Many men and women tend to gain weight after they get married. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with putting on a little weight as long as you remain healthy. However, a lot of people who get divorced suddenly find that they weigh 20 lbs., 30 lbs., or even more than when they got married. They hadn’t realized that they had been packing on the pounds, but losing weight after a divorce can be liberating, revitalizing, and extremely positive for your future growth.
The Stress of Divorce Can Cause Weight Gain
It’s not just marriage that can cause someone to put on some weight. Divorce can do the same thing to a lot of people. Divorce is stressful and stress is a trigger to eat unhealthy foods for many people. Some people end up gaining even more weight during the divorce process. Others lose weight in an unhealthy way because of the stress. They don’t have an appetite and they simply don’t eat.
Either way, it’s not healthy for you. You need to get your body and your dietary lifestyle back in order. The way you lose weight needs to be healthy.
Below are some tips to make losing weight and getting back into great shape easier.
Find Exercise You Enjoy
There is no way around the fact that you will need to exercise to burn more calories if you want to lose weight. As much as some people may not like to exercise, it is good for you, and it makes you feel good. It pumps the body full of endorphins, reduces stress levels, burns calories, and builds muscle. You will feel better, and you will look better.
However, just because someone knows exercise is good for them doesn’t mean they are going to do it. What you need to do is find exercises you like to do and focus on those. Some people might like just getting out and walking or hiking. Others might prefer lifting weights or taking a martial arts class. Maybe it’s swimming.
The point is to find several types of exercise that you like and to do those. Switch things up in the exercise routine so you never get bored. Once you start to feel and see the positive effects of exercise, it will be easier to convince yourself to continue.
To make workouts even more fun, why not exercise with friends. If you have some people that you know who might want to go walking or hiking with you, invite them. Having a workout buddy can help to keep both of you accountable.
Don’t Go on a Diet—Choose Better Food
One of the big mistakes a lot of people make when trying to lose weight is going on a diet. They either choose a fad diet or they severely restrict their calories to try to lose weight. Both of these options tend to be dangerous. Fad diets can’t be trusted and often do more harm to the body than good. If you starve yourself, your body will just learn to hold onto and store calories, making weight loss more difficult.
What you need to do instead is change your dietary lifestyle. You want to change up the types of foods you have in your diet. It’s time to eliminate as many processed foods as possible. Focus on whole foods—fresh vegetables, fruits, grains, and lean protein. If you are eating healthy foods, you can have an interesting and tasty diet and never feel hungry. Yet, you will lose weight because your body is using the calories more efficiently, especially when you combine a good diet with exercise.
Get Plenty of Sleep
Sleep and weight gain are tied together. If you aren’t getting enough sleep, it is often because of stress. This can cause the cortisol levels in the body to rise, which causes you to hold onto more weight and feel more stressed. You need to get into the habit of having a good sleep routine. Get to bed at the same time each night and strive to sleep all the way through.
You will find that as you lose weight and exercise more, this often becomes easier and easier to do.
Think About Your Beverages
Many people don’t realize that the drinks they choose are often adding a lot of empty calories. Soda, sweetened coffee, sports drinks, and similar beverages are problems because they add calories and chemicals without any real nutritional value to speak of. If you are drinking a Frappuccino from Starbucks every day, for example, you are putting hundreds of extra, useless calories into your body.
Instead, you should focus on making most of your drinks nothing more than fresh water. Sparkling water is an option that can work as well, if you like the feeling of bubbles and miss the soda. It’s also good to help you get away from the allure of caffeine, which can wreak havoc with your sleep schedule.
Keep a Journal
As you undergo your weight loss journey, one of the best things you can do is to start keeping a journal. In the journal, you can record everything related to losing weight. This includes what you are eating during the day, how you feel, the exercises you did, etc. This information becomes data that you can use to track your goals and progress.
You may also find that it can provide you with some insight into any triggers that cause you to fall off the wagon so to speak. For example, did you eat a big slice of cake on the days when you had to drop off or pick up the kids from your ex’s place? The more you know about your triggers the easier it will be to get a handle on them.
Healthily losing weight after you go through a divorce can be great for your overall health and your self-esteem. These tips should put you on the right track for better physical fitness. If you find that you are still having trouble, there is no shame in talking to a fitness and dietary expert for some added help.
