Can You Still Lose Weight Working Out At-Home?

Can You Still Lose Weight Working Out At-Home?

Mar 31, 2020 mindpump

Whether we are quarantined because of coronavirus, work from home, can’t afford a gym, you name it, we’d still like the ability to achieve our goals. For most of the clients I’ve seen throughout the year the majority of them want to lose weight. The problem was never the time spent with me in the gym, it’s the other 23 hours of the day. For those who don’t have a trainer and just work out at home, how do they stay motivated? Can you even lose weight and hit your goals working out at home?

Motivation, Goal Setting, and Consistency

In my opinion, the issue isn’t whether you should have access to a gym, or have enough equipment at home. It’s all about mindset. Any client that has successfully hit their fat goals, has had these three things in common.

Forget about things going right because anyone can do anything under those circumstances. What about when your day is packed and you have zero motivation? If you are going to be working out at home, then you need to set the right discipline. Any new fitness habit you implement first ask yourself – Could I still do this even when I have zero motivation to do so? If not, just make the task easier until the answer becomes yes. The individual who only aims for working out twice a week, but actually FOLLOWS it twice a week, will stay on a lot longer than the person who aims for 4 times a week and only follows it twice a week. Same outcome, yet the latter will ruin you psychologically.

Set those realistic goals in preparation for the times you have no willpower and have to grind. Keep in mind, you can ALWAYS overachieve and still do more than you planned. And that’ll feel a lot better than underachieving. Play the mindset game. If you plan for the emotional aspect then you’ll have better consistency throughout the entire process. Lay your gym clothes out the night before so that you limit your excuses for getting ready. Place the bands and weights in your living room where you need them so you can get right into it and not get distracted. Set up systems and a schedule to your home routine! You don’t need a fancy gym setup to lose weight! You just need a couple inexpensive pieces of equipment and discipline.

Diet

It should go without saying, diet is going to be the other most important aspect of all of this. You can have all the best at home equipment, the perfect workout program, and all the motivation and discipline in the world, but if you aren’t eating to fuel your goals then you are just spinning wheels. By definition, in order to lose weight, you need to be expending more calories than you are taking in. If you are not in a deficit of calories, then you will not hit your goal period. Gear your house with that in mind. For example, I LOVE chips. If it is in the house I will eat the entire bag. Rather than tease myself having to walk by it everyday, if I am dieting, I just don’t buy it at all. If it isn’t in your house you won’t consume it.

Use hacks that’ll help curb your snacking if that’s an issue. Drink more water! You probably aren’t drinking enough to begin with, and staying hydrated will increase fullness, and have the bonus of being great for your skin. With the chips and snacks not in your house eat less processed foods! They are usually high in fat and carbs which makes the overall calorie much higher than say a baked potato, and engineered to be less filling so you’ll eat and buy more. Opt instead for fruits, nuts, and big ass plates of veggies to help stay full. ADD protein and veggies! Again, we want to keep your snacking and hunger at bay. If each plate of food has a ton of veggies, and at least 1-2 servings of protein the size and thickness of your palm, you will not be hungry enough to want a snack. It’s all about changing how you eat and how you perceive food.

Again, realize the role that emotion is playing in all of this. You don’t want that snack because you’re hungry, you want it because you feel entitled to it, because you’ve always been able to eat it. Or, maybe you’re stressed and it helps cope with stress. I’m not saying don’t eat, but just make healthier choices. Focusing only on restricting stuff from your life will make you crave it more. That’s why all of my suggestions involve INCLUDING things into your diet.