Diets don’t work
Yes, it's that time of year when you're supposed to feel guilty about getting fluffy round the middle from eating a box of Lindor dipped in leftover sage and onion gravy. Well don't!
If you want to lose a bit of the Christmas spirit you don't need: clean eating, 100 days fasting, keto, cabbage water, SlimFast, Beach Body, or the need to turn into a Breatharian (gotta love a 'Murican nut job) or even scales! Get off the sad step.
‘Breatharian’ couple survives on ‘the universe’s energy’ instead of food
Deep down you know diets don't work. You might have tried different ones over the years. You start cutting calories and you do lose some weight but then it creeps back on.
Do yourself a favour and don't Google "new diet". Whatever it is, it's just a new version of an old thing - calorie restriction. A punishment for having had a good time at Christmas.
To get rid of the Christmas fluff you don't need to starve yourself. AND, why do you need to do it in three weeks?? Take your time and eat well. Life's too short to be miserable skipping meals (doesn't work well for women anyway).
What do you do instead? Start with your mindset about weight - 80 hours of cardio isn't something you do to "earn" food or burn off a mince pie. Don't think of good or bad foods. In moderation you can eat a bit of chocolate, a slice of pizza.
* Eat regular meals - breakfast, lunch, dinner. If you workout hard then eat a snack before and after as well.
* Eat protein at every meal. Most women don't eat enough
* Front load meals - more in the daytime and less at dinner
* Eating carbs is not devil worship. You don't need oodles but you need some. Try and eat wholegrain over white bread, rice or pasta.
* Eat moderate healthy fats (eg a bit of avocado, splash of olive oil)
* Cut down on the sugary shit and processed stuff. Don't eliminate it all but if you cut that stuff down you'll see a difference
* START LIFTING WEIGHTS
Why do it this way?
- You won't starve yourself all day long then woof everything in the cupboard in the evening
- You're not "trying to be good" all mid-week and then eat a ton of shit at the weekend because either you "deserve it" or you're really so hungry you need to make up for it at the weekend
- Soup and a bit of lettuce isn't going to work. You need the protein to make sure you're building muscle tissue and it fills you up
- It's called body recomposition instead of "weight loss". Focus on losing fat not weight. (Weight loss means losing muscle as well. You can't afford to lose muscle.)
- Lifting weights builds muscle. It's this that increases your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate). Muscles are energy hungry
- This approach takes time but it works. And you won't be crying over a bowl of lettuce or miserably chewing a chair leg off
Consistency, not perfection, works.