10 Weight-Loss Tips for Beginners

Laurence Grigorov is director of a residential property development company based in Johannesburg, South Africa that specialises in bespoke high-end luxury living. In his spare time Laurence Grigorov enjoys training at the gym as well as travelling.

Laurence Grigorov found an online article in www.bodybuilding.com written by My Obvi that highlights simple steps we can take to successfully start a weight-loss program:

Do you want to lose weight? Don’t be embarrassed! Living a healthier lifestyle is possible for everyone at any age. Losing weight takes patience, strength, and commitment. Some people will find it easier than others to shed the extra pounds. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. Whatever happens, just keep going! Everyone’s weight-loss journey is unique, but what they all have in common is the desire to lose weight.

Here are some tips if you want to lose weight and some insight into the journey you will make:

Tip 1: Realize You Will Be Making Sacrifices

If losing weight were a piece of cake, the United States wouldn’t be waist-deep in an obesity epidemic. To lose weight, you’ll have to cut back on eating certain foods that are high in calories (like cake) or otherwise unhealthful, even though you may find them delicious. You don’t have to sacrifice taste, however. With a little creativity in the kitchen—and a basic internet search for recipes—you can have diet-friendly meals that satisfy your taste buds as well as your protein, carb, and fat allowances.

Along with cutting back on certain foods, you’ll also have to increase your activity to burn extra calories. Less TV, more exercise. You should continue to make these sacrifices until you reach your desired weight-loss goal, at which point you can loosen the reins a bit.

Tip 2: Make A Commitment And Stick With It

Many people start a weight-loss journey only to feel discouraged after a couple of weeks or months, at which point they quit. If you want to lose weight, you must stick with your goal. It will take a lot of commitment before you start to see a difference in your weight. Don’t grow discouraged if success doesn’t come overnight. (Warning: It won’t. And that’s OK.) Even though you may not see physical results, if you’re eating well and exercising, you may be building muscle. Gaining strength is a plus for your weight-loss journey because while you’re losing some fat pounds, you’re putting on lean mass, aka muscle.

Tip 3: If You’ve Started And Stopped, Give Yourself Permission To Start Again

You may reach a point where you decide to give up on your weight-loss journey for any number of reasons. It could be a life shock, a schedule change, or even simple frustration that you’re not progressing quickly. If you do stop, you’ll likely resume the habits that made you gain unwanted pounds in the first place.

Regardless, you can always try again. To quote self-help author Mel Robbins, “You are not a failure, even when you’ve failed. It’s an event, not a personality trait. No matter how many times you fail, it will not define you unless you let it.”

Tip 4: Build A Support System

Weight loss doesn’t have to be solitary. Find supportive friends and family to join you on this journey. Who knows, maybe they’ll decide to lose weight with you! In that case, you can plan days to work out or prepare meals together. You’ll also be able to hold each other accountable for mistakes and encourage each other to stay on the right track.

If you don’t have any friends or family members who want to come along, join an online weight-loss support group, where you can chat with other people about your experiences. You can also join a gym and take a fitness class where you’ll meet people who are trying to accomplish similar goals to yours. That said, the most important supporter you have should be you. At the end of the day, it’s up to you to continue the journey and accomplish your goals.

Tip 5: Accept That You’ll Never Follow Your Diet 100 Percent, And That’s OK

Unless you are infallible, there will be days, even on a diet, when you overeat. Don’t give up. Mistakes happen. The important thing is to accept that you made a mistake, learn from it, and try not to do it again. If you want to do something constructive after overeating, hit your next workout extra hard and burn some extra calories. Then, resume your diet.

Tip 6: Exercise—And It Doesn’t Have To Be In A Gym

Exercising will help you reach your weight-loss goals faster. You can train at the gym, or you can exercise in the comfort of your own home. BodyFit by Bodybuilding.com offers great options for both approaches!

 

Tip 7: Practice Patience—You’ll Need It

Weight loss requires patience. Depending on how much weight you hope to lose, it may take weeks, months, or even years to reach your goal. Given that it’s going to take a while, learn to enjoy your weight-loss journey. Rather than getting hung up on setbacks, focus on the small achievements along the way.

