We’re all unique as individuals, and yet, we have things that are in common with other people. When it comes to fitness and sculpting a piece of art out of your body, there are struggles segregating us into different categories. Today, we’re here to help in the struggle that anyone who’s trying to lose fat can relate to – the trouble of counting calories.
Here are nine ways in which you can count your calories more effectively, and make decisions that augment your diet and would make the effort easier.
- You are what you eat: There’s so much to eat – you have vegetables, especially the leafy ones, that don’t add many calories, but yet provide vitamins and minerals, such as iron, and provide fibre, which further aids in digestion. You have salads and you have products, such as pulses, lentils, and soya to stack up on proteins. Also, look at the format of food you’re eating – fried & junk food is a strict no-no. Roasted and boiled is going to be very favourable.
Careful though: If you’re increasing protein intake, keep your workout stricter to counter the extra calories that they can add up.
- Usage of supplements: There are a lot of products on the market that augment your diet and help you get results quicker and with lesser effort. You can consume fat-cutting steroids, such as Winstrol. With such a product to back up your workout and diet, getting the desired results becomes easier.
- Space out & scale your meals: It’s very important to eat judiciously, especially when you’re aiming to lose the extra pounds. This is done in an easier fashion by dividing your meals into a format where you eat smaller portions and eat more frequently. That way, you avoid getting hungry frequently and don’t consume unnecessary calories in response to hunger and cravings.
- Fluids are your friends: Being well hydrated is crucial to any kind of workout and diet. How do you plan on digesting everything if your body is short on water supply? To put it in a more subtle way – without enough water to wash down things, you might feel bloated and fatigued, which ultimately lands a blow on your will and morale. So, be it lemon-water, warm water with honey, or ginger tea – keep yourself hydrated.
- Sleep: Without this, everything else will fall flat on the face.
Why? Because sleep dictates your body more than anything else does – be it diet or be it your workout. Without enough sleep, you’ll feel drowsy, your bodily functions will be slower and sluggish, and you’ll feel tired all the time – not the right state to be in at all.
- Learn to say ‘no’: If you’ve ever read the words of anyone who has achieved great success in life, you’ll encounter one advice that’s too logical to ignore – saying ‘no’ to things is saying ‘yes’ to your targets. This is coming from a credible source and someone who has achieved this – say no to things that you know can mess up your plans. This includes food, such as deep-fried chips, another round of drinks, or that extra scoop of ice cream.
- Reward yourself: But yes, also know when to say ‘yes’ to yourself. Depriving yourself of everything that’s important to you (but is against your regime) can be tough and, combined with the wrong circumstances, can trigger you into completely abandoning your regime; thus, relapsing.
In order to avoid that temptation – reward yourself once a week for practising your plans well with something like an ice cream or a burger. But, remember – don’t go overboard. Always be in control.
- Get help: Almost all of us live either with our friends, family, or have a close interaction with them on a daily basis. One of the most effective ways is to seek help from people around you. Ask them to raise a red flag if you’re getting anxious about eating or are ordering junk. It’s a bit hard and uncomfortable for either party, but in the long run – it’s a win-win for both.
- Discipline: This is the final frontier, to be very honest. It covers everything starting from your sleep to covering your workout and diet, and includes even your state of mind. The way we see it, lack of discipline in any of these would, in turn, affect the other pillars severely, making it harder to see results.
For example, sleeping at odd times means you’ll eat at odd times and will mess up your biological cycle, and so on. It’s a chain reaction.
To counter this – set your daily plans beforehand (or at the start of the day). Follow your plans strictly, and record lapses on your part. Remind yourself that every lapse means that:- You’ll be arriving at your destination later than planned, and
- You’re undermining your own efforts to get there.
Remember – it’s your marathon to run about being fitter and feeling better about yourself. You’re the one who’s going to have to make sacrifices. Always keep the end result in mind and keep going. There are many others walking the same path as you. All the best!
