3 Weight Loss Rewards You’ll Reap Really Quickly

July 14, 2018 Ashley 0 Comments

So, you wanna lose weight.

But, somehow, bikini clad thinspo models just aren’t enough to inspire you anymore.

Everything they represent feels too far away. Too intangible.

(Does a scale drop come with that Fijian background? And cheekbones I could cut a frozen durian with?)

I mean, it sounds nice. Plus, looking (*insert fire emoji*) will be a great reward some months from now. But we all want something we can feel sooner than that, am I right? Something noticeable that kicks in three to five pounds from now – to remind us that we’re on the right path. Well, as someone who gained a little weight during the school year, I hear ya. But, as someone who also lost those pounds pretty fast, I can also share with you some of the “worth it” wellness rewards that returned to me once I did.

The first? I could breathe better. See, when your belly’s distended from bloating or stowing a bit of extra weight, it affects your diaphragm (the muscle you use to breathe with). All along, I’d been causing myself shortness of breath with just that extra li’l bit of weight I’d been holding – which inevitably increased my stress levels. This, in turn, caused cortisol release, which made me store even more body fat.

And to worsen that stress is a little move we all inadvertently do when we gain a little weight: we suck in our tummy blubber. You might find you even do this just after impregnating yourself with a food fetus. When we suck in, not only are we not breathing properly; we also are tense enough that we’re not relaxing – which exacerbates the stress we’re already causing with aforementioned belly bulge’s diaphragmatic effect. This is a double whammy. First, it makes us anxious. But, also, the constant isometric contraction we’re holding all day ultimately also makes us next level exhausted (much like when you hold stress in your neck and shoulders). Add onto that any poor dietary choices (stuff high in sugar and imbalanced in macro amounts), and you’re feeling too sluggish to even burn off that blubber you’re lugging around. Once I’d shed the extra midsection flesh, I wasn’t just breathing better, I was totally relaxed through my day.

And hand in hand with that came the energy increase. Now that I wasn’t trying to hide my Buddha belly, I wasn’t holding my muscles tight (like that ever fools anyone anyway). So, I wasn’t all lethargic. But also, the way I lost weight in the first place played a massive part in that additional zest level. Instead of a big lunchtime meal featuring sugary highs and crashes, I was snacking on raw goodies (baby carrots, grapes, cherries #YesItTastesBetterThanItSounds) to keep me going without turning my tummy into a cauldron of delectable shame. It also meant I was lighter on my feet to get my work done better – and more focused because not all my brain blood was being rerouted to my overly full gullet.

So, there you have it:

Better breathing, belly relaxation, and bubbly energy.

Three real reasons to keep going after InstaBarbie’s perma-holiday pics quit motivating your weight loss.