Guess what, you can eat ice cream and other tasty treats while you’re trying to lose weight.””  I know this is a hard concept to grasp but harsh diets do more harm than good, which is why being lenient with yourself is the most effective thing you can do. Dieting can be a real struggle, but there’s a secret not many people know: losing weight doesn’t have to be hard.

Yes I said it out loud!!! Really! In fact, weight loss can be downright easy and even fun when you find the right way to do it. Lean in.

1. Downsize: One of the most common problems with diets is that you’re eating too much and don’t even realize it. By simply cutting down your portion sizes, you can begin to lose weight right away. There are a few ways to do this:
   1. When you eat focus on how you feel after the meal. Do you feel full, do you feel hungry, – its like Goldilocks you want to feel just right.
   2. Meals can be 3-5 it really depends on how you feel. You want them to be meal. Not shoving a handful of nuts in your mouth. If you are shoveling nuts in by the handful then guess what you aren’t eating enough at your meals.
   3. drink plenty of water between meals to stay hydrated and it will help cut your appetite

2. Practice Moderation: Crash diets are just has harmful as eating nothing but junk food. Instead of cutting out sweets and snacks completely, keep them in your diet but eat them less frequently. For example, if you enjoy having chocolate, your daily routine can include three healthy meals, 30 minutes of exercise, and a handful of chocolate chips, a cup of hot cocoa or a square of dark chocolate. Consider these pre-emptive treats  these keep you from going heard first into a pint of ice cream or what ever your weakness is.,

3. Get Enough Sleep: If you’ve been ready my stuff for a while you know how I feel about this. While you sleep, your body undergoes a rejuvenation process. Wounds are healed, cells are created, and you regain strength. Getting enough sleep helps you get the results that you are dying for.

4. Drink Plenty of Water: You know this, but I gotta repeat it, water does a body good! I’m not encouraging you to replace a meal with water, however you should drink water in between meals to cut your appetite. Sometimes you feel hungry you are really thirsty. . By drinking water you’ll quickly determine which one you are.

5. Eat High Protein Meals: Protein is necessary for providing the body with energy as well as keeping it full. High protein meals and snacks give you a steady flow of energy that staves off hunger and keeps your feeling alert and strong. Foods like eggs, greek yogurt, cottage cheese and lean meats are packed with protein, so add them to your meal to keep energy up and your hunger down. Before you ask cheese is not protein is a fat the same as nuts they are fat, NOT protein.

6. Lower Stress: Stress is one of the leading causes of weight gain and inflammation. The weight gained when we are stressed can be toxic to the body and hard to lose. Instead of dealing with stress weight, give a preemptive strike but working to lower stress all together. Practice self care, take walks, hang out with friends, baths, or just do things that you enjoy in the midst of a hectic day. When you’re less stressed, it’ll be easier to lose weight and keep it off.

7. Exercise: This doesn’t mean balls to the wall, push yourself til you’re a sweaty mess exercise it means simple things like going for a walk, taking a Zumba class or go for a swim. Anything to get your heart rate up and your body moving will aid in weight loss.

8. Eat: I know I’m preaching to the choir on this one. But less is not more when it comes to eating. Not eating enough for your activity level can lead to a dangerous tailspin for your health. Instead of starving yourself or engaging in long fasts, go ahead and eat. Your body needs fuel and energy to burn when you exercise and go about your day, and eating gives it something to burn.

9. Try New Things: Don’t get locked into the idea that weight loss means you’re doomed to a life of salads and grains. Healthy foods can be delicious and you only need to be a little adventurous to discover this. Do some research on healthy recipes to recipes that you like. This is the only way you are going to survive. When you eat the same thing over and over again you get bored. When you get bored you’re more likely to be tempted and fall back into old habits. I’m a sucker for PInterest it’s my recipe go to. Instead of seeing a diet as a restriction, treat it as an opportunity.

If you are tried of always pressing the reboot button, grab my FREE success series #fatloss fundamentals. Grab it right here

The post 9 Ways To Lose Weight Without Suffering appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

1. You aren’t eating enough. For years I was one of those you must eat 5-6 meals or you’ll never lose weight. Well. I’ve softened over the years I’ve found that depending on your workouts you can get by on 3-6 meals it really depends.
   

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   Now I know that the entire diet industry will have you think that to lose weight you must reduce…
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   Yeah, I’m sure you were starving and tired.

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   The tipping point comes when you determine what is the food intake level that will fuel your…
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    Here is where a food journal comes in handy. I will touch on that later.

