Did you know that you don't have to do it all at once?!
For me, it was hard to implement things into my life because I was just stuck in a rut and didn't know what to do or how to do it. I needed to desperately lose weight and get some confidence back into the vision that I had for myself. I struggled DAILY with over eating, chocolate addiction, and just plain old laziness. I knew I needed to eat better. I knew I needed to be more active, but starting was the hardest part. Once I started, man, it was like everything else slowly started to fall into place and I started to see results.
Now, all of the tips I am going to share with you today are ways to get you started, but none of these will work or STICK with you until you've done this: Got yourself into the mindset to make change and to realize that this isn't an overnight success. There will be peaks and valleys, but you have to make sure that you are able to push through the valleys and not allow yourself to quit!! The thing that makes starting so hard is getting yourself mentally prepared to accept, embrace, and willing yourself for change.
So starting right now, make that commitment to yourself that these are your stepping stones and that YOU are going to do whatever you can to reach your goals. Write your goal down and speak it OUT LOUD to yourself every day - hell, do it twice a day!
Let's get into it, shall we?! 7 of my tips revolve around our eating habits because, well, nutrition is the BIGGEST factor in YOU seeing RESULTS!
1. Don't go for seconds!!
We all know the gig: We are at a gathering or you've cooked a little too much food and it's just EASY to get up and fill your plate a second, third, and maybe even fourth time. Been there, still there sometimes, and being aware of it is something that has helped me tremendously! Most of the time when we do this, it is out of boredom or just because the food is there.
BONUS TIP: When you feel like you are still hungry and want more, drink 12 ounces of water and wait 10 minutes. Immerse yourself in conversation. Busy yourself with cleaning up or going to a different room. All of these things will help you to realize if you're actually still hungry or not! If you are actually hungry, by all means go for more, but don't over do it!
2. Find and create healthier versions of the foods you love.
This may sound weird and maybe you've never thought of this, but this is relatively easy to do with almost EVERY dish that you love. There is always an alternative! One example is with tacos: If you don't want to home make corn tortilla shells, ditch the shells and use romaine heart leaves for your shell. Swap your ground beef for ground turkey or shredded chicken. Load them up with veggies. Skip the sour cream and use avocado or greek yogurt (or both!). You'd be surprised at how amazing tacos taste in their healthy versions!
3. Drink more water!!
I always tell my clients that their water goal should be at least half of their body weight in ounces. This can be really hard to do, so simplify it by always having 12 ounces after each meal and snack and ALWAYS have a water bottle handy to resist the temptations of going to the soda machine for a beverage!
4. Slowly cut the CRAP
How much soda do you drink each day? Are you addicted to sugar and sweets? Yea, I used to live off of Dr. Pepper and chocolate. I could literally eat nothing else all day and I would be happy as a clam - or so I thought before I started eating things that my body loved. Start small! If you drink 4 cans of Mountain Dew a day, start by going down to 2, then 1, then 1 every other day, then once a week, then just get rid of it! Same with sweets. I always had chocolate on hand or in the cupboards. This was a problem area for me because it was a true addiction, so I just had to cut it and Shakeology helped me IMMENSELY with this. However, if you can resist your temptaions, slowly decrease the amount that you have each day to slowly cut it out. Do you eat fast food for lunch every day? Stop it! Plan ahead, cut down to 1 per week.
5. Have dinner leftovers for lunch
I try really hard to cook an extra portion at dinner time so that I can have it for lunch the next day. Box it up right away so that you don't eat it for seconds at dinner.
6. Always have healthy snacks available and ready to eat
I tend to portion out baby carrots, cucumbers, and any veggie really so that I can just grab and go. If I get an itch to eat something, I can quickly grab the healthy option vs. the chips in the cupboard. I also like to keep protien bars (Quest bars and Clif bars) in my purse and car, as well as an empty shaker with a packet of Shakeology in my purse for emergencies.
BONUS TIP: always make sure you replenish your stash! It's easy to portion and have lots of snacks ready to go, but sometimes we forget to replace what we have used. This is usually my protien bars where I forget to put another one in my purse (which is why I have one in my car now too haha!). Then I get in a jam and cave to the McDonald's that I'm driving past.
7. Batch cook meals to cut down on cooking time
Batch cooking is where you cook a bunch of meals at the same time. These can be all the same meals or different and you are just preparing yourself to plan ahead and not get caught in the .. "ugh, I don't want to cook so let's order pizza" moment. Some call this meal prepping. You wouldn't want to do this if you have a weird thing about always having to heat up your meals. If you have to have fresh cooked food and this seems like leftovers to you, don't do this because you won't enjoy the process and you won't stick with it.
8. Up your activity level!
This is pretty simple and some easy ways to do this are: take stairs whenever possible, after sitting for an hour get up and walk around for 10 minutes, clean your house more often :), go on walks with the kids or hubby (this also increases bonding time with your loved ones!), and if you're ready to take it on - get your 30 minutes of exercise in daily!!!!
If you found these tips helpful, share this post on Facebook!!!
Would you still benefit some extra support in one of my online health and fitness challenge groups? please fill out the form below or shoot me an email to kjeskacoach@gmail.com with the subject "I'm ready to be healthy!" and we can chat! <3
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