Feelin’ Great After Reading This Book!

A few days ago, I finished reading Lose Weight and Feel Great by Billy Hofacker.  Knowing that I wanted to write a review about it since I bought the book, I had anticipated telling you all that I’m 10 pounds lighter, I make my own smoothies, and I work out every day.  In one week, I’m proud to say that two of those are true!  (And no, it’s not losing weight…)  However, what I gained from this book was more important than what I lost.

You see, out of the nine chapters (including the intro and conclusion) that are in this book, seven of them focus on mindset and motivation.  Billy sprinkles some tips in here and there, but the message he’s really trying to portray is that anyone can make small steps to getting fit.  Instead of giving you a step-by-step, eat-this-not-that program to follow, he gives insight about the details that we don’t even realize go into eating healthy or working out.

For example, did you realize that kids are more likely to eat junk food after watching TV?  The reason why is because there are so many advertisements for junk food.  I even fell victim to the temptation this week.  I was watching a video on YouTube and saw an ad for chips.  All of a sudden, I forgot about my diet and instantly started to crave chips.  If there were chips I could access at the time, I probably would have reached for a bag!  But I’m glad that happened, so now I am aware of the temptations that are out there.

While there is no one-size-fits-all program, Billy provides advice that can help you change habits to create your own way to lose weight and feel great.  He starts with simply asking you why.  Why do you want to get in shape? That why will carry you forward in your endeavors to be healthy.

As a woman whose weight is affected by hormones, water retention, and stress eating/not eating (basically anxiety could make me eat more or less depending on the type of stress), I was more focused on reading this book because of the Feel Great part.  And while I have not lost weight yet, I never intended to lose weight because of it.  But I have to tell you, the takeaways I got from this book have helped me to become a better person.  I know it’s only been a week since I read it, but I pray that this motivation lasts.

Here are some things that I now implement in my life as a result of reading this book:

• Weekly goals: I want to start each week with a goal in mind.  My goal this past week was to successfully finish a workout at SkyZone, a trampoline park near us.  In order to do that, I worked out every day, ate food that fueled me, and pushed myself not to give up.  Today, my husband and I completed the workout without having to stop.  Preparing yourself for the week or day ahead helps you make better decisions tomorrow.
• Working out every day: To be honest, I thought it was bad to work out every day.  But now I do an intense workout one day, a moderate workout the next, and keep changing it up.
• Watching what goes in: I’m not just talking about food.  After reading about how food advertisements can affect what you eat, I realized that my Facebook news feed is filled with people posting sugary recipes and memes about being lazy and eating a whole pizza (sorry if you suddenly start craving pizza!).  I found a nice little feature on Facebook that helps you hide a post you don’t like.  I now do this, not just for food on my news feed, but also for inappropriate posts (I’m literally amazed at what I see on Facebook these days).
• Getting creative with my food: I was kind of in a routine of making poor choices.  We shop at Trader Joe’s, but we buy the same frozen food every time we go.  We received a Ninja (food processor) for our wedding, but we haven’t really used it.  In light of trying to eat healthier sweets, I’ve been blending what Billy would call a “recovery meal,” a smoothie packed with protein and vitamins.

I don’t want to give away too much about the book, but I do highly recommend it if you need a pick-me-up to help you work out again.  You can purchase the book on Amazon.  For those who are local to Long Island, you can also check out Billy’s challenge that he’s doing at Total Body Bootcamp and Performance Center: Click here for more information