- Eat Veggies!!
Vegetables are an important source of nutrients that everyone seeking a healthier life must incorporate into their diet. Depending on what veggie you are choosing to have with your meal (or as your meal), you are in for a wide range of beneficial minerals, vitamins, fiber, as well as the macronutrients. Veggies are a necessary part of a healthy lifestyle. Not only are they nutritious, but filling up on veggies helps eliminates the ability to fill up on empty calories and less nutritious options. Not keen on veggies? Try throwing some spinach in a smoothie with some berries! Or, and this is my favorite, roast them with some olive oil and some seasonings of your choice.
- Minimize Stress
Stress leads to all sorts of problems. From physical ailments to mental, stress has a vast role to play in the modern age. It is your duty to yourself to try and minimize stress as much as possible. Do this by exercising, doing things you enjoy, eating nutritious foods, and keeping up to date on your tasks at hand. A trick I picked up while in college (besides seeking out the cheapest food specials in town) is to drink a tall glass of ice cold water whenever I am particular stressed. It always calmed me down and grounded me, so maybe give that a shot next time.
- Do Not Diet
Diets do not work. I will say that again. Diets do not work. This is not geared towards physician-recommended diets, but to these “fad diets” that come and go like the wind. If you are in generally good health, with no extreme health hazards when it comes to food, it is recommended that you simply eat real food. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats. Carbs are not the devil, nor are fats. Just eat whole foods and you will be squared away. Try your hardest to stay away from anything packaged and processed in a factory. Look for as few ingredients as possible on food stuffs. A fantastic rule of thumb is to stick to foods that your grandmother would recognize.
Thanks for the help grammy!
Love,
Your Sweetums
- Drink Plenty of Water
Your body is made up of nearly 70% water. That number alone identifies the macronutrient (yep!) as highly important to your wellbeing. It allows for proper cell and organ function, and aids in proper digestion. It is vital that you get enough water for those simple reasons alone. It also helps curb hunger, so for those of you feeling you eat too much for your weight loss goal, try drinking a tall glass of cold water instead of chewing something- your body might just be thirsty. Getting plenty of water, along with eating right, gives your muscles the necessary requirements to train at your hardest. Get sippin’.
- Exercise
It is recommended you get at least 30 minutes of physical activity daily, and resistance train 1-2 days per week. This is recommended, but may not be for everyone. Let us go about this simply and straightforward: do what works for you and you feel comfortable with. As long as you are moving, you are doing an amazing service to your body. Find out what works for you, or shoot us an email to help, and get moving!
As far as frequency goes, depending on your fitness level, the more moderate the activity, the more frequent you’ll be able to do it without causing harm. In other words, a brisk walk around your neighborhood will be a great way to start every day of the week with, but be careful lifting weights 7 days a week. Which brings us to…
- Rest
Rest. Rest. Rest. Rest. Reeeesssttttt. Give your body a break, you are kicking its butt and it is tired. Do not be afraid to take a few days off. And please do not stress about it, stress will is at the root of many physiological ailments like weight gain and disease. Whether your goals are losing weight or building muscle, or both, you need to give your body time to rest. This is the critical time to eat nutritious, whole foods and get some R n R. During this time of rest, you may hear them called “off days,” your body is repairing itself and preparing for the next day of training. Lets think about it simply: if not given the chance to recover, your body is just going to be broken down bit by bit. Rest, eat well, and live life. On these off days, make sure to eat clean and nutritiously.
- Try and avoid wasteful calories
Avoid added sugars, candy, refined white flour, and other “empty calories.” These calories hold little to no nutritional value and indirectly affect your waistline by means of spikes in insulin. Realistically, it is impossible to go too long without indulging. And to that we say: INDULGE! But, maybe grab a kid size ice cream. Enjoy a few Oreos here and there. Cutting out completely does not work, it just causes stress which is arguably the worst thing you can do to yourself. Look, have some fun and be kind to yourself, but be conscious of what these “empty calorie” foods are and what is inside them. Sugar, processed fats, and more not too nice things. But if your family is going out for ice-cream, have yourself a good time with them and do not beat yourself up about indulging- just get back on track tomorrow. What matters is your diet the other 90% of the time.
- Eat Breakfast
I suggest eating breakfast for a variety of reasons. First, eating a healthy and satisfying breakfast is key to successfully navigating day to day life by keeping us filled until our next meal. This inhibits the cravings you may have at midday to satisfy your low blood sugar. Eating breakfast is thought to kickstart your metabolism, and while this may or not be an issue for you, as long as your eating under your TDEE, you still will be losing weight. Apart from the physiological effects of eating breakfast, it also usually means getting up a little earlier to prepare it. Not only does this give you time to relax and enjoy a fantastic start to the day, but it gives your body time wake up so you aren't gunning out the door immediately after waking up (helloooooo, stress!).
- Choose Your Goals Wisely
Do not confuse yourself by setting complex goals with a complex way to get there. Keep it simple and set a specific goal with specific means to get there. I suggest sitting down and sketching out your goals, starting with the end result and working backwards that way you know how to reach your goal and how precisely that is you will get there.
- Brush Your Teeth
What? Why is brushing your teeth on here? Well, health starts with the mouth. Your teeth are indicators for several diseases and treating them right is a huge part of living a healthy and optimal existence. But, the point being made is that building healthy habits is key in living well. Nutrition and fitness are half the battle, the other half is cleanliness and keeping that mind of yours functioning correctly. By building healthy habits, these habits grow into the life you want to lead. If you are just starting out in your wellness journey, take note of all the things you do that are aspects of a healthy life. Being “healthy” is far more than being able to perform 40 pushups, it is far more than eating a grilled chicken breast every night. Being healthy is the culmination of healthy habits, and if the journey seems daunting, start small.
