Yoga Benefits

Having a good mindset is one of the most important aspects of losing weight. Yoga doesn't necessarily make you lose weight, but it helps you to focus, relax, and be disciplined. To produce the outcome you're striving for, you have to work hard and not waver- you can't become too discouraged. There will be some people that are better than you and can hold poses longer, but you have to remember, you're not in competition with them- you're in competition with yourself. While attempting a yoga pose, you have to find a focal point and keep your eyes on that point until you come out of the pose or else it falls apart. You can't allow distractions to keep your eye off the focal point, which is what I let happen because I didn't have the right mindset to lose weight. If you slip and take your eye off the prize by indulging in fatty foods, everything can easily fall apart. To be able to focus and be disciplined, you have to relax your body and mind. Tensed up muscles don't function properly, so you're taught to breathe deeply, which will help you when you workout because deep breathing enables you to run faster with less effort.

Link between sleep and weight gain

Could lack of sleep cause you to gain weight? Think about it.. if you don't have much energy, you grab some coffee or snacks to give you a boost. The immediate result? You may be able to fight off sleepiness. The ultimate result? Unwanted pounds of poor food choices and lack of exercise that might further lead to obesity. Its not so much that if you sleep, you will lose weight, but if you are sleep deprived, your metabolism will not function properly. The two hormones that are key in this process are ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin is the "go" hormone that tells you when to eat, and when you are sleep deprived, you have more ghrelin. Leptin is the hormone that tells you to stop eating, and when you are sleep deprived, you have less leptin. More ghrelin plus less leptin equals weight gain.

Fact or Fiction

You should never eat past 8 o'clock... (Fiction- its not when you eat, but how much you eat. People tend to overeat later at night which is why most people think this)

Drinking broth based soup before eating can help you feel less full... (Fact- Eating foods with a high water content increases one's sense of fullness, but drinking water on its own has not been shown to have the same impact because water is emptied more quickly out of your stomach)

If you are on a diet, you should avoid red meat... (Fiction- red meat is a great source of iron and protein) 

If you're not sweating while working out, you're not working hard enough... (Fiction- There is zero correlation between perspiration and losing weight. What works best for you lifestyle is whats going to work the best because you will stick to it.) 

There is no miracle fat burning food... (Fact- Many people have heard that grapefruits speed up metabolism, which is true.. but only for a little bit. Even though it has some benefits, it may affect the way the body absorbs, processes, and eliminates certain prescription drugs)

Defining success/ failure

Success is self satisfaction which you get from achieving your tasks and when you can be a sampler for others in a moral way. I have been successful in being captain of my volleyball team, getting into the college I wanted, and becoming a valedictorian. I achieved that success by working hard every day and putting the most important things in my life first.

I believe you have failed once you let yourself or others down. I feel like a failure every time I let my soccer team or parents down, for example the other day when I got a speeding ticket and my mom wasn't very happy with me. I live by the quote "Fail early, fail fast, and fail often" or else you won't take anything out of your experience and learn from it. 

I used to believe failure motivated me, but after exercising hard at the gym the first couple of weeks and not seeing any changes, I wasn't motivated to work any harder. I started to lose weight from soccer and that is what has kept me motivated to lose more and eat healthier. 

Keep Busy

I had to freeze my account at the gym these past 2 weeks because soccer and my job have taken over. You don't always have to go to the gym to lose weight. This past month has showed me that anything active will help you achieve your goal and keeping busy is also an important factor in that. I used to go home everyday after school and have a pretty big snack, but now I don't have time to do it so I just grab a protein bar or banana for the time between school and practice. I use the app- Livestrong Calorie counter to keep track of how many calories I can eat in a day in order to still lose weight at a healthy rate.

Snacks

After a long day of school or work, people are always anxious to get home or stop somewhere for a snack. The best snacks to eat are:

-bananas

-edamame

-oatmeal

-greek yogurt (I like chobani the best)

-shrimp

-carrots

-quest bars

-eggs

These foods are easy to make so you cant complain about not having enough time! One of the hardest things for me is to concentrate on eating slow. The slower you eat, the faster you'll notice how full you're getting which is one step closer to losing weight. 

Arms and Abs

There are many exercises you can do for your arms but the ones I have started to like the most are tricep dips and bicep curls with a dumbbell in each hand. The weight really depends on how much you can do. I try to go up 5 pounds every week.

For abs I really like reverse crunches, planks, toe touches, and the bicycle. All of those workouts are good to target different muscles and keep your core strong.

These are the exercises I use for upper body and core workouts on the weight loss plan below.