1. Eat foods with LESS than FIVE ingredients! Eat whole foods, processed foods are bad!
This is an easy strategy to get more whole foods into your diet. What the heck is a whole food? Whole foods are foods that come directly from nature and have not been processed. They are usually plant-based, such as fruits, nuts, vegetables, and whole grains. However, you can add organic meat, preferably fish, chicken, and turkey to the whole foods list. Now that you know what a whole food is, let me tell you about processed foods. Processed foods are bad! They want to suck the life out of you, tire you out, make you addicted to them and make you FAT! Here are some examples; soda, candy, cookies, chips, white bread, white rice, pretzels, ice cream, fast food, fried food, and basically anything that isn’t a fruit, vegetable, whole grain, or lean meat. This rule will change your mental clarity, energy levels, quality of life, body shape, and basically every aspect of your life. Don’t panic, once your body gets used to it, it will want whole foods!
2. COUNT CALORIES! Know what you’re filling your face with!
This is one of the most amazing and useful ways to reduce your waistline. You don’t need to count calories for the rest of your life, just until you know how many calories are in the food you eat. An amazing FREE app or online site called MyFitnessPal will make counting calories a doddle. This site also tells you how many calories you should be consuming based on your weight loss/gain goals.
3. Divide your plate into THREE parts!
The main portion of your meals should be vegetables with lean meat and whole grains on the side. Your plate should be 50% fruits and vegetables, 25% lean protein (eg fish, chicken, turkey, and tofu), and 25% whole grains or other complex carbohydrates (eg. , brown rice, whole wheat pasta, oatmeal, and baked potato). Granted, very un-American, but you’re about to make a change, right? Again, remember to count your calories!
4. STOP CRACKING! Are you a soup kitchen?
Discipline your mind to control your waistline! We tend to indulge at parties, family gatherings, and on the weekends because we mentally allow ourselves to relax with our diet. This is a common weight gain culprit and will sabotage any exercise you do during the week. Basically, every month there is a public holiday, party or family gathering and every weekend there is usually at least one night out. If you’re overeating at each of these events, your gut will start eating the rest of your body! An easy way to stay in control at events is to bring something tasty that’s healthy and eat it all night! I know where your mind goes and yes, there are many things that are tasty AND healthy.
5. Don’t be HUNGRY! Why do we crave sugary and salty foods?
Your body is an amazing machine that changes the carbohydrates you eat into blood sugar (glucose), which our bodies use for energy. Our pancreas then secretes a hormone called insulin to transport the blood sugar into our cells so they can use it for energy. When we eat processed foods and foods that are high in sugar, we trigger a surge of insulin to get all that blood sugar (energy) into our cells. This surge in insulin removes blood sugar from our blood too quickly, causing our blood sugar to drop too low. So you feel hungry and tired, causing you to crave sugary or salty carbs to quickly spike your blood sugar levels! Which will then crash again soon, causing you to do the same thing over and over again. Vicious isn’t it? Instead of allowing yourself to get hungry and fall into this cycle, eat smaller portions throughout the day or eat three larger meals and then have small healthy snacks between each meal. Healthy snacks would be nuts, fruits, or vegetables. Fiber and complex carbohydrates are also important for maintaining blood sugar levels.
6. Do cardio and strength training! Yes, ladies, lift weights!
When making your training plan, you should do at least three days of cardio training and two days of strength training per week. (ACE, Personal Trainer Manual) Cardiovascular training is usually continuous movement of the legs for at least 30 minutes, such as walking, jogging, elliptical training, swimming, or most sports. Strength training primarily consists of training with free weights, weight machines, or using your own body weight. When you strength train, you can work all of your major muscle groups at once, or you can work opposing groups on different days. For example, you may want to work your upper body one day and your lower body the next.
7. THERE ARE NO EXCUSES! Follow an exercise plan and an eating plan for God’s sake!
DON’T wait until you “feel” like exercising or decide what you’ll “feel” like for dinner when you get home from work. Both big mistakes because guess what, you will NOT “feel” like working out and you WILL BITE! With that said, your training plan should consist of AT LEAST 3 days, preferably 6 days, a week of exercising for 45 minutes. Does it seem impossible to you? What if I told you that if you did something for 45 minutes a day, you would live 5 years longer, have a better quality of life, less anxiety, a better sex life, more confidence, more energy, more energy? efficient in his work, have a greater clarity of mind and have more to give to his family, what would you say? That’s right, make time.
As for an eating plan, plan your meals for each week on Sunday so you can resist rummaging through cupboards and grabbing processed, sugary, and salty junk to poison your body. Try Sunday cooking during the week and store it in the fridge or freezer during the week! I make a big pot of oatmeal on Sunday night and put it in 5 coffee mugs, cover with foil and put in the fridge. Every morning I take one out of the fridge, pour some milk into the cup, heat it up and eat it on the way to work. EASY AND HEALTHY!
8. Set measurable personal goals. It takes 5 minutes but it will change your life!
Make up measurable goals with a timeline and have a friend or coach hold you accountable for reaching them. Examples of goals are: “Be able to run for 20 minutes in 2 months”, “Build up to 45 minutes 5 days a week by May 1st”. I write my goals on an index card and put them on my bathroom mirror so I can read them every morning while brushing my teeth. Don’t lose sight of your goals and get other people to help you achieve them.
9. Have a gym buddy or a strong support network. Don’t be a loner!
A support network is important to your success if you’re not a natural gym rat. Going to the gym or checking in with a friend will make you more responsible and is a great way to improve relationships with friends or partners. If you don’t have a friend, tell your friends, partner, or family to hold you accountable for sticking to a plan. You can also sign up for an online personal training program or hire a personal trainer to keep you up to speed.
10. DON’T be a BABY! push off!
Your workouts should incorporate moderately intense cardio training and strength training. Moderately intense means you must be sweating, breathing harder than normal, and not being able to carry on a conversation. However, make sure to keep breathing! A good rule of thumb is that you can say two sentences without having to stop for breath. If you want to get technical, you can take your maximum heart rate (your maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age) and multiply it by .6 and .8. Your heart rate during exercise should be in that range if you’re healthy. (ACE, Personal Trainer Manual).