Tip 8: Dial In Your Diet

We’ve already discussed the calories-out part of the weight-loss equation, meaning exercise. Now let’s talk about the calories-in part, namely, your diet. If you want to lose weight, you probably need to cut some calories, unless you want exercise to do all the work—which is not feasible for most people. The goal is to eat below your maintenance calories every day to lose at least one pound a week.

Tip 9: Step Away From The Scale

One of the biggest mistakes people make on their weight-loss journey is constantly checking the scale to see if they’ve lost weight. Unfortunately, if you don’t see immediate results, you may grow discouraged. Again, this is a slow process. Only check your weight once a week or once every two weeks, not every day. Mornings, when you wake up, are the best time to check because your stomach is empty and you’ll get a more accurate depiction of your body weight. To keep yourself motivated, track your progress by writing down your weight every time you weigh yourself.

Tip 10: Remember Why You Started

You will want to give up at various times during your weight-loss journey, but always remember why you started. You knew it was going to be hard, but you decided to make the commitment to reach your goals. You’ll do yourself a disservice if you give up. Try to imagine the finish line and how happy you’ll be when you get to live with the results you’ve dreamed of. Nothing in life comes easy, and all of the hard work and sacrifices will pay off in the end if you get there—so do it!

 

Words & images courtesy of www.bodybuilding.com

 

Messi Wins 6th Ballon d’Or

Laurence Grigorov is director at a residential property development company based in Johannesburg, South Africa that specialises in high-end luxury residential developments including stand-alone cluster homes and apartments. Laurence Grigorov enjoys watching sport when he is not involved in developments and is a keen viewer of football in his spare time.

Lionel Messi won a record-breaking sixth Ballon d’Or after another sublime year for the Argentinian, whose familiar brilliance remained undimmed even through difficult times for club and country. Despite Barcelona’s collapse at the end of last season and Argentina losing to Brazil in the semifinals of the Copa America, Messi’s genius was ever-present in 2019, for which he now stands alone in the history of the game’s most prestigious individual prize.

Four years after his last Ballon d’Or, Messi pulled clear of the five next to the name of Cristiano Ronaldo, and now owns twice as many as Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten.

In 54 appearances this year, Messi has managed an astonishing 46 goals and 17 assists while for Barca alone he hit 41 goals and 15 assists in 44 matches, which included seven doubles and three hat-tricks. “It’s like he is extra-terrestrial,” said Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde in March. “Every time he gets the ball something extraordinary seems to happen.”

Messi’s first season as club captain brought a third consecutive La Liga title and he scored the winner in the game that clinched it, a 1-0 victory over Levante. He also claimed his sixth Pichichi Trophy as the division’s top scorer, with 36 goals in 34 matches. But Barcelona unravelled as their 3-0 advantage over Liverpool – to which Messi contributed a brace – went up in smoke at Anfield and the club crashed out in the semifinals of the Champions League.

They were then beaten by Valencia in the final of the Copa del Rey, when Messi’s tap-in proved a consolation, but it was his voice that spoke loudest in defence of coach Valverde, whose survival owed much to the support of his captain.

Messi had led the way on the pitch too, particularly during the run-in when he scored 16 goals in 12 games as Barcelona put together a relentless winning streak. “This league has one person’s name on it,” wrote Diario Sport.

He scored his 50th career hat-trick in a 4-2 win at Sevilla and in April, another hat-trick began with a

free-kick into the top corner and ended with a sweeping chip from the edge of the area that was so good even the Real Betis fans felt compelled to applaud. When asked about their reaction, Messi said: “To be honest I don’t remember anything like that.” His goal was nominated in the Fifa Puskas Award’s 10-long shortlist. “I have not seen any player like Messi in the history of football,” said Betis coach Quique Setien. “His goal was something you do playing Playstation.”

After finishing the Champions League as top scorer with 12 goals and collecting his sixth Golden Shoe for a record third consecutive year, Messi joined up with Argentina for the Copa America, a tournament that kick-started a frustrating three months for the 32-year-old. Messi was sent off against Chile in the third-place play-off and his comments about the refereeing drew him a three-month suspension from international football.

