Sustainable Weight Loss Journey - Part 5
- Jul 8
- 5 min read
This is the fifth post in my Sensible & Sustainable Weight Loss Series. I’m doing this series to help you lose weight in a healthy way, build a lifestyle that keeps weight off, and enjoy your life throughout the whole process and beyond.
Watch Me Discuss It
If you missed the first four blog posts, I recommend going back and reading them before moving forward with this one. Also, no matter how slow and gentle we make the weight-loss journey, it won't be for everyone. Please take a moment to read the disclaimer below.
Disclaimer
If you have a history of disordered eating, tread carefully. Work with a therapist trained in disordered eating before even considering a weight-loss journey.
Discuss potential lifestyle changes with your doctor. Changes to eating patterns and exercise routines are healthy for most people, but you must keep in mind any risk factors or underlying health issues when making lifestyle changes, even healthy ones.
The changes I suggest are considered healthy and beneficial by most standards. The suggestions I make have worked well for me and for people I know. These are common concepts used among successful nutrition and wellness coaches. But you know you best. Don't do anything that doesn't feel right to you.
While I recommend exercise for most people, if you have an injury or other physical issue, some exercises might not work for you. Listen to your body.
Let's Talk Exercise
In a previous post, we briefly discussed increasing our exercise levels, but today I wanted to talk a little more about exercise.
There are 3 types of exercise that we need to keep our bodies healthy.
1) Aerobic exercise, aka cardio, to lower the risk of many disease states such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. This is often the first type of exercise people think of when they want to lose weight. This can be anything from brisk walking to using an elliptical to taking a group fitness class.
2) Strength training, aka weightlifting or resistance training, to maintain or increase muscle mass, which improves our ability to do everyday tasks and protects us from injury. When we have more muscle, we burn more calories simply by walking around and living life, which promotes weight loss.
3) Stretching keeps us limber and enables our muscles to work effectively. Doing activities like Tai Chi and Yoga can also help reduce mental noise and reduce stress, in addition to the positive physical effects on the body.
I know you likely have a lot going on just trying to plan meals and track calories, but we can’t overlook the importance of exercise for both our long-term health and our success on our weight-loss journey. I also wanted to talk about this again because for many of us, as we continue in a calorie deficit, it is normal for our activity level to slowly decline. This can begin to affect our weight loss, sometimes making us feel as if we are plateauing. If we have the option to cut calories further or add more movement to our day, I will always suggest movement, because cutting calories too far can have unwanted side effects. We want to eat as much as possible while we slowly lose the extra weight.
You don’t need to join a gym to get plenty of exercise, but depending on your lifestyle, you may have to get a little creative.
Personally, I would like to see most people get 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise 4-5 days a week, some strength training 2-3 days a week, and then simple stretching every day with maybe a true yoga session at least once a week. If that sounds like way too much to you, don’t worry. Just like getting into our calorie deficit, you shouldn’t jump into a complicated exercise routine fast either. Let’s go slow.
First, let’s talk about cardio. How many steps are you getting a day? Are they mostly just slow meandering steps, or do you go for purposeful walks? The easiest way to add aerobic exercise is through walking. Can you add more purposeful walking into your day? But how much walking do you need to do? I know we have all heard that we should get 10,000 steps a day, and if you are getting that, great. However, that does not have to be your goal, and maybe it shouldn’t be. If you are getting at least 5000 steps, and some of that is brisk, purposeful movement, it’s time to move on to strength training before you worry about getting more steps.
Second, we have strength training, which does not require a gym. You can do squats, toe raises, and pushups with no equipment at all. Or go buy a set of dumbbells or resistance bands and find some instruction videos online. Muscle helps us burn more calories. And as we age, we naturally lose muscle, which unfortunately makes injuries more likely. Start with small weights, but don’t be afraid to increase as you progress. We want to get stronger, which means putting in real effort into our resistance training. We need weights heavy enough to exhaust the muscles we are working.
And then there is stretching and Yoga. When we lose flexibility and balance, we feel old. I like to do simple stretches throughout the day. In the morning, a couple of quick stretches wake up the body. In the middle of the day, they help release tightness, and before bed, they help alleviate stress and set you up for a good night’s sleep. And if you want to dip your toe in Tai Chi or Yoga, YouTube has videos galore or, better yet, find an in-person class near you!
Once you are getting over 5,000 steps a day, along with some resistance exercises and stretching, you can revisit the cardio portion and begin adding more to help you continue burning calories. Look for ways to do this that are enjoyable to you. Maybe go for more walks, maybe go find live music on the weekends and dance, do jumping jacks during commercials when you are watching TV in the evening. Find creative ways to move your body more.
Start small, add some simple movement into your day, and see how you feel! Track it so that you have the data. Keep adding movement in a way that fits your lifestyle.
Tracking In An App
I mentioned in one of the early videos that the LoseIt app and probably the other apps as well have a default setting that adds calories to your daily allotment when you log exercise. Be sure that it is turned off. You already accounted for exercise when calculating your TDEE. If you also add calories back into your budget when you exercise, you are double-dipping and won’t see the results you want.
That's It For Now
Take care of yourself, eat mindfully, and keep at it until I see you again in the next blog post.
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