Certified Trainer Shares Back to Basics Healthy Weight Advice

Employees at Combined Insurance have been invited to participate in their parent company, Chubb’s, “Team up to Slim Down” healthy weight loss challenge.  With some great prizes on the table, Supplementally Speaking spoke to Lia Templeman,link opens in a new window a NASM-Certified Personal Trainer at the corporate location of LifeStart Fitness in Chicago, to get some basic, healthy weight loss tips that anyone can follow. And, if you’re participating in the challenge, good luck!

Lia’s tips:

Determine how much weight you need to lose. Work with a certified trainer to determine how much weight you really need to lose. It can be helpful to measure your percent body fat for a more accurate understanding of what is really making up your body mass.  Some people may be more interested in building muscle and endurance more than in losing body fat.

Weigh yourself correctly.  The best way to make sure you are weighing yourself correctly is to stay consistent in your weight-check routine. Always use the same scale, and always weigh yourself at the same time of day.  You may be tempted to weigh in every day, but this could lead to too much focus on your numbers. Instead aim to weigh yourself once or twice each week, and keep it up even after you’ve reached your goal to make sure you stay there.

Increase your activity. Take an honest look at how much exercise you are currently getting, and add to that.  If your exercise only consists of taking the stairs or walking to and from the train (which isn’t bad, it’s a great start!) then add one day of more formal exercise the first week, and continue to add on subsequent weeks. If you’re already working out 3-4 times a week, add time to your workouts, or add another day. You get the idea-whatever you’re doing now is great-don’t stop-but just add to it for more weight loss.

Along those same lines..just move more. All the little extra things you do-or choose not to do-each week add up. Housework, walking the dog, yard work, choosing the stairs over the elevator, parking a little further away-all these little extras make a big difference.  Take stock of what physical tasks you pay someone else do for you, like cleaning your house or mowing your lawn, and ask yourself if maybe you could do it yourself.  You’ll end up saving money and burning lots of extra calories weekly.

Be smart about your diet. In her experience, Lia has noticed that different diets work differently for different people.  Thinking about lowering your carb intake, because it worked for your friend?  Go ahead and try it, but don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t work for you. Because of people’s different genetic makeups and backgrounds, it’s important to experiment with different diets to see what works well for you. Some diets Lia has helped her clients with include the keto diet,link opens in a new window a low carb dietlink opens in a new window, clean eating dietslink opens in a new window, and intermittent fasting dietslink opens in a new window.  The key is to find a diet you can live with and stick to, otherwise your will power will only take you so far before you give up.

Keep track of your calories. Lia has seen a higher rate of success for her clients who keep close track of their calories consumed. There are several Apps available to make it easy right on your smartphone.

Buy a food scale. A food scale will help you monitor and record your calories more accurately. You don’t need anything fancy.  You’ll find basic scales at almost any store that sells kitchen appliances.

Wear a heart rate monitor. A heart rate monitor, like a Fitbit, can be extremely motivating because it keeps track of the calories you burn throughout the day. So, you can see how all the little extra movements you make throughout the day (like taking the stairs or mopping your own floor) add up.

Get enough sleep. Research shows that not getting the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep per night correlates with weight gain. Some theories are that a sleepy brain craves calorie-dense foods. Plus when someone is fatigued often the last thing they want to do is exercise. Over time, this can wreak havoc on a weight loss routine. ¹

Supplementally Speaking thanks Lia for sharing her expertise, and wishes all those who are striving for a healthier, lighter 2019 much success!

These opinions and advice are for entertainment purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for visiting your doctor.

References
¹ L.D., K. Z. (2018, May 01). Why skipping sleep leads to weight gain. Retrieved from mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/expert-answers/sleep-and-weight-gain/faq-20058198link opens in a new window