11 Tips To Lose Weight & Develop a Healthy Lifestyle

This is a sponsored post in partnership with OOMPH. All words and opinions are my own.

When the pandemic started, I switched jeans for sweatpants and blouses for hoodies… I basically live in loungewear now. The other day I decided to dress up since we were eating out for the first time in forever. And I realized half of my pants didn’t fit anymore. So, I decided to weigh myself… Turns out I had gained more than 15 pounds. This is officially the heaviest I have ever been. The reason I gained weight, is in part the lack of self control I have when I see snacks. But it is also the huge change in my lifestyle. I did a 360, when I moved from NYC to Florida. I wasn’t walking over 20,000 steps daily just to get around the city, gyms were closed, I was at home all day, and my new desk became the kitchen island. Also, I tend to binge eat when I am stressed. And if a pandemic isn’t stressful, then I don’t know what is.

I think it is also very important to note, that the way we see ourselves and our body weight, will always change and fluctuate. That is okay. It is a global pandemic, we are all stressed, so don’t beat yourself up if you gained 5 or 30 pounds. One of my goals for 2021, is not only to go back to my normal weight, but to develop an overall healthy lifestyle, which means a healthier relationship with myself, with food & exercise. I want to feel happy with myself and be the best version of myself I can be.

Anyways, here are a couple changes to make if you are looking for losing weight, while developing a new & healthy lifestyle.

PS. Developing a healthy lifestyle, doesn’t necessarily mean losing weight and exercising, it can also mean meditating, journaling, trying out a a new hobby. However a “healthy lifestyle” looks to you, I am sure these tips will help.

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Take Small Steps

One mistake I did earlier this year, was to try and develop five new habits at the same time. It is a very stressful time for everyone and trying to turn your life around and develop new habits overnight is not going to work longterm. It takes 21 days to develop a new habit, so choose something you can do right now. Whether it is eating more vegetables, buying healthier groceries, getting a good night’s sleep, etc.

Choose only one thing and focus on that. Once you have that down, choose another habit to develop. Going slow but steady will prevent you from feeling overwhelmed and burnt out.

Embrace WFH (or studying from home)

Working from home and studying from home means being at home a lot! This also means cooking way more that you used to. When I lived in NYC, I would cook sometimes, but mostly I would eat take out or skip meals. I was very busy running around the city and living my fashion blogger in NYC dream. Besides, buying groceries meant carrying 20 pounds of food all the way back to my place, or take an uber and still struggle to get everything to my dorm – it was a nightmare I wanted to avoid. Which resulted, in buying very few groceries or eating out.

When I moved to Florida, not only I had plenty of time to cook and eat, but it wasn’t acceptable anymore to only eat take out or microwavable meals… I started eating more than I normally would and cooking yummy recipes. If you’re at home, embrace having the time to cook and to eat, which I’m sure most of us lack when we’re busy with school or work. Enjoy it, as not everything lasts forever.

P.S. I know cooking every day can get annoying, so a good idea is to stock your kitchen with ready-to-use items that are easy to transform into a meal.

Routines Are Important

A huge change for most of us is that our days now have less structure. In order, to get some sort of normalcy, it is important to get a routine. This means eating on a schedule and scheduling time to workout and do other fun things.

It is so easy to snack and eat all day when food is accessible 24/7. Especially when your working space is right in front of the kitchen. A way to avoid this is to get used to eating at a certain hour everyday, as well as, keeping yourself busy with other tasks.

Try At-Home Workouts

One of the things I struggled with the most was working out. I lacked the motivation and working out at home felt weird, since I am used to going to the gym and take fitness classes. If you’re in the same boat as me, it is important to find a workout you really enjoy doing. I tried Chloe Ting workouts, several fitness apps, youtube workouts and nothing seemed to work for me. It was fun at first, but then it got too repetitive and I get bored easily.