2. You aren’t planning. I was a card caring winger for for years!! I was like I just fill my house with the good stuff and I’ll be all set. Not so much. I didn’t plan for when I was going out or didn’t have food cooked and then wouldn’t feel like cooking it. So now to make sure that this happens, I’m not one of those crazy food preppers like I was in the past, but now I do one simple thing that takes the edge of my week. I cook three pounds of protein/week — I will crock something or put something on the grill. This way I have something for lunch.My lunch is typically a big ass salad #bas so I’ll have lettuces and veggies on hand to make a salad. I also by pre-chopped veggies so I don’t have to do it. You can also grab stuff from the salad bar. Now if I know that I will be running around I’ll also plan on making some protein for dinner so that I can just heat and eat.
   

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   I am a big proponent of real food, BUT I do rely on having protein shakes and bars for times I’m on…
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   My favorite brand is Isagenix.

3. You are too restrictive. Most of you know that I was a former fitness competitor and I now coach girls to compete. One of the biggest things in that sport is deprivation. I mean seriously it’s all about how LITTLE can I eat. My biggest joke is when they want deprivation I tell them all they can have are Tic Tacs and Diet Coke. They look at me like really. No.. I just messing with you, it’s my way to telling you don’t ask me that kind of question again. No diet, meal plan, menu whatever should make you feel deprived. If you feel deprived something is missing. I’ve also found when you felt that way, you are no fun to be around and when you finally do “allow” yourself to open up your diet — you lose your sh*t.
   

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   Willpower only take you so far. You diet should include all food groups, unless you’ve been told by…
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   Don’t just go dairy free or gluten or for the love of God carb free for the sake of it. Yes, you may have sensitivities but do it in a structured way and be sure you are informing a medical professional.

4. You aren’t tracking your food.  When you tell me about your struggles, one of my first things I ask is how is your food. Most reply — fine. I ask can you give me an overview of a typical day or I ask them to give me a 3 day food journal. Now this doesn’t need to be fancy in some computer program it can be on a piece of paper. I’m looking for what does your overall meal consistent of, how long do you wait between meals, is there any mindless snacking, habits, emotional/stress eating.  Once I look at this I can see patterns. I use to hate journal, but when I get stuck I go back to journaling and it opens my eyes to what things I may need to tweak to get the results that I want. Are you picking up with I’m putting down”
5. You aren’t changing up your workouts. Your body is so smart!! It learns stuff fairly quickly. So.. if you’ve been doing the same workout for years, your body doesn’t have to work to complete it. It knows it by heart and will only give you enough to get you through the workout. You workout should change every 4-6 weeks. For those of you not competing it should be a full body exercise plan that includes a pushing, pulling, squat and core exercise. The same goes for your cardio —  you need to go in and mix that up. If you are using machines change up the programs you use on it, change the level, hell try a new cardio machine. Classes are great for this as well.

I hope this was helpful for you. Please leave me a comment below to let me know which of the 5 seem like something you can start to implement.

The post 5 Reasons You Are Losing Fat appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

Most of you know that I train both fitness competitors as well as folks that just want to get or stay in shape. I’m often asked what’s the difference. Honestly, there is no difference between you and them other than goals.

Fitness/figure competitors goals are to compete on stage and push their bodies to the ultimate limit. This level of leaness comes only after weeks of hard work in the gym and is only meant to last for a few hours on stage. After that we open their diets so that it is much more sustainable.

When you are competing you life revolves around your workouts and your nutrition. Instead of living the 80/20 rule that I preach about, you are living more like 90/10. Some folks feel like this can live in this type of box. Sure, but for how long’ It is very mentally draining and you must be driven to keep pushing. Imagine this, you are at a Fourth of July party and everyone is having adult beverages and eating whatever they want and you’re like, I’m happy with the chicken and veggies I brought for the grill and I’m pretending my jug of water is something more than it is.  True story and True lie! I wanted to have fun like everyone else, hell it was a holiday right!  Well.. This was me a few years ago, I was 1 week out from show and I had to dig deep that I worked long and hard and there was nothing going to get between me and my goals. So that meant going to the party and having to hear people making judgements about what I was doing and/or asking me if I was sure if I couldn’t just have x, y or z. It’s really hard to not roll your eyes or just yell shut up and let me do me and you do you.

Now if that’s what you are willing to do, then yes you can be a fitness competitor.

Do you need to be one to work with me NO..  After my 9 year run, I stopped competing and worked really hard to come up with this sense of balance.  Balance between what would keep me fitting into my pants and allow me some fun foods and drinks with my friends.  It’s taken  me sometime, but I have found it.  The key was to get my hunger, my energy and my cravings in check.  I had to find my tipping of of food vs. exercise. You see I no longer wanted to work out like it was my full time job, I want to find balance and lose my manic ways.

I now only workout 4-5 times/week and spend no more than 1 hour in the gym.

My Lean & Sexy program is all about finding this balance and this tipping point that works for you and your life.

The post What Separates You From A Fitness Competitor’ appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.