Hi!
In January I posted about setting short-term goals for 2020 to achieve your main fitness goal. I wrote this because after I lost my desired amount of weight 3 years ago, I maintained my healthy lifestyle because I was used to working out and eating well. But I also wanted to ‘lose my belly fat’- without actually having a step by step process on HOW will I do it. I just continued doing what I usually do, and when you continue doing the same thing you do not get any different results than those already existing.
When I suggested you guys to make short term goals, I was new to them as well. I too had never done this before and it was all very confusing (and very very exciting). Today, I’m down by 6 inches and 3kgs in 3 months. This is while my main focus is not losing weight or achieving a particular number on the scale, but losing fat and decreasing my Body Fat Percentage.
How did I do it?
I wrote one goal at the beginning of the month in a diary. For instance, in January I wanted to learn a push up perfectly but also increase my performance with burpees. To achieve this, everyday post-workout I did 50 burpees (5 burpees every minute for 10 minutes, that way I rest the remaining time left in a minute). They were EXTREMELY hard in the beginning but eventually got better. Today, I can do them effortlessly and it feels good because there was a time when even 20 of them were extremely hard for me.
Apart from this, I also tracked my calories in an app (My Fitness Pal). I’ve been following an ~1800 calorie diet which should include 80-100g protein.
Note– Since I’m in quarantine right now, I am eating ~1500 calories (60-80g protein) as I am also waking up later and am not going to Crossfit, so I don’t feel as hungry and my 7am and 10am meals just club into one breakfast at 11.
Now, there are days I eat just 40g protein (I can’t eat 5 boiled eggs on a Sunday, I like my mum’s French toasts or poha or paranthas!). There are also days I’ve reached 2500+ calories. Here’s the sad sad truth- as women, we are obsessed with looking in the mirror and seeing what’s NOT right. I too, often look at myself and think ‘why can’t these love-handles go?’ If you are calorie counting, do not go crazy and get obsessed with it. Most importantly, DO NOT eat less the next day just because you had a surplus the day before. You have to respect your body’s daily needs.
Also, change your perspective when you overdo it instead of guilt-tripping yourself. For e.g., when I’ve was in a surplus during my holiday, I actually was having a lovely time and went for a holiday with my best friend for the first time – something I’ll always remember and cherish forever. The power of positive outlook, right? 😉
In short, I achieved my fat-loss of 6 inches by:
- Creating a calorie deficit
- Looking at myself and speaking well to myself about myself (no criticizing)
- Creating one goal to achieve each month, and planning how will I achieve that
Important things to know:
- Starving does not mean calorie deficit. You have to eat enough and listen to your body. Feed it well!
- There is nothing known as ‘spot reduction’ i.e. losing fat from one area in the body, for example, your tummy or your thighs. You lose fat overall.
- A lesson I’ve learned late – focus on the inches, not on the scale.
- No fad diets – I have NEVER been on a diet. I continue to eat desserts and gol gappe wholeheartedly and every week
I’m also tracking my weight and inches every month – progress or no progress- because only then can I fix things and get better 🙂
In case you haven’t already, we have 3/4th of the year left so start with your monthly and weekly goals NOW!
The Chameleon's Chronicles 