But then, I came across the OOMPH app and I am obsessed with it! OOMPH is a kickboxing fitness app. The best part is that you don’t need ANY equipment – just your phone and yourself. The workouts are very diverse and intense. But most importantly, they are fun to do, especially if you’re blasting music! The app guides you through a 6-week plan to obtain a certain belt. I am working to obtain the white belt, which is technically the first level. Each week has 5 workouts and when you’re done with your 6-week plan, you advance to the next level and so on. You can download the app and try it for free for a whole week!

I used to do kickboxing years ago, and was trying to get back to it, but with gyms and fitness studios being closed, that didn’t seem possible. So, I am extremely happy to have found this app. I finally have a workout I actually like and have fun doing!

Start NOW

I don’t know about you, but I keep feeling as if everything will “go back to normal” soon. And I kept postponing my plans to lose weight & be healthy for a long time due to this feeling. Let’s stop postponing things we want to do and let’s do them now. Even if it doesn’t feel normal. Even if it feels like the world is on pause, and that we are in a long vacation (maybe this is just me), it is time to stop thinking and start doing.

Instead of waiting until New Years or until next Monday to start developing your healthy lifestyle, take the first step today.

Make a Realistic Meal Plan

I believe the best thing we can do to feel happy and not disappointed, is to set realistic expectations for ourselves. If you’re used to eating a lot of food or unhealthy food, you cannot expect that to change overnight. It might work for a couple days, but sooner or later, you’ll find yourself falling into “old” habits.

Instead of changing your meal plan completely, choose small changes to do every week. If you are used to eat whole milk and chocolate cereal, try to swap that for unsweetened almond milk and fiber cereal. Small changes are better for long term results. And you’ll feel more happy and accomplished!

Set Realistic Goals

Just as it is important to do a realistic meal plan, it is important to set realistic goals and expectations. I know it would be amazing to lose all the weight and transform into the healthiest version of yourself within one month. But, that is not realistic and hoping that would happen is only going to make you feel disappointed snd like you didn’t try “hard enough”.

Instead, set realistic expectations you can actually achieve in a healthy way. This could look like losing 1 pound a week, exercising 3 times a week, eating more vegetables and non-processed food, etc.

Eliminate the Word “Diet” of Your Vocabulary

A diet is essentially a period of time in which you eat less calories and restrict yourself. After it’s over, people tend to feel relived and eat like they used to. I think diets make you develop an unhealthy relationship with food, since you’re basically restricting yourself and labeling foods as “good” or “bad”. It is not a sustainable way to lose weight and to achieve a healthier lifestyle, as it will likely hurt your relationship with food.

I have tried several diets in the past and not one has worked for me. I tried the Keto diet and I did lose over 10 pounds. BUT, I was unhappy and restricting myself from foods I enjoyed eating. It not only made me feel unhappy, but it made me develop a bad relationship with food.

I think we should eat every food from every food group, as long as, it is in moderation. It is better to look forward to a healthy lifestyle, rather than going on a diet that will last a couple weeks…

Put Down the Wine Glass

Most of us have been drinking more during the pandemic than before. This is self explanatory, just stop drinking wine every night (or morning).

Count Calories (or don’t)

Depending on what your relationship with food is, it might be a good idea to count calories. Counting calories is a way to be more aware of what you’re putting into your body. You can have an overall overview of how much fat, protein, carbs and sugar you consume on a daily basis. After you figure out how many calories you eat daily, you can adjust it accordingly to start your weight loss & healthy lifestyle journey.

If counting calories is not a good option for you, that is okay! You can try to be aware of the portions of food you consume. And try to stick to the recommended portions. This is something I struggle with – I eat healthy, but tend to eat larger portions that I should (oops).

Be Kind to Yourself

For some reason, there’s “shame” around gaining weight. Society has conditioned us to think that skinny equals beautiful and fat is ugly. It is easy to fall into a cycle of anxious behavior, where you blame yourself for gaining weight and feel unhappy with yourself & your body. However, it is extremely important to understand that you are beautiful no matter what. You are enough and always have been!

I believe the relationship you have with yourself and with food is much more important than whatever it is your weigh. Love yourself enough to appreciate your body and all of its flaws. It takes time to come to a point where you’re confident in your body, but it is worth it!

I hope these tips help!