A return to Barcelona should have offered some respite but Messi suffered a calf injury on the first day of pre-season before a thigh strain meant he would not begin playing regularly again until October. Yet he made up for lost time by scoring six goals in five games and then a hat-trick against Celta Vigo, this time a treble made up of set-pieces, two from free-kicks and one a penalty. It was his 34th hat-trick in La Liga, equalling Ronaldo’s record in the Spanish top flight.

Free-kicks have become an increasingly potent weapon for Messi and his improvement is more evidence of a player still adding to his skill-set in what can be assumed will be his twilight years. “It’s clear that when games are close we have the advantage of having the best player in the world and the best free-kick taker in the world,” said Barca midfielder Sergio Busquets.

Another milestone came at the end of November when his goal and two assists in a 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund coincided with his 700th appearance for Barcelona. Recently he scored the winner in a 1-0 victory at Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona insist they have plans for coping with Messi’s dreaded retirement but the truth is their number 10 will be irreplaceable. He has unfulfilled ambitions too, including another Champions League crown, not to mention an elusive major trophy with Argentina. Despite it all, Messi is not finished yet.

Words and image courtesy of www.supersport.co.za

Barcelona Complete Antoine Griezmann Transfer

As director of a leading real estate development company based in Johannesburg, Laurence Grigorov is involved in all aspects of the development process.

In order to relax and unwind, Laurence Grigorov enjoys watching football and is a keen supporter of FC Barcelona in Spain. The recent acquisition of Antoine Greizmann has impressed Laurence Grigorov.

FC Barcelona have confirmed the signing of Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann. Club officials paid his €120m release clause at La Liga headquarters in Madrid and the defending La Liga champions have since released an official statement confirming the deal.

“FC Barcelona have activated the clause in Antoine Griezmann’s contract with Atletico Madrid.

“The clause is at a cost of €120m.”

The statement also confirmed that the French international would sign a five year deal at the Camp Nou, until 2024, with a release clause of €800m with the Catalan club.

Griezmann was linked with a move to Ernesto Valverde’s side at the nd of the 2017-18 season, however he opted to reject a move away from Atletico Madrid, and chose to pen a new five year deal at the Wanda Metropolitano.

However he announced at the end of this season that he wanted to leave the club and join FC Barcelona, but the deal was delayed over controversy surrounding a pre-agreement between Griezmann and his new club.

Atletico Madrid have since confirmed they will be asking La Liga to investigate claims that he had already agreed to move to the Camp Nou in March 2019, when his release clause was €200m, not the €120m FC Barcelona have paid after it reduced in July.

Words courtesy of www.football-espana.net

Crusaders Considering Name Change

As director of a leading residential property development company based in Johannesburg, Laurence Grigorov is involved in all aspects of the development process. Laurence Grigorov has a hands on approach to all the projects the company deals with and feels this is the best way to achieve success in each project.

In his spare time, Laurence Grigorov enjoys watching and following sport and is a keen rugby fan. The recent terror attacks in New Zealand cast a dark shadow on the country and this has also had an effect on the sporting world in the country.

The Crusaders will consider changing their name in the future following the terror attacks in Christchurch recently. Fifty people were killed and over 30 are still in hospital in the wake of an attack on two mosques.

Crusaders Mascot

In the wake of the tragedy, there were suggestions on social media that the franchise should change its name and logo, both of which hark back to the Crusades. The series of conflicts, which took place a thousand years ago, included wars between Christians and Muslims which resulted in over one million deaths.

In a statement released by the defending Vodacom Super Rugby champions they said they understood concerns have been raised about their name.

‘For us, the Crusaders name is a reflection of the crusading spirit of this community,’ the statement read.

‘What we stand for is the opposite of what happened in Christchurch; our crusade is one for peace, unity, inclusiveness and community spirit.

‘In our view, this is a conversation that we should have and we are taking on board all of the feedback that we are receiving. However, we also believe that the time is not right now.

‘At an appropriate time, we will thoroughly consider the issues that have been raised and our response to that,’ the statement went on to say. ‘That will include conversations with a range of people, including our Muslim community.’

The Super Rugby match between the Highlanders and Crusaders in Dunedin was cancelled. Both teams were awarded two log points.

Words & Image courtesy of www.sarugbymag.co.za