When you're at your fourth grilled chicken salad of the week and the needle of your scale has not moved for centuries, you may feel that your plan to lose weight is conspiring against you.
But, instead of giving up or trying any advice to lose weight you've heard, you might need only a small change to make it go away. "Sometimes choosing a small, realistic change, like doing 10,000 steps a day, gives you a goal, so that losing weight does not seem so overwhelming," says nutritionist Jackie Newgent of New York. We can thus remain more motivated to achieve our goal in terms of weight. "
The women below have done this and they evoke the change that ultimately helped them to lose weight. So put on your sportswear and adopt a new habit!
Katie, 29 years old
Lost weight: 21.5 kilos.
When Katie found herself disappointed by the big gym chains, a friend suggested she try the dance bar. The Mechanicsville studio in Virginia offers low-impact, high-intensity courses with a mix of ballet, Pilates and yoga moves. "From the moment I entered, I felt welcome," she said. Everyone worked on their own goals and encouraged others. "Today, Katie has been working for five months losing weight, with the goal of losing 40 to 50 pounds more. She participates in the bar course an hour four times a week and does an hour of yoga one evening a week.
Anna, 21 years old
Lost weight: 41 kilos.
When she decided to lose weight, Anna tried diets that limited her calorie intake, but her weight did not budge. Determined to lower her cholesterol and blood pressure, she started the low-carbohydrate Atkins diet and followed the program religiously. "I did not cheat at all, not even during the holidays," she said. After seven months, Anna reached the weight she had set for herself and she went into the stabilization phase. His cravings for pasta and rice have completely disappeared and the sugar in his coffee no longer misses him. Instead, she fills her sugar cravings with milk shakes. A hard-boiled egg is its usual snack and many of its meals include a salad and baked fish.
Cristal, 37 years old
Lost weight: 7.5 kilos.
A nutritionist suggested that Cristal keep a "body diary" to follow her sports sessions, meals, water consumption, sleep and how she felt each day. The idea: choose models to help him decipher what works and what does not and bring the corresponding answers. She says that writing everything has helped her put her finger on bad habits and eliminate them one after the other. "I love the idea of setting small targets every week because slowly building bigger and more ambitious goals. Some of his micro-goals included sleeping seven and a half hours four times a week and doing 10,000 steps at least five times a week. Thus, she lost 7.5 pounds and eliminated more than 5% of her body fat in 12 weeks. "My mantra has become 'gratitude changes everything,'" she said. Keeping a journal helped me see that. It turns out that when you love your body, it loves you in return. "
Molly, 23 years old
Lost weight: 47 kilos.
Molly lost her first 20 pounds by using a site called Dietbet, which lets its users bet on their weight loss. The concept: pour money into the pot online and those who reach their goal get their bet and money in addition. If you do not reach it, you lose your money. "It really helped me stay responsible," she says. In two years, she lost 47 pounds.
Jessica, 20 years old
Lost weight: 16 kilos.
Getting into the habit of doing exercise was the trigger that Jessica needed. In eight months, she lost 16 pounds by playing sports at least four times a week. "Honestly, it was very difficult; But once I realized how well I felt, I did not want to stop doing sports anymore, "she says. Endorphins due to exercise were exactly the motivation she needed. She mainly cardio - court exercises on a carpet or around a track or an elliptical trainer. When her weight began to melt, Jessica began to include strengthening exercises through body bump courses, in order to tone the muscles all over her body.
Arlene, 40 years old
Lost weight: 20.5 kilos.
Going to a gym was not a problem for Arlene. She has been a member for years, going from Monday to Friday for 45-minute elliptical trainer sessions. But her weight loss began when she came out of her comfort zone by enrolling in a 12-month challenge at a Gold's gym. During this friendly competition, she lost 10.5 pounds and more than 10% of her body fat. The icing on the cake, it has led women of all age groups to the national level. During these twelve weeks, she went to the gym twice a day from Monday to Friday, for exercises of one hour to one hour and a half. "I forced myself to do things I did not like - running, building muscle - and trying new courses. Arlene learned to love HIIT classes (high-intensity interval exercises), alternating cardio and weight lifting, and started running 4.8 kilometers on a treadmill to prove she could make.
Kyra, 35 years old
Lost weight: 12.5 kilos.
Kyra used to weigh and measure the caloric value of what she ate through an online tool. "The number one factor that helped me lose weight and stabilize for good was to listen to my body, quite simply," she testifies. Before this awareness, she was deprived of carbohydrates, even those that are good for health. "I was training very hard, and then I was eating protein, even though my body was begging me for carbohydrates," Kyra said. But it eventually turned against her. "I found myself buying three cookies," she recalls. When she stopped leaking carbohydrates and began listening to her body, she lost the desired weight.