kcal/day.

For protein, if you are trying to bulk, consume your weight in grams of protein a day. Just trying to be strong and healthy? Aim for 90-100g/day. Only eating 20g now? Try eating 30g a day for the next month, and keep increasing to your goal.

Baby steps work. If you try to do everything at once, you will set yourself up for failure.

For fiber, my goal is 25+g/day. I can't even tell you where I got that from anymore.

Clean it up

Everything is chemical - from your body to the food we eat.

Start paying attention to the ingredients in your food. I try to eat clean 80-90% of the time, meaning no artificial coloring, avoiding preservatives, etc.

I also started cleaning up what I keep in my house and put on my body in self-care routines, but that is an article for another time.

Our bodies were made to function on whole foods. Start feeding it that way.

One of the most significant changes was the reduction of added sugar in foods. I try to keep it below 10g added sugar a day. Natural sugars occuring in whole foods are a-ok. I just try to stay away from artificial and added sugar, due to the spike of blood sugar. This change has also helped with my ADHD symptoms.

There is so much more that we can do, and customize a plan for YOU. Feel free to reach out to get on my schedule for coaching!

hello@bloominthewild.com