Is losing weight your main priority? Has the threat of a global pandemic shifted what you think about leading a healthy life? Like millions of Americans that are quitting jobs that don’t bring satisfaction to your life, maybe it’s time to start thinking about quitting the idea that losing weight during covid has anything to do with your health.
The Covid pandemic created a sedentary condition for many people. With gyms and fitness centers closed, many struggled to get in regular exercise. According to the American Psychological Association, 42% of Americans reported a weight gain of 29 pounds on average.
The real question moving forward is how to lose weight gained during Covid. The answer is a lot easier than you might think! Here are 4 ways that you can help yourself lose weight without the focus being on losing weight.
4 Steps On How To Lose Weight During Covid
Get Regular Sleep
Getting regular sleep is one of the key factors in living a healthy lifestyle. Many Americans, free of a regular schedule, started to oversleep or undersleep. Having a routine and consistent sleep schedule gives your body the time it needs to repair and recover. Good sleep is the number one healthy habit that results in weight loss.
10 Minute Walks
Getting healthy exercise can be a daunting task. The fear of possibly getting sick from being in a crowded gym still keeps people away. Luckily, the amount of exercise needed in order to keep yourself on a healthy track isn’t as large as you think. By creating the small threshold of a 10 minute walk everyday, you set yourself up for long-term success. There will be plenty of days that you will do more than this, but having a minimal and easily achieved healthy dynamic habit will ensure compliance.
Eating Slower
One of the first things that I recommend during our Dynamic Habits 12 Week Program isn’t to eat less or count calories; it’s to try to eat slower. Leptin, a hormone that allows us to feel full, doesn’t release at the same time that we are physically full. That gap allows us to eat 50 to 100 extra calories that we didn’t need to feel satiated. Added up over time, this accounts for thousands of extra calories. Simply setting a 10 minute timer and committing to NOT finishing a meal before it goes off will have a huge impact on your health.
Mild Resistance Training
You don’t need to spend hours in the gym in order to see the benefits of resistance training. Building muscle will change your body in ways that are not related, but much more satisfying, than a number on a scale. I wish more people would throw their scale out and pay attention to things like how their clothes fit, how do they feel physically and how much more able are they do to the things they love.
Is Losing Weight during Covid a Good Goal?
Honestly, losing weight as a goal isn’t a good idea in any situation, let alone a pandemic. While goal setting is good, the numbers on a scale aren’t a good measurement for success. After all, if you really want to lose a few pounds you can do so by going to the bathroom. It’s also arbitrary. Will you be healthier at 155 pounds versus 145 pounds? That measurement alone won’t tell you and focusing on it can lead to consequences like disordered eating and body dysmorphia.
Spend time looking at how healthy habits make you feel, make you look in the mirror, make your clothes fit you. Pick small, achievable goals like daily walks or adding more protein to a meal during the day. Habits like these are developed in our Dynamic Habits 12 Week Program and help create success long-term.
What do you think? Is weight loss during Covid a goal that you’re still striving for? Let us know in the comments below!
