As a woman that has battled with her weight for most of my life, I have finally reached a place where all of the pieces fit together in regards to dieting and weight loss. Once I added regular workouts to my life, everything seems to fall into place. I have the energy needed to power through workouts as well as a desire to do said workouts.
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No, I’m not an expert, not by any stretch of the imagination. However, my hubby and I are quite well-read on the subject of nutrition, working out, and diet.
I’d like to share my 10 top tips today. You don’t have to be on this never-ending cycle of dieting & losing weight, stop the diet & gain the weight, diet again & lose weight, etc.
10 Top tips to stop the dieting madness:
1. Remove the word diet, as it relates to following a strict program to lose weight, from your vocabulary. You are learning to eat to nourish your body.
2. Make changes that can be followed for the rest of your life. This is not a diet. It’s a lifestyle. As such, you will have days that all you crave is a cheeseburger. So, eat the cheeseburger. One meal, one day did not make you overweight and out of shape. Likewise, one meal, one day will not undo all of your changes.
3. Don’t remove any one food group entirely from your diet. While some food groups should be eaten in much less quantity that you’re probably used to, don’t remove them entirely.
4. Drink plenty of water. Experts recommend half of your body weight in ounces of water should be consumed. (Thus, a 150-pound person should consume 75 ounces of water daily) DRINK THE WATER! My hubby likes to put lemon juice in his water. Especially during the hot summer months, we use a 5-gallon water cooler. Each morning, I fill it with large ice chunks (made my re-using large plastic containers) and cold water. It makes ice cold water easily available to everyone.
5. Use gentle reminders for your water intake. I place rubber bands on my cup each day. Each rubber band represents 1 full cup of water that I need to consume to meet my goal. As I complete each cup, I remove the rubber band. It’s an easy reminder.
6. Maximize protein. Protein should be the focus of your meals. EAS Complete ProteinProtein shakes are an easy way to add to your daily protein intake. When I go to the gym, I mix up a shake and drink about half before beginning my workout. I consume the rest of it as I’m working out.
Instant mix Protein Powder
On days when I’m in a hurry, the prepared shakes from EAS Complete Protein make life a lot more simple! I keep these in the refrigerator to always have a cold protein shake ready to drink.
When I take them to the gym, but we’re not headed right there, I like to put them in the freezer for an hour or so. It stays chilly and is ready to drink when I arrive to work out.
Yummy ready to drink EAS Complete Protein Shake
7. Let go of Mommy guilt. We began a family membership at our local gym almost 5 years ago. My husband has been a faithful “gym rat” ever since. Me? Well, I was pretty diligent about my workouts until I gave into Mommy guilt.
My two youngest children were not old enough to be on the exercise floor and had to stay in the children’s room (which consisted of chairs and a tv.) They hated going and I just gave up. Today, I realize that my health needs to be a priority and we need to find a way to make it work.
8. Involve your children. As I mentioned above, my two youngest were too young at the time to be on the exercise floor at the gym. They weren’t, however, too young to go for walks with me, workout with exercise DVDs at home with me, or learn to make healthy food choices with me.
Just because you can’t make it to the gym does not mean you can’t work out.
This is my favorite quick meal. I saute chunks of chicken in coconut oil, then add in chopped veggies to cook together. Once cooked, I finish with a few squirts of Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, and Parmesan cheese. Use your favorite veggies, this skillet contains bell pepper, onion, cabbage, zucchini, and mushrooms. Look at the quantity of food! It’s mostly veggies, so it’s a very filling meal.
9. Embrace vegetables! You can eat a LOT of vegetables, prepared without added breading and fat, in the course of a day. This adds to your sense of fullness and tastes great!
10. Follow a plan. Whether it’s following a workout DVD series or a gym workout, have a plan. To acclimate yourself to the gym, go and try the machines. Ask someone to help, if you are unaware. Most of the machines have diagrams on them to show you how it is supposed to work. If not, BodyBuilding.com has some great videos as well as workout routines to follow.
And, here’s one final tip on including protein into your diet when you are home. In a blender, use either the chocolate or vanilla flavored protein powder, ice, and extracts to change up the flavors.
I like to use the chocolate with caramel extract. Or mix the vanilla with strawberry extract and some frozen strawberries instead of the ice.
You could make a chocolate mint shake simply by adding peppermint extract. My current favorite is vanilla with frozen black raspberries and a splash of raspberry extract. YUM!
The flavor combinations are endless! Experiment! I’d love for you to share your favorite flavor combo with me. Maybe you’ll inspire a new one for me!
Be sure to share with me your plans for reaching your fitness goals and becoming a healthier you!
Here is some more wellness encouragement for you!
10 Ways to Wellness
5 Wellness Tips for the Homemaker with a free printable wellness guide!
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Summer Len Davis says
Great tips! The quick meal sounds SO good, and like something I’m going to need tonight! #client