My Weight Loss Hacks!

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1. GET MOVING.

I can't stress this enough. Move your body, run, do hot yoga, go hiking- literally ANYTHING! Just get moving. In order to loose weight we must evidently be in a caloric deficit. When I was aiming to loose weight, I made sure I was exerting more energy than I consumed. I did this by becoming a long distance runner for quite some time where my runs varied from 5k-10km everyday, and tracking what I ate to make sure I stayed on track. You can track your food based on your macro and micro nutrients. But I just did it the old fashioned way and ate by intuition.

Essentially, running and swimming are great. My favourite now which isn't too hard on the knees is the stair master. The stairmaster is great, put on your favourite TV show on Netflix and you're good to go.

Another recommendation would be doing your cardio fasted such that you have a quick energy boost and it becomes a habit you wake up to. Once you start, you'll be encouraged to keep going.

Key lesson: MOVE. Get your cardiovascular going. It's very important.

Tip: Try HIIT cardio 2-3 times a week. I normally do sprints on the treadmill, but hill sprints are great too. You can do anything from 20 seconds on to 20 seconds off, to 90 seconds off and 30 seconds on. The choice is yours.

2. CLEAN UP YOUR DIET.

They always say abs are made in the kitchen. You can train as much as you'd like and do as much cardio as you'd like however; if your diet is not matching your training the results will not show. This obviously differs if you are trying to bulk, but this is a weight loss blog. ;)

Things to avoid: refined sugars, packaged goods, high trans fats.. etc. If you cannot pronounce the ingredients on the package you should be questioning what's being put in your body.

Good things to aim for: high protein, natural sugars, complex wholesome carbs, good fats. I always say that if it's natural or produced by earth you're good to go.

Here are some of my recommendations

Proteins:

Eggs/eggwhites

Chicken breast/ chicken thighs

Ground Turkey

Extra lean ground beef

Tilapia/ sea bass, bass, tuna etc. any white fish.

Tofu

Carbs

Sweet/white potato

Brown/wild/white rice

Oats

Rice cakes (natural and/ salted)

Quinoa

Ezekiel bread

Fats

Avocado

Nut butter

Sirloin steak

Salmon

Salted nuts

Dark chocolate

Greens/veggies

Asparagus (amazing diuretic- decreases bloating)

Carrots

Red pepper (any pepper)

Broccoli

Spinach

Green beans

Kale

Parsley

Tomatoes

Onions

Etc..

*This varies if you macro count FYI. If you macro count you can pretty much eat whatever you like as long as it fits your macros, and hopefully you try to reach some micronutrients too haha! NOTE: I am not a nutritionist I am just telling you things that helped me loose weight after my years of research.*

The way I see it is this, our body is our home and temple. We must watch what we put in it as it's our only home for the rest of our lives.

3. DRINK LOADS OF WATER.

Drinking water is great and is believed to help surpress hunger and speed up your metabolism. Plus... it gives you great skin- so why not?

Aim to drink 2-3Ls of water a day.

4. AVOID ALCOHOL.

As much as I hate to say this alcohol is merely empty calories.

When trying to loose weight it's best to avoid drinking as it can set you back on your progress.

Plus a lot of drinks are made with loads, and, loads of sugar. Which we don't need when trying to loose weight.

5. HAVE FUN W/ YOUR WORKOUTS.

I always mix up my training, I used to do hot yoga, I did long distance running, finally I found my passion in weight lifting (bodybuilding) I love toning up my body. Im always changing my ab workouts, my cardio, my training- that's what keeps it fun. That's what will keep you motivated. Keep you going. It's important to try things out to find what you love. My next activity will be pole dancing and I heard it's a killer! Go out there and try things, who knows what you may stumble upon.

6. BALANCE.

Every size and every body is beautiful in it's own way- don't feel the need to change it if you don't want to. One important thing to not forget is balance. You only do live once, if you want a cheat meal. HAVE ONE. If you're in Italy go crazy on the pasta, if you're in France go crazy on the croissants. Do what you want! This is a lifestyle change, it has to be realistic. During my offseason I have one cheat meal a week. It keeps me happy and sane. It also motivates me to keep up with my diet during the week asI have a little reward at the end of it. Just a little something to look forward to!

Other tips:

I recommend trying to motivational speakers when feeling unmotivated my personal favourite are Eric Thomas, and, Greg Plitt.

BCAAs and protein powder are a great intra and post workout treat that usually push me through my workout.

Green tea/ matcha tea/ black coffee are great for metabolism boosters.

Have a workout playlist ready to go with whatever you bop to!

If you do fasted cardio have your clothes ready the night before so you save time and you are more motivated to get up, and, get moving!

For more inquiries don't hesitate to email me or dm me on instagram,

Xoxo,

Sarah.

IG: sarahyousefi_

Email: sarahyousefi@outlook.com