A few years ago I had no idea what a plank or a downward dog was. I didn’t have a how to lose weight guide or even a real idea of where my weight loss was headed. I never considered myself an athlete, although I did take many years of dance and horseback riding growing up. My knowledge base of exercise consisted of a few memories of PE class and advertisements of Jane Fonda workout videos.
Fitness is one of those amazing non-biased opportunities that conforms to anyone willing to be an active participate. There is no right or wrong way to be fit. No specific level of fitness that must be achieved. It is dependent on you, on your personal goals and desires, and those can be revised and modified as much as you want!
My point here is that, fitness should not be compared to anyone else. You are your own fitness standard, you control the lessons and evaluations.
But, where exactly do you start for the lasting success you dream of?
You have probably realized how quickly your body changes after 40. It didn’t take long for me to see the changes and realize it takes a little more effort and consistency than it did in our earlier years.
That’s ok though! Don’t get discouraged by that.
As with many projects, getting started can be half the battle.
First Step to How to Lose Weight for Women Over 40
The first step can be the most difficult. It is necessary for you to change your attitude, habits and lookout on your physical goals that will the catalyst to living a healthier life. It is now that you discover the encompassing WHY to your weight loss journey for your motivation to make the necessary changes.
So many weight loss goals fail because the WHY behind how to lose weight and getting healthy isn’t as important as the unhealthy habits you’ve grown to love.
It took me years and years of yo-yo dieting before I realized this. The opportunity to eat my favorite dessert in the moment was always more important than losing the weight I desired. Yes, I was a total sugar addict, still am — once an addict always an addict, right? I have since learned and gained the willpower and tools to control it.
It doesn’t matter what level of fitness you are aiming for, your WHY must be discovered and you must be fully committed to it.
The mindset to lose weight and be healthy has to be the foundation of your daily activities. Losing weight and getting healthy is an encompassing lifestyle – it defines your activities and the foods you eat.
Being able to lose weight and be healthy does not have to be such a change that it is so difficult to work into your life that you give up. To be successful, you have to be able to ease it into your life.
If you are not a morning person, but feel the only way you can workout is to get up out of bed 2 hours earlier and drive 20 minutes to the gym every morning — save your time and money. It won’t last a month.
If you love meat and decide that tomorrow you will go vegan…nope. It won’t last.
Be realistic. Do what will work into your schedule with as much ease as possible. Once I began to lose weight, it took years for me to get to the level of commitment I am at right now. It was a goal that developed over time but that has been sustainable because the changes didn’t take place overnight. Little by little I was able to make adjustments and improvements.
Step 1 – How to lose weight – be realistic and discover your WHY.
Next step…get moving!
