- Start strong! This is a new year, so it’s a great time to start new healthy habits. A new year tends to bring on feelings of hope for what could be so embrace it and make some changes. Clean out your kitchen. Get rid of any unhealthy products that could be in your fridge or cupboards. Get some new workout clothes and shoes. Create a monthly calendar that you can place somewhere you will see it every day with something active that you will do for at least 30 minutes every day.
- Eat breakfast! If you’re not used to eating breakfast than start with something small. Maybe a small bowl of cereal or even just a piece of fruit. Try to find something that fits your schedule. If you happen to run out of time one morning, grab a handful of raw almonds. Something is better than nothing.
- Curb your appetite through drinking a lot of water. Drink a large glass of water about 15-20 minutes before a meal. Water is great for detoxifying and rejuvenating your body and helps to prevent overeating by making you feel full.
- Eat smaller meals more frequently. Try eating 5-6 smaller meals a day rather than 3 larger ones. Grazing helps boost your metabolism. Try to keep your last meal of the day a couple of hours before bed so your body can focus on relaxing and restoring your body rather than digesting.
- Listen to your body. If you’re hungry, then eat. Try not to follow a clock as much as you do your internal clock. At first, when you’re reprogramming your body to eat 5-6 times a day, you may need to follow a real clock, but you’ll find after a couple of weeks, that your body will start to expect food at that time and will alert you of that. Think of your new motto for the year as eating to live, not living to eat.
- Go light. If you are hungry and don’t have time to have a full meal try to have something that is lower in calories rather than the junk food that is so easy to grab. Keep some nuts in your desk or some fresh veggies in your bag.
- Eat what you like. It is important to make your new eating plan as enjoyable as possible because as we all know, if you don’t like what you’re eating, you won’t be on that plan for very long. Try new foods. Try different coloured foods but most importantly, make sure you’re enjoying the foods you’re eating. Enjoy the natural sweetness and crisp texture in fruit and vegetables.
- SLOW DOWN! So many people eat much too quickly. When you eat too quickly, your body doesn’t have time to send the appropriate signals to your brain to let you know that you’re full. There are more negatives than positives when it comes to eating too quickly too often causing gas and indigestion. Enjoy the people you’re eating with and put your fork down for a drink of water in between bites. Slowing down also refers to your lifestyle. If you find that you always feel busy, try to make some time everyday that you can just relax. Use exercise as a stress buster. Take a yoga class.
- Don’t give up! This is the biggest problem when it comes to lifestyle changes. You think that you made one mistake so it was all for nothing. NOT TRUE! One mistake is no big deal. Just move on and make the next choice a wise one.
- Reward yourself. Treat yourself to a massage, a movie, a new piece of clothing, a new book or some new music for every week that you successfully complete your plan. Don’t beat yourself up and remember that the benefits you’ll feel will be the best reward you could give yourself!
Keep Well…Kristy
