The modern man is much more conscious of his appearance these days. Whether seeking plus-sized fashion to look slimmer, taking rooming tips or indulging in a skincare routine, our grandfathers would have found many aspects of today’s world alien.
The holiday season will test all of our modern man skills, from what to wear to parties to looking after our shape. There’s no doubt it is a season of excess, where food, drink and good cheer take precedence over calorie counting, but what about when we welcome in 2023? How can the modern man seek to control his shape and continue to look and feel great?
It’s not as easy as for females; society still sees the weight control industry as primarily for women. That’s a fallacy – men are less likely to indulge in dieting than women, but they still account for a significant portion of the market. Societal stereotypes might be a barrier for some men when it comes to dieting, but there are plenty of ways men can lose weight and still feel masculine and empowered during the process.
Here are some top tips for men wanting to lose weight in 2023.
Take Up Exercise
The first thing to remember is you won’t alter your weight simply by dieting. Changing your food intake is important, as we’ll cover, but you have to do something to burn off the excess calories you’ve picked up, whether that is over Christmas or throughout 2022. Exercise might be tough at first, so start light and work your way up. One great method is to set a goal of running a 5k, which is challenging but also attainable. You can download an app to help you work up to the distance, and it’s something other runners have great success with.
If running isn’t your thing, find something that is. It needs to get your heart pumping and make you work up a sweat, and you need to do it three times a week at first to start shifting those pounds.
Find a Running Mate
By ‘running mate’, we don’t mean literally, although it’s great if you are running; still, a support system is going to be important whatever you do. To undertake a successful weight loss plan, you must have a buddy on a similar journey who can help you when you get low or lose your way. This is best done by finding someone to exercise with, a gym partner, or someone on a 5K challenge.
Doing this introduces an element of friendly competition and some much-needed support when things get tough. Men’s weight loss journeys are often more successful if they have support from friends or colleagues going through the same process.
Eat For Nutrition
Once you’ve cracked exercise, it’s time to examine your diet. The best advice is to find one that works for you. There are many fad diets out there offering restrictive recipes and promoting fasting and abstinence, but the best weight loss plans for men don’t follow these methods. Instead, they promote a healthy balance of ingredients suited to your tastes and their nutritional value. Labeling foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ can create an unhealthy relationship with eating, which you’ve got to avoid. Instead, think about nutrition and make sure you’re getting the right foods but ones you enjoy, so eating is not a chore. If the meals are still enjoyable, you’re more likely to succeed.
Stay Off The Scales
Finally, stay off those scales. It can be demoralising if you become obsessed with a couple of pounds here and there. Some foods have more water than others; you might retain some of that day to day. It’s easy to fluctuate up and down over a couple of days, but you should focus on the long-term outcomes. Results are best measured over fortnightly periods, not every day.
If you look good and feel good, your actual weight doesn’t technically matter. The best way to measure your success is to find an item of clothing that you want to be able to wear and can’t. We all have a shirt we wore when we had a better physique, one we can’t throw away. If you don’t, buy something that is too tight, something you really like. That will be your yardstick, try it on every couple of weeks and feel the difference.
