Losing Weight Doesn't Start in the Gym, but Rather in the Kitchen

The first of January is way behind us, and by this time you’ve already made your New Year's resolutions, right? Like losing weight, quitting cigars, reading more books, spending more time with your friends and family, and so on. Hitting gym is probably the most cliché thing you’ll hear about from people after New Year’s Eve. It is considered cliché and made fun of for a reason.

People expect fast results, while bodily changes like gaining or losing weight actually take some time. Also, people easily fall into delusions about the gym, thinking exercising is sufficient for losing weight, and forgetting about the proper diet. That is why a lot of beginners quit going to the gym, thus making the idea of buying membership card silly. Today, we’ll discuss the things you should keep in mind when entering a kitchen, since diet is essential when getting into shape.

Cut Cut Cut

Cutting certain food out of your diet is necessary. Depending on how much you’re used to eating, you might feel hungry at the beginning of your new diet. But don’t worry, you won’t have to starve yourself in order to lose weight. There are several effective ways for losing weight, and later we’ll address the keto diet.

First of all, whether you want to try keto or not, you need to cut sugar and starches (here’s why). So no more sweets and sodas, late night fast food, and stuff. You may feel hungry after eating, more sooner than with carbs, but nothing to worry about, as time passes, you’ll get used to it. Your hunger levels go down and you end up eating less food—plus, instead of burning carbs, your body will start burning stored up fat instead. Cutting carbs also benefits by lowering insulin levels. This means that the kidney will shed any excess water and sodium inside you.

More Meat and Vegetables

In order not to mess up when correcting your diet, you’ll have to pay much more attention than before. But to put it as simply as possible, your every meal should be high in protein and fats, and low in carbs. Recommended range for carbs per meal should be 20 to 50 grams, and protein and fat as much as you like. By increasing protein in your diet, you’ll reduce your cravings and speed up your metabolism. So just by simply eating more protein, you’ll end up eating 400 to 500 calories less than usual.

When it comes to the protein source, focus on meat and eggs (with yolk): Beef, pork, chicken, lamb, and seafood with salmon, trout, shrimp, etc. Seafoods are abundant in essential fats, but if you feel you need more fat, add olive oil to your salad, eat more butter, or add coconut oil as well. The list of low-carb food is long, so here are few: Spinach, broccoli, cabbage, tomato, lettuce, cucumber etc.

Every once in a while (once in a week preferably), make a "carb re-feed day." It is not necessary, but eating carbs can increase leptin and thyroid hormones (they have fat-burning properties). Be sure to stick to healthy carbs only: Quinoa, sweet potatoes, potatoes, oats, etc.

Keto Diet

The keto diet is quite popular, and probably the most effective diet that goes along with exercising for better performance, weight loss, and health. Keto stands for "ketones," small molecules that your body produces when supplies of blood sugar (glucose) are low. If you are stuck at making a diet plan, check out this 30 day keto meal plan for some cool recipes.

My personal favourites are low-carb banana waffles, and blueberry smoothies. A smoothie is perfect for those in a hurry:

• 14 ounces of coconut milk,
• half a cup of blueberries,
• one tablespoon of lemon juice, and
• half a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Blend and you're ready to go!

Be sure to stick to your diet plan. Especially if it’s a keto diet, since it may feel exhausting sometimes. You will feel surprised how effective it is, and you will see how much your hard work pays off.