How I Lost Weight Without Intense Exercise

It All Started With Lack Of Exercise

I started to gain weight in my late teens. As a kid, I had a horse and I was horseback riding every day and was showjumping basically every weekend. I was really fit back then, I assure you that. My main interests shifted in my late teens, and you can possibly guess the direction? Boys! And I went to school in another town so it became too time-consuming for me to have a horse, so I sold it. Poor eating habits and less training made me start to gain weight.

So many times I tried to diet and exercise without results until I discovered yoga and it took me about ten years. I shed quite a few pounds and felt great about myself.

Blessed With Children

Pregnant with my first child I gained again. I didn’t care so much about it then as I was so blessed to be a mother. But after my second child, I got the baby blues and that made me gain even more. When my son was a year old my pelvis was still aching as if I was still carrying a child, I had to build my core to stabilize my hips and lower back. The pain improved but the lower back pain was still there. It got worse and my work in cleaning services took its toll on my back and hip area. I could barely get out of the bed in the mornings or when I was sitting and started to move again I was terribly stiff. It was a nightmare.

I went to a physician and had x-rays of my lower back and pelvis, no severe damage was found, although my sacroiliac joints had wear damage and were unstable. The best solution for that, stabilize the core muscles. The muscle pains in my back and legs were still intense.

How I Got Into The Right Mindset

I was very aware of why I had gained weight. I knew that sugar and processed foods and grains are fattening and cause inflammation in the body. But still, I kept going. So what changed?

At that time a took courses in coaching, mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy. Some of the homework that we had were to practice visualization and mindfulness every day. I visualized myself strong and thin, feeling great about myself. Using mindfulness made me notice the cravings for sugar and taught me it wasn’t necessary to act on the impulse of buying sweets or other unhealthy foods.

What Is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is about being present right now. The human mind has several tens of thousands of thoughts every day. Most of them are in the future or past. Figuring out the next move or dwelling in the past. Thinking about what will happen next and deciding the best course of action. The course of action is usually decided by previous experiences. This is often the cause of stress and worry. Do you wonder why the human brain works this way? To protect us from harm, our brain was almost the same ten thousand years ago. A dangerous time for us. Being smart and knowing what to do to survive was crucial. Making choices based on experience was effective. For example, colorful fruits and berries are tasty and healthy to eat, lions are dangerous, I better stay away from them.

When you practice mindfulness you train the mind to be present in this moment. When the mind strays away you pull it back to the present again over and over again. Practicing mindfulness for ten to fifteen minutes a day for only eight weeks actually makes the frontal lobe of the brain grow. During meditation of monks, science showed increased activity in the left prefrontal cortex. This means less stress and negative feelings and increased compassion, joyfulness and calm. In conclusion, mindfulness is proven to make you happier and decrease stress and anxiety and, it makes it easier to make good choices.

Visualization

Here is also an important tool to making a change in life. To visualize daily imprints the brain to move towards being what you imagine. If you go around thinking you're ugly or not good enough the mind makes sure that you are. To yourself, of course, it is what you think and is probably not the truth. It is usually something you learned growing up. When I grew up I was compared to others and I was not really encouraged to eat healthy foods. My parents did the best they could.

When I started to picture a different image of myself making it strong and vivid in my mind as if it was in the present it started to make a new imprint in my mind. That and mindfulness made me change direction. I became kinder to myself and gave me a stronger self-esteem. It also made it easier to make better choices and resist bad habits.

How Is It Possible To Lose Weight Without Intense Exercise?

If you cut down the intake of processed carbohydrates there is a high probability that you will lose weight without intense exercise. This is a fact. I was taught growing up to eat food that was low in fat, carbohydrates were good and that the brain needs carbs to function. And I basically lived on sandwiches with low-fat spreads and I also loved eating bars of chocolate. This made me gain weight and it also caused inflammation in muscles and joints. At first, I did not know this of course, but I have always been interested in health and wellness so I read about it more and more.

Eating processed food is devastating to the body. Our metabolism is just like the human brain still the same as several thousands years ago. What did humans back then eat? Think about that for a while. Bread and chocolate bars? Sugar and wheat? Dairy-products? Of course not. They ate roots, leaves, berries, fruit, eggs, wild caught fish, insects, larvae, small animals and sometimes big game. Prehistoric man probably starved a lot too. How can we survive long-term starvation and how can the brain function without the consumption of carbohydrates every day? There are people that have survived for weeks without eating. How is it possible? The body can't function without energy, right? Most of us have plenty of energy stored in the fat cells. Cut down the intake of unhealthy processed foods rich in carbohydrates and eat real food instead and the body will start to use the stored fat as fuel.

Low Carb, High Fat Diet

It shouldn't be called a diet, it is a lifestyle, a healthy one. I started to eat real food instead of junk food and bread. Organic vegetables, meat and eggs, good fat from pastured milk, olive and coconut oil. No more processed vegetable oils, sugar or grains. Green clean food. The eating pyramid was turned upside down and I felt great as my stiff inflamed muscles and joints healed. I could move again! Without pain! And I lost weight as a bonus. It was a slow but steady drop in weight. About a year later, I had lost approximately forty pounds. I don't exactly know how much I lost because I didn't own a bathroom scale when I started. But going from a size XL to medium/small explains a lot.

Giving the body high-quality fuel and nutrition helps it to heal on a cellular level and normalizes blood sugar. The metabolism changes to using fat as fuel instead of carbs. The liver starts to use fat to produce glucose and ketones to fuel muscles and brain function.

Physical Training Is Important

Even if not necessary to lose weight, physical training is important for our overall health and wellbeing. Although exercise may speed up the process and toned muscles will make you stronger and look leaner. I have had to train to increase muscle tone to keep my core stable and I need to do this for the rest of my life because of the wear damage of my lower back.

I am a lot happier and have much more energy today and it is all because of mental and physical training, and a healthy diet. You can do it too! Let me sum it all up!

Start With Creating The Right Mindset

Mindfulness is a great tool. You can use it when walking or cleaning but first I would recommend to use it when you eat by really feel and chew the food. How does it really taste? Does the taste change after a while? How does it feel in your mouth and what do the taste buds say after you swallowed? Try not to rule if it is good or bad, just do it. Try it out!

Another great tool is visualization. Close your eyes and make a picture of yourself. The image should be of you how you want yourself to be. Make the image strong and vivid. How do you feel when you have achieved your vision? Make that feeling strong too as if you are there now. Try to do this for ten minutes every day.

Adjust The Diet

Now you will need to make the necessary change in your diet. Start by eating real food, buy organic as much as possible as organic has few pesticides and is better for the environment and for you. Avoid food high in carbohydrates try to keep the amount below 5 grams per 100 grams (5%) of the weight of the product. The main source of carbs should be vegetables grown above ground. Pastured eggs and meat from organic grass fed animals make good sources of protein. Fat from butter and cheese is good and also coconut oil and olive oil and nuts.

Eat when you are hungry and eat until you feel satisfied. You may want to ease into it, changing the diet like this makes the body detox and that may cause you to feel ill for a few days. You will soon notice that you will be satiated longer and you will feel energized and no longer crave sugar.

Good luck!