The Secret to Being Thin

Shh! It’s a secret!

Want to know the secret to being thin in my humble opinion?  It’s 90% diet and 10% exercise.  Call it the 90/10 Rule.   I’m not a doctor or a scientist; these thoughts are based on my observations at the gym and own experiences.

5 Secrets to Being Thin , are revealed below:

1. A bikini body is 90% diet.  Seriously.  I used to think that the diet-exercise ratio was a 50-50 thing.  It’s not.  I know it’s not because I see the same people at the gym every morning with me killing themselves in boot camp classes and sweating on the treadmill and they are still unhappy with their bodies.  When they ask me how I’ve lost the weight I tell them two things: eat right and get a good trainer.  Whenever I ask how their diet is they tend to blush and look away.  “Not so good,” they confess.  I’m telling you – if you eat “clean” you will be 90% to your bikini body goal.  And it happens a lot faster than you would think.

2. Eating “clean” isn’t really that hard.  If you are a normal person, I guess the first two weeks of eating clean suck.  If you are a hard-core junk food junkie like me it took two months to get used to the clean food mantra.  But if I can do it, you can do it.  Quinoa actually tastes good.  Green beans are growing on me.  I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray makes everything taste better.

3. All vegetables are not created equal.  Sweet peas and carrots have a lot of sugar in them.  Who knew?  Go for fresh veggies instead of canned or frozen to avoid the added sodium and preservatives.   Want to really know how your favorites stack up in the veggie wars?  Keep a food journal and track the calories online using one of the many you can get for free just by doing a Google search.

4. It’s better to eat 6 smaller meals per day versus 3 big meals per day.  Here is an analogy:  Think of your metabolism as a fireplace.  If you put in three heavy logs the fire will take longer to catch on and it takes a lot of effort to heat the room.  But, if you put in six small bundles of wood and kindling the fire starts up faster and burns more consistently.

5. Buy a food scale.  I got mine at the grocery store for about $20.  I used to think that just cutting a chicken breast in half was the right portion, but when working to obtain a bikini body, size does matter.  Sometimes that chicken breast needs to be cut into thirds or quarters if the butcher is feeling generous that day.  Also, sweet potatoes have such odd shapes it’s really tricky to know where to slice to get exactly 4 ounces.

So remember, even if you can’t get to the gym five days a week, if you eat right you will be well on your way to looking and feeling great!  Eat six mini meals vs. three big ones.  Read the labels so you have a better understanding of how many calories you are consuming.  Keep the portions correct by using a food scale.  Eating healthy is an adjustment but it will get you thin faster than purely exercising alone.

 

Sheslosingit.net (c) 2012 Lisa Traugott.  All rights reserved.  No portion of this blog, including any text, photographs, and artwork, may be reproduced or copied without written permission